Lordi - the Arockalypse Review

Lordi - The Arockalypse / 2006 The End / 15 Tracks / http://www.lordi.org / http://www.theendrecords.com /

Lordi was the act that won the 2006 Eurovision song contest, and for good reason. The field was very weak, and Lordi was one of the few acts that actually played any version of rock on the show. This album is an expanded version of "The Arockalypse", with a few extra tracks present on the American versions. The style of music that Lordi plays, for those that are not familiar with their style, is a very hard blend of Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, and Helloween, with the majesty of acts like Manowar present. While the first few tracks on the album are solid, the energy exerted by Lordi is like a snowball in that each subsequent track builds on that of the prior songs.

"The Kids Who Wanna Play With The Dead" is the first track that lifts off completely and gets into the same level of catchiness that prior singles, such as "Blood Red Sandman" and the later track "Hard Rock Hallelujah" have. The inclusion of a little bit of electronic influence to "The Kids Who" is something that gives the disc a fullness that cannot be compared to any other album on the market. "It Snows In Hell" is a slower track, but the inclusion of a piano to the mix pushes the band further to the classic brand of Alice Cooper rock, while allowing Lordi to blend Warrant and other hair metal acts into what is yet another solid single-worthy track.

The inclusion of a special DVD will make this a smart buy for anyone who is a Lordi fan or is trying to get into the band; there are videos, extra live footage, and short documentaries about the band. Even if the CD package just included the album, the intense and smooth brand of hard-rock should be more than work whatever cost is stuck on the album. In y opinion, Lordi stumbles upon the best back to back tracks during this album, with their tracks "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and "They Only Come Out At Night". Both tracks have choruses that will stick in listeners' minds for months after listening to the tracks, and provide a nice shot of energy for the second half of the disc. Along with Dragonforce, Lordi has to be the premiere hard rock band that is still releasing albums at this point. Pick this disc up if you call yourself a fan of hard rock.

Top Tracks: Hard Rock Hallelujah, They Only Come Out At Night

Rating: 9.0 / 10