In 2006, performing the anthemic Hard Rock Hallelujah, Finnish monster-metal troupe Lordi made history when they became the first metal band to win the annual Eurovision song contest.
Since then, the contest has offered a steady stream of rock and metal friendly acts, including 2021's winning Italian glam rockers Måneskin. But few bands in Eurovision history have been quite so wild as Germany's 2023 representatives, Lord Of The Lost. Here's everything you need to know about the industrial-goth-glam contenders.
The band have a very personal connection to The Beatles
Hailing from the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, Lord Of The Lost are all-too-aware of their hometown's connection to The Beatles. So when they were invited to Liverpool for 2023's Eurovision Song Contest, playing a show at the legendary Cavern Club, where the Mersey group cut their teeth pre-Hamburg, seemed a natural fit. Only, as frontman Chris Harms tells it, the band had no idea just how significant the Cavern Club was.
"We have a Beatles museum, a Beatles square, Beatles streets… tourists going to clubs that we ourselves have played," Harms explains. "But if you live in Hamburg and hear about The Beatles, you only hear about the Hamburg part - I think Germans like to think The Beatles are German! Haha!"
Onstage at the Cavern Club, Harms admitted that his mum was one of many fans who saw The Beatles during their time in the German city, and in fact once spent a night in a church with them. What did they get up to? "I thought it best not to ask!"
They started out as a Myspace band
Harms formed Lord Of The Lost in 2007 as a solo project under the title "Lord". At that point, he made all the music himself and released it via Myspace. Realising that if he ever wanted to play his songs live he would need a band, he ultimately decided to recruit other musicians from Hamburg and changed the project's name to "Lord Of The Lost" so they wouldn't get confused with Lordi.
Iron Maiden's Steve Harris loves them
Way back in 2019, Hammer asked Iron Maiden legend Steve Harris for his tip as to what the biggest thing in metal was going to be going into 2020. Ever the clued-in metal hero, Steve offered, "There's a band I found recently called Lord Of The Lost,a really interesting German band; their latest album is brilliant."
"Metal Hammer is actually the way we found out which member of Iron Maiden found us!" Harms says delightedly. "Our agents just got a call from their booking agent inviting us on tour. Then we saw the interview with him where he said he loved us and got to ask him how he found us when we toured together. It’s all Steve’s fault!"
They're now "officially" part of the Maiden family
Turns out being handpicked by Steve Harris has a few benefits - like being offered a slot supporting Maiden on their European tour. Originally scheduled for 2020, the band finally got to play with the East London metal kings in summer 2022, and had an unorthodox induction into the Maiden family.
"We got creampied on the last show." bassist Class Grenayde says.
Erm... excuse us?
“No, no, no! ‘Creampied’ means something very different in English!” Harms explains to his bandmate.
“Well, Steve told us they only creampie the bands who are welcome in the Iron Maiden family,” Class says happily.
“Just to clarify, we do mean actual cream pies!” Harms adds again, ever the diplomat. Glad that's settled.
It's pointless trying to categorise them
While broadly categorised somewhere between the realms of gothic metal, glam and industrial, Lord Of The Lost don't really care for labels. Each of their eight studio albums has seen the band explore different facets of their sound, some adding orchestral elements, while 2015's Swan Songs was entirely acoustic.
"We’re not the typical metal band," Harms tells Hammer when asked why Lord Of The Lost are the perfect band to represent metal at Eurovision. "We have all these '80s elements; anthemic choruses, romantic piano bits… that might make people go ‘maybe I should try this dark and heavy music’. As an ambassador, you always have to be open to many things and not get reduced to one thing."
They've been trying to get on Eurovision for years
As we said at the beginning, Lord Of The Lost are joining a steady stream of rock and metal acts who've popped up at Eurovision in recent years. But as delighted as they are with the nomination to participate in this year's competition, Harms admits they had applied for "around nine or ten years" before their time came.
"In previous years, the general concept for Germany’s selection was to only send mainstream pop artists," he explains. "It was a decision to do that each year, sending five pop artists to compete in the finals, so it’s not like we ever applied and got close, it was all decided beforehand. But for 2023, they decided to create a preliminary with all kinds of genres, so we were able to properly compete. We’ve been sending applications in for years."
They met the King Of England
Before King Charles' coronation in May, His Majesty paid a state visit to Germany. There, he was greeted by the country's Eurovision representatives, who played a private show.
"Who can say that he got tips on the Eurovision Song Contest from the King himself?" the band said in a statement at the time. "Probably very few. It was a great honour for us to welcome Charles & Camilla."
Harms also added in an Instagram statement that he had brought along a gift for the King & Queen Consort - a vinyl copy of their latest album, Blood & Glitter.
They once sent butt-plugs to the Vatican
Lord Of The Lost are no shrinking violets when it comes to religious themes, the albums Thornstar and Judas in particular touching on the subject. But in an interview with MetalKings, the band owned up to sending a risque package to the Vatican in hopes of reaching the Pope...
"By the DHL tracking number I could see that the parcel arrived," Chris says. "And it did not come back. I am sure that it did not reach the Pope himself, but at least for a while, two LOTL buttplugs have spent some time on Vatican soil. Isn't that beautiful?"
The band's Eurovision entry Blood & Glitter is all about unity
With the theme "united by music", 2023's Eurovision is all about showcasing the power of music. While Lord Of The Lost might be goths, they aren't shying away from that sense of empathy and unity with their own entry, Blood & Glitter.
"Lyric wise, it all comes down to this one line – ‘we’re all of the same blood’," Harms says. "The song covers about 99% of what we do musically - the only thing that’s missing is the orchestral part. Blood & Glitter is like our business card – if you listen to that song, you’ll understand 99% of what we are and if you like it or not.”
The last 12 months have been wild (and they're nowhere near done)
After supporting Iron Maiden in Summer 2022, Lord Of The Lost released their eighth studio album Blood And Glitter in December. The album hit number 1 in the German album charts and within weeks, they had been nominated to represent the country at Eurovision.
They found time to squeeze in a South American tour before travelling to Liverpool to compete in the Eurovision final on Saturday, May 13.
Even if they don't win, LOTL won't get much chance to rest: they have more dates lined up with Maiden in coming weeks (including the UK tour), a string of summer festivals and headline shows in Germany, and a UK headline run in September. And if they do win, watch out world.
Lord Of The Lost compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool on May 13. To vote for the band, visit the official Eurovision website.
