Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It should be impossible to produce a continuous set of albums which deliver an unceasing amount of goodwill from the listener; after all, not everything can be enjoyed, be seen as a thrill, for sometimes, inevitably, the music must cease to be in synch with the listener, occasionally the groove must stop turning.

Impossible, perhaps not, for on the occasion of the Lordi’s release of their boxset of Lordiversity, impossible became extinct, as one would look upon the exhibits of bones from creatures long consigned to history, as confused and interested school children look upon replicas and interpretations of creatures that resemble the nightmares of their slumber, so the fascination of a huge swathe of music, one derived from the shadows the world has found itself in recent times, but also from the progressive angle that comes from expanding universe of thought, of theatre, of damning the world as it insists that absolute continuality is like the dinosaurs, far in advance of our collective thinking to get it completely right and spot on.

The Skeletric Dinosaur on the other hand is alive and well and roaring as the next album from Lordi’s Lordiversity box set receives its digital release and thrusts itself intently on the world with occasion, with pride, and as tracks such as Day Off Of The Devil, The King On The Head Staker’s Mountain, Phantom Lady, Blow My Fuse, and The Tragedy Of Annie Mae leave their indelible mark on the listener, the belief that a group of musicians, of artists can use such insight to capture an essence and meaning is restorative, it is the gracious thanks that the cycle pursued by some of allowing a good album or two to be followed by a crash and burn edifice, is nowhere to be found in the hands of Lordi.

Even with The Skeletric Dinosaur arguably not quite catching the same sort of attention as the previous releases, it still is a finer rock release than some might have conjured. The sense of proportion is overwhelming, the cavalier cool is biting, and the drama, the intensity of performance never slows; it is an of cool, of finding that one moment in time when you understand that dinosaurs are the greatest creatures to have walked the planet, and that Lordi are the freshest, arguably most inventive band to have come forth in recent times.

Absolute legends of their craft, Lordi continue to shine brightly.

Ian D. Hall