To celebrate the release of their magnificent seventh studio effort, “Judas,” German metal band LORD OF THE LOST offered fans the chance to hear some of the new songs live as well a selection of their greatest hits during the release party, entitled “Sinister Summer Stream.” Recorded a few weeks before the actual release date, this stream was the only opportunity for the band to play these tracks live and for the audience to see the band live in a rather long while. As a new fan of LORD OF THE LOST, I found myself really enjoying this virtual concert and singing along to many of the songs that made their way to the setlist, both old and new.
In a minimalistic setting, the concert focused mostly on the band playing and interacting with each other with various moods and atmospheres being accented by the lighting scheme. As a fan of such productions, I greatly appreciated the fact that they let the music speak for itself instead of employing gimmicks to boost it. At the end of the day, the charm of these streams is given by the songs, not necessarily the production value. The concert itself was divided into two parts – the first part was dedicated to presenting a selection of thirteen tracks from “Judas,” while the second one was a “best of” -type of setlist, featuring some of the most well-known and beloved songs that LORD OF THE LOST has crafted over their career. The sets were separated by a short interlude so that fans could watch and re-watch whatever part they preferred without other songs getting in the way of their experience.
The stream started full-force with the singles “Priest” and “For They Know Not What They Do” before diving more in-depth into the new album. In between these two songs, Chris Harms took the time to address the virtual audience and welcome those watching to the “Sinister Summer Stream,” and invite everybody to join them in celebrating “the coming of ‘Judas.’” Released as a sort of teaser for this concert, “Born with a Broken Heart” followed suit, raising the energy level, which was kept at a high pace for the next few tracks, from “2000 Years a Pyre” to “The Gospel of Judas.” As always when songs are played live, they seem to be more energetic and lively and this is very much the case with the first part of the “Judas” stream. Living up to my expectations, both “Viva Vendetta” and “The Gospel of Judas” were very fun live numbers that will become that much better once played in front of an actual audience, as I can imagine the responses and singalongs that these songs will.
Halfway through, the band lowered the mood by performing atmospheric tracks “Euphoria,” “A World Where We Belong,” “In the Field of Blood,” and “And It Was Night,” which really capitalized on both the underlying piano melodies as well as Chris Harms deep, rich voice for maximum emotional impact. “Your Star Has Led You Astray” will also be a future crowd-pleaser because of the super catchy chorus and since I sang along and headbanged to this one in my room, I am sure many will do the same in a live situation. Twelve tracks in, I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t play “Argent,” but all sins were forgiven and a big Cheshire grin spread across my face once it was announced that the closing track for this setlist was “My Constellation,” my favorite track from the whole album. As I mentioned in the review, “My Constellation” and “A World Where We Belong” are some of the most beautiful tracks on “Judas” and this beauty was even more apparent live, probably because you could see with how much passion the band played them.
All-in-all, this was a wonderful setlist that captured the essence of the album, going from the heavier side of “Damnation” to the serene aspect of “Salvation.” Also, it’s not for nothing that there were thirteen songs picked to present “that very special seventh record of ours” as Chris phrased it, because Judas ended up being the thirteenth apostle of Jesus. So my guess is that it all ties in with the overall aesthetic of the album.
Using “Apokatastasis” as an interlude as well as a break, it was time for the second setlist to start and what better way to get things rolling if not with YouTube’s favorite LORD OF THE LOST song, “Loreley,” followed by “Morgana.” There was a palpable change in atmosphere because – if the band was more serious and focused while playing the new songs – they were way more relaxed and, dare I say, crazy when performing the older songs. And this part felt more in line with a proper gig as Chris enticed the virtual audience either to scream or sing along. Things got even crazier with “Drag Me To Hell” and needless to say, a round of headbanging ensued in my room. From the spare glances at my laptop screen, I could see that the band was also having a great time performing this song but still somehow missing the energy from a real crowd. The following track, “Die Tomorrow,” actually came with a message from Chris to the audience to “feel kissed and embraced seeing this,” which is one of the sweetest things one can hear during a stream. Again, madness ensued for the next few minutes both on- and off-screen.
To get the dynamics of a show just right, hopeful “One Day Everything Will Be OK” was played, followed promptly by fan-favorite “Dry the Rain.” Wanting to break the silence of the pandemic – to paraphrase the introduction made to this one – they then played “Prison” with the invitation for everyone to sing along, just like one would during a proper concert. After hit single “Six Feet Underground” and an intense drum solo, things got even wilder and crazier as the band unleashed their most provocative songs, “Sex on Legs” and “La Bomba,” coupled with a lot of running around, dancing, and interacting with each other. It is always interesting and fun to see a bunch of otherwise serious musicians showcasing their goofy and silly sides. To end the stream on a classy note, they decided to play a cover of DURAN DURAN’s “Ordinary World,” a song that actually fits pretty well with the current situation. At the end, they even took a photo with “the audience,” as a memento of this concert.
Altogether, this was a simple yet effective concert stream that does what such outlets are supposed to do – connect a band with a virtual audience while presenting new material in a live setting. There wasn’t anything fancy about “Sinister Summer Stream,” like it was the case with NIGHTWISH or EPICA, but it also wasn’t meant to be grand. It was just a way to celebrate the release of an album and have an excuse to play some songs live for fans to enjoy. I still watched it with the same pleasure I had watched the streams of the aforementioned bands. As I said somewhere in the beginning, it’s all about the songs, not how big the production value is and watching LORD OF THE LOST perform these twenty-four songs live was more than enough for me. It would have been much better to see them in person at an actual concert, but, alas, that cannot happen at the moment. But there is always hope for the future.
Written by Andrea Crow
Photos are stills from the stream
Setlist
- Priest
- For They Know Not What They Do
- Born with a Broken Heart
- 2000 Years A Pyre
- Viva Vendetta
- Heartbeat of The Devil
- The Gospel of Judas
- Euphoria
- A World Where We Belong
- Your Star Has Led You Astray
- In the Field of Blood
- And It Was Night
- My Constellation
- Apokatastasis (interlude/break)
- Loreley
- Morgana
- Drag Me to Hell
- Die Tomorrow
- One Day Everything Will Be OK
- Dry The Rain
- Prison
- Six Feet Underground
- Sex On Legs
- La Bomba
- Ordinary World (Duran Duran cover)
