One of our most popular articles lately has been the review of Finnish thrash metal legends LOST SOCIETY‘s new record, “No Absolution,” which has also been clear in the numbers; a place in the charts, a lot of streams, and so on. We were looking forward to the band’s release show, but unfortunately, COVID-19 arrived in Finland and the outbreak took away all possibility for any show. Luckily, LOST SOCIETY couldn’t keep themselves quiet and thus decided to organize a streaming concert on 21 May 2020, live from Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki.
With a slight echo, Radio Rock‘s Laura Vähähyyppä welcomed the virtual audience and introduced the band on stage. Soon, an atmospheric intro started playing and a camera traveled its way around until it found a perfect view over the stage. Along with the visually intriguing setup, the band kicked off the very first song off their new record, “Nonbeliever.” LOST SOCIETY has moved a little bit away from a thrash metal sound to a more groove metal approach, but you can never take away the thrash from a thrash metal band. With a lot of energy and speed, they played a more aggressive rendition of the track, immediately showcasing just how much this song slays in a live setting.
The band had mashed up the original tracklist of the album to make it work the best way possible live, thus “My Prophecy” followed, again slightly more brutal than its studio version. After this, frontman Samy Elbanna greeted the audience, seemingly excited about the show. Second-last album track “Deliver Me” was up next, offering a vicious thrash assault in the middle part, with an incredible solo played by guitar virtuoso Arttu Lesonen.
Ebanna continues explaining how they are feeling the crowd’s energy even though they are not physically present. The band apparently had been looking forward to playing “Blood on Your Hands” and if it wouldn’t have been a virtual concert, I’m pretty sure the audience would have been a complete and utter chaotic mess. It’s fast, mechanical riffs are an excellent way of keeping a circle- or moshpit up high and have many metalheads banging their heads with incredible force – definitely one of the many highlights of this show.
Now, let me start by saying that I believe that guitarists Arttu Lesonen and Samy Elbanna are seriously underrated in the scene. Why haven’t these guys been dubbed as top-tier guitarists in Finland yet? If there was any specific reason for that, they certainly proved their worth in their respective guitar solos before introducing “I Am the Antidote.” While personally I would have preferred that they keep this song as one of the last bangers, I guess it’s always time for a slow-burning, heavy-ass track that has managed to create one of the biggest circle pits I’ve ever witnessed, at Rockfest a couple of years ago. I could barely contain myself during the song and started banging my head to the unhurried, menacing riffs. While they obviously weren’t able to stop COVID-19, LOST SOCIETY‘s music certainly is an antidote during this lockdown.
They continue with “Mark Upon My Skin,” which with its groovy, chugging rhythms, leaves no room to breathe as the viewer immediately again gets the feeling of thrashing around the room he’s watching the streaming concert from. Next, the band plays the heavy “Pray For Death.” LOST SOCIETY continues with “Artificial,” a bit of a radio-friendlier track that serves a bit as a lighter intermezzo before the band goes into a full-blast hostile mode with “Worthless.” Continuing with the song that got a bit of a different meaning because of its prophetic nature ever since the pandemic, “Outbreak (No Rest for the Sickest),” it was another great addition to the setlist due to its heavy and groovy riffs.
“Into Eternity,” which featured the cellists of APOCALYPTICA on a backing track, made me wonder if perhaps an acoustic version of the song would have been a more appropriate idea, but nevertheless, this emotional and powerful song really served its purpose so late in the setlist, considering it gave us a little bit of a break from all of the heaviness before the end of the set came in sight. The band continued with a LOST SOCIETY classic, “Riot,” after which, unfortunately, the end of the set approached with “No Absolution.”
LOST SOCIETY promised a top production and they certainly delivered: the stage (or rather, one of the halls in Helsinki’s old cable factory) was filled with cameras, capturing the four-piece’s every movement. With great atmospheric lighting, the stream certainly lifted up the experience of an evening in front of a screen, watching a show that was definitely worth its price. The band delivered an epic set, with all of the songs from “No Absolution” plus two other killer tracks. A lot of blood, sweat, and perhaps even tears clearly went into this production and these four guys gave their all. The band can definitely be proud of themselves as they gave fans a chance to forget about the current situation. Hopefully we can soon see these tracks in their full glory in a real live setting, but for now, we can only hope that LOST SOCIETY is planning more of these in the near future.
Setlist
- Nonbeliever
- My Prophecy
- Deliver Me
- Blood on Your Hands
- I Am the Antidote
- Mark Upon Your Skin
- Pray for Death
- Artificial
- Worthless
- Outbreak (No Rest for the Sickest)
- Into Eternity
- Riot
- No Absolution
