Crédit : VDPictures
Eurovision is upon us, and for that 2023’s edition, we are once again greeted by the presence of metal among the artistic offering. Like Lordi back in the day, it is now Lord of the Lost that will bring metal to the competition, bearing the colors of Germany. Dressed in their best outfits, blasting our eyes with crimson red and gold, they’re here to defend their song “Blood and Glitter”, and its positive message regarding self-acceptation and resilience. We had the chance to have a little chat with Nik, the band’s drummer, and latest addition to the line-up back in 2017. He tells us about this peculiar experience, while keeping a very fairplay view on the contest.
Cult of Metal : Even though it ain't the first time we've seen metal at Eurovision, it always comes as a surprise to see the genre we know and love in such an old and wide contest ! How did the opportunity arise for you guys? How did you end up being Germany's choice this year? NIK: We just applied for this year's Eurovision. We also did last year, but unfortunately didn’t make it to the national final. This year it worked for us and the German audience voted for us, so we went out of the preliminary show as the winner and as the representer for Germany.
The Eurovision song contest is sometimes seen as a bit "old-fashioned". Do you think bringing a broader spectrum of music genres might spice up the formula? What could it mean for your career? Do you expect a big boost of your fanbase by representing Germany this year? This year the spectrum of genres is much broader than in the past years. The line up is very strong; there are a lot of great artists! Maybe it’s one of the broadest line up in Eurovision history so far. Since it’s the world’s biggest music competition which is in the seen by up to 200 million people it gives you a large range of people seeing and hearing you. If only 0,1% of these people like your music you still can generate a lot of new fans - that’s of course super great for us!
It always seemed difficult to me to evaluate songs which are of very various genres and languages. Even if it's gravitating towards pop, we see more and more diversity in what's being sung. Do you think metal has its spot in a contest like Eurovision? Do you expect it to grow even bigger in years to come? I don't know. There’s always been some rock and metal in Eurovision from time to time and I think it never went bad for these acts. I cannot say what’s happening in the future but I’d love to see when rock music arises a bit more next to today’s pop and rap music which is mainly played in the mainstream.
If internet is to be trusted, the band was meant to be called "Lord" before being switched to Lord of the Lost in fear of being mistaken for... Lordi ! It almost feels like you've come full-circle, now that you're battling your way through Eurovision as they did. They won in 2006... Do you think you could do the same? Are things similar or very different to what they were back then? Lord Of The Lost was founded by our singer as 3Lord“, but when it became a real band the name was "extended“ to “Lord Of The Lost“ to avoid mix-ups to Lordi or The Lords for example. I have no clue if we could win this year's Eurovision. It would be super great, for sure! But as I wrote before the line up is very strong and so it’s super exciting where it’s going to. In general for us there won’t be a "loser“ in this game. Of course it’s a "contest“ and so there has to be a winner, but music wasn’t invented to be against each other. Music is something to be done together. Always. And even if we’re becoming the very last ones, we’ll have had a great time with loads of new experiences that will grow us stronger and many more people will know us.
You supported Iron Maiden's "Legacy of the Beast world tour", which probably helped a lot to get yourself known all around Europe. How was the reception for you guys? Do you think it helped get you on board for Eurovision? Yes, maybe. We had a super great time with Iron Maiden on those 18 shows all around Europe and as we can see in the comments in social media we reached a lot of people and got a lot of new fans. So it’s definitely possible that this is also one of the reasons why we’ve got chosen.
You released the album "Blood and Glitter" allegedly months before it's planned release... To a surprisingly great success, despite the lack of pre-promotion ! Was the release accelerated due to the contest? Or were the two events unrelated thus far? Was the song "Blood and Glitter" always planned for the contest? No. We planned the release as a surprise. In these times a release is always scheduled with a lot of promotion time before. Up to three singles and videos are released before and when the album comes out the people already know one quarter of the album … Since we’re having kinda concept for the visuals and artwork of the 70s and sound elements of the 80s we just wanted to release it under similar circumstances like back then: you know the album as soon as you got it. Not before. And so we chose Christmas Eve to announce it and released it only one week later. That was the plan, that’s what we did and it seems like it worked out. “Blood And Glitter“ was not planned for Eurovision, no.
Eurovision is also a lot about presentation... something metal, and especially industrial metal is not shy about ! We all know of the flames, the flashy costumes, the light shows... Things you certainly aren't stranger to ! Did you cook something special for Eurovision ? Are you limited in any way (by the location, the crowd, the organization...) ? No, we’re not very limited. We’ve scaled up the show for the much bigger stage in Liverpool than in the German preliminary show, of course. We added some effects and I think we have a great show - the rest you have to see then.
Regarding the song itself, it sounds almost well... "sweet and bitter", so to speak ! An epic chorus, a powerful message, and yet some pretty heavy riffs and screams ! It seems fairly easy to the ears, even for someone who's not into metal. What's the story behind the song? How do you craft an "Eurovision song" ? “Blood And Glitter“ has this one important line and message at the same time: “We are all from the same blood“ - Blood is what unites every human on the whole planet. Without blood no-one of us could live. It’s what’s floating in your veins what makes you live. The glitter is everything you are; everyone has his own kinda glitter. It’s your shine, your aura, that can be seen by others and what everyone should respect. And it’s in your hands what and how this glitter might look like for others. Be who you are and how you want to be and respect this for others too!
I personally got to know you with your song "Loreley", which seemed darker, more occult ! Here, Blood & Glitter's lyrics seem to be all about positivity. A very uplifting song, as told by sentences like "with broken wings we'll learn to fly" or "we do fall before we rise". What should we take from your texts? That we'll overcome everything in life? Or showing all of Europe that metal is not just about war and death ? Loreley is a song from our album Thornstar, which is a concept album with a backstory about the G’hahyr which was the very first high-culture in history, so the saga. In general every text, all lyrics, no matter from which song or artist, can be interpreted totally differently by everyone. I never thought about that, but since you just mentioned it, I like the idea of spreading the fact that metal is much more than it’s recognized for often, yes!
Unlike many industrial bands from Germany, who are proud of singing in German, with the language often adding more layers to the music... You guys seem to be fully on-board with English (although I must admit I haven't heard all your songs!) Was it a conscious choice for you? Or a more natural process? We feel it’s easier to express our thoughts and feelings in English. We also want to reach an international audience, which works much better in an international language, and if we sang in German, the immediate parallel to Rammstein would be established - which is already being done all the time anyway, which I absolutely don't understand.
Two last questions for you guys : which artist would you like to see representing Germany next year? And which metal bands would you deem worthy of trying the Eurovision experience? I don’t know. Hart to answer. A great song is a great song, the same for an artist and a performance. We’ll see what’s in the pool for next year.
Thank you, and good luck with the contest ! Thank you!