by Greg Prato

The early 21st century saw many new bands emerge that worshiped good-time, anthemic heavy metal from the '80s. The Darkness immediately come to mind, and also Finland's Lordi. Musically and visually modeled after such groups as Kiss, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, and W.A.S.P., Lordi caused a sensation by winning the 2006 Eurovision contest, which in turn made their third release, The Arockalypse, a hit throughout Europe. Fist-pumping metal with over the top theatrics abound throughout, especially on the album's Euro hit, "Hard Rock Hallelujah," as well as the oh-so-subtle "Bringing Back the Balls to Rock" and the power ballad "It Snows in Hell." Add special guest appearances by Kiss' Bruce Kulick, Accept's Udo Dirkschneider, and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider and Jay Jay French, and you have quite a headbanging rock & roll party. To sum it up succinctly, if GWAR actually wrote memorable songs, they would be quite a lot like Lordi.