No rest for the silence: Lost Society live at Tavastia, Helsinki 13.12

It was a typical Monday night in a really bleak Finnish winter, but that didn’t stop the start of a new tour with some well-known guys from Jyväskylä.

The “No Rest for the Sickest Tour 2021” is the first real tour Lost Society has had the chance to do promoting their latest album “No Absolution”, released a few years ago, when the pandemonium of the current virus began in our lives.

Many seasons after their release, the band played a few shows here and there, but now they’ve come up with a sequel to promote and bring quality chaos to fans in their home country. To do the honors, a new band called DIRT was committed to warming the cold of our skins.

Many seasons after their release, the band played a few shows here and there, but now they’ve come up with a sequel to promote and bring quality chaos to fans in their home country. To do the honors, a new band called “Dirt” was committed to warming the cold of our skins.

First of all, it’s interesting to note how we look like our idols from the 70s and 80s more than ever. Mustaches, vintage clothes and hair will bring back that nostalgic style, especially when the music starts. Blending two worlds of rock, Dirt can sound catchy like a hard rock group and sharp as in the early years of the grunge era. The singer Aleksi Tiainen has a good voice and the whole band looks like one piece, headbanging and enjoying the whole show. I’m looking forward to hearing more about these guys, but if you want to check it out for yourself, they’ve just released some new songs like “Low Life” and “Real World“.

After 15 minutes and a countdown to the start of the main event, Tapani “Tazzy” Fagerström came out with his drumsticks ready for some action, and well, he was right!

Arttu, Mirko and Samy showed up bringing the first chords of “Nonbeliever” from the already mentioned “No Absolution” record, and just to let you know, most of the songs tonight are hits from this album, so get ready for some modern and wild stuff.

“Deliver Me” has some fast guitar solos and it shows how synchronized Arttu and Samy are. At this point, the crowd began to give some signs of how it would behave during the night. It was a Monday night, people were tired from the weekend and still needed to save energy for the rest of the week, but I don’t think it makes any difference to the band as Samy will do the same kind of performance no matter if he’s playing at Tavastia, Tuska or even a sold-out Wembley arena. The guy has an almost infinite source of energy living in his chest.

Well, if some fans aren’t quite as familiar with how Taz sounds live, definitely “KILL (These Who Oppose Me)” from LS‘s debut album “Fast Loud Death” was a good song to show off some fast beats while Samy had to sing as fast as he could keep pace. Spoiler: it worked! “Hollow Eyes” has this Megadeth vibe and it’s hard not to feel mesmerized by Arttu playing the riffs on this one.

To paint the proper frame for the next song, “Blood on Your Hands“, we had a mosh pit emerging in the center of Tavastia. The way Samy (now without his leather jacket, covered by amazing tattoos) switches to his clean vocals is quite natural and well done. He growls when the music needs it. Unfortunately, the solo battle was not well received by the public. The whole thing was cool, but it seems like every year that guitar solos are making people lose interest and go check their messages or buy another beer. The guys were great though.

The rescue to bring the eyes back to the stage came with the anthem “I Am The Antidote“. Riffs, vocals, amazing lyrics and it always sounds great live. As the lyrics say “Now do you see where we are all?” Yeah, we were there headbanging with you guys! ;)

It wasn’t just once that Samy said something necessary about how important and great it was to play live again, but not only that. He spoke about how sad we felt during the difficult months of the pandemic, making us realize that we were there now, safe, healthy and having fun. He made us look around and see the smiles, feel the vibe. A true frontman knows how to make everyone feel special and enjoy the show. Ladies and gentlemen, Samy Elbanna!

“Pray for Death” is not only a good song, but it shows more of our singer’s shredder side. We can’t deny Alexi Laiho’s influence on Samy, and we all know the Wildchild will be forever proud of his friend. “Into Eternity” is another instant classic since its release. A partnership between the band and the legendary Apocalyptica (who wasn’t there, just to be clear) created something special, so when Samy sang the acapella chorus, it was a nice warm-up for the entire song. Beautiful lights coloring the background, make us think about the multiverse of our feelings. What a song!

Playing almost in its entirety as already mentioned, we had two more pieces from No Absolution. “Outbreak (No Rest for the Sick)” threw some heavy riffs into the crowd, then soothed our hearts with “Artificial.” Before the encore, they made some jokes and said the show was ending, but not without a few more songs.

“Braindead” is an album that showed very well the evolution process of Lost Society five years ago and is already marked in the Finnish metal scene as an important part of history. “Riot” proved why. Good groove to finish the first encore. The final chapter of the night ending with “No Absolution” was the right choice, as it is a song with the best of these four metal artists: melodic, aggressive and heavy.

With Samuli Edelmann playing through the speakers, we said goodbye to the boys. I can’t remember the last time I saw such a nice and friendly band on stage. They can be explosive, but very connected with the fans. I’ve lost count of the times Samy looked at some fans and showed a smile or said his appreciation for someone wearing an LS shirt raising his fist in the air, not to mention thanking his guitar tech in front of everyone. It may sound silly, but it’s the kind of thing that makes him different and special. Definitely a guy to look up to. The bond between the entire band is real and strong as good childhood friends they are. The guys have already recorded a new album, which is coming out next year and as fans we can’t wait to see how they sound like now. It’s nice to have a band like Lost Society carrying the Finnish flame abroad, but knowing they’re always welcome here in the land of a thousand lakes. What a Monday night! What a society we’re building.

You can watch our video report about the show below: