Boxed sets and other releases in such format can be a good opportunity for the fans to gather material that they still don't have for some reasons, or even to the bands to offer something different (leftovers from studio sections, unreleased live shots and songs, such kind of stuff), but there are some that really seems as a megalomaniac idea. And it's the case of "Lordiversity", the boxed set of the Finnish quintet LORDI.

Plain and straight (I had to deal with seven albums at once!): the band's musical work can be compared to the North American band GWAR, because they use a horror-like outfit on the dresses, but playing an accessible form of Hard Rock that seems a mix between elements of AC/DC with KISS, but with plenty influences from Pop Music and Heavy Metal as well. And this release is composed by 7 albums, from "Skelectric Dinosaur" to "Spooky Sextravaganza Spectacular", from their eleventh to their seventeenth album, so expected astonishing changes from one this to its successor. Yes, they used the free time due COVID-19 pandemic to create and record such material.

Mr. Lordi (the band's vocalist) is the mind behind this idea, and only Heaven knows why he did such thing, but the final result is good. . It's obvious that everything was done in different studios and gears, but it's good. And a tip of humor: The fictional release years for the various albums are as followed: 1975, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1995, influenced by the musical movements of each time.

"Skelectric Dinosaur" is incredibly dirty, simple and catchy, and has as its best moments "Day Off of the Devil", "Starsign Spitfire", "Carnivore", "Phantom Lady" and "Blow My Fuse", with fine melodic hooks inherited from KISS during their best moments on the 70's. On "Superflytrap", we have a more Pop Rock/Disco Music orientation, as can be heard on "Macho Freak", "Believe Me", "Spooky Jive", "Bella from Hell", "Cast Out from Heaven" and "Zombimbo", and it would be not an offense to say that it's inspired by "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, so the focus is on the vocals and keyboards.

"The Masterbeast from the Moon" keeps the Disco Music/Pop Music appeal, but tempered with some Hard Rock/AOR elements, what the ears can check on songs as "Moonbeast", "Celestial Serpents", the ballad "Hurricane of the Slain", "Bells of the Netherworld", the long "Church of Succubus" (an aggressive song tempered with Pop melodies), and "Robots Alive!". This album will make radical fans tear the guts off! "Abusement Park", even keeping the accessible outfit, turns into a more AOR/Hard Rock form, as "Abusement Park", "Grrr!", "Ghost Train", "House of Mirrors", "Pinball Machine" (very good chorus, and a heavier song with similarities with ACCEPT), "Rollercoaster", and "Up to No Good". It seems like a transition from the Pop/Disco outfit from the previous albums into Hard Rock again, with focus on the guitars.

"Humanimals" keeps the transition, as there are accessible AOR/POP moments ("Borderline", "Heart of a Lion", "The Bullet Bites Back" that shows great keyboards parts in a TOTO way) and some AOR/Hard Rock songs ("Victims of the Romance", "Be My Maniac" with a set of BON JOVI-like melodies, "Rucking Up the Party"), with keyboards and guitars sharing the attentions. "Abracadaver" is heavier, modern abrasive, with a clear focus on a solid work from bass guitar and drums, as shown by "Devilium", "Abracadaver", "Acid Bleeding Eyes", "Raging at Tomorrow", "I'm Sorry I'm Not Sorry", and "Evil". It's not a sin to say that the abrasive feeling of the album comes from Thrash Metal and Groove Metal, a meeting between METALLICA and PRONG's influences.

And finally (for the sake of my poor spine) "Spooky Sextravaganza Spectacular" is a mix between their accessible Hard Rock with modern influences from Industrial Metal in a similar way to MINISTRY, as testified by "Demon Supreme", "Re-Animate", "Killusion" (this one brings back the influences from Disco Music), "Skull and Bones (The Danger Zone)", "Drekavac", "Terror Extra-Terrestrial", and "If It Ain't Broken (Must Break It)". After almost five hours, one can love or hate LORDI for sure, and can deal with the different aspects of their musical work. But no one can say that "Lordiversity" isn't a good release (except for writer's spine, you know).