The great return of good old 80’s-sounding thrash is firmly on the tracks. Every year brings its share of youthful bands with patched jackets and a deep desire to go on the road and give their all on stage. The traditional thrash that these bands use as a reference (sometimes with a punk/hardcore influence) is authentic, unadorned music, with a marked taste for partying. No wonder this is working with young people now, the way it worked 30 years ago: to hell with all the problems, to hell with being proper and well-behaved – thrash is here to have fun and to thumb one’s nose at all the worries.
This is exactly the state of mind the Finns of Lost Society (a new band on the thrash revival scene) seem to exude. We talked to the band’s leader, vocalist/guitarist Samy Elbanna, and the outcome was a feeling of unshakable enthusiasm, maybe even healthy naiveté. For when something drives you to follow your guts and charge forward, it can only be called healthy.
Samy answers our questions.
About thrash metal : « It’s just pure attitude and having fun! »
Radio Metal: We can hear in your music a lot of old thrash from the Eighties with a punk vibe we can also hear in bands like Anthrax or in more recent bands of this thrash revival wave like Municipal Waste, especially for the humoristic side. What are your influences?
The two biggest influences we have musically and at the same time the two bands that got us into thrash metal are Megadeth and Anthrax! After hearing these two bands we got really hooked on their music and after this we started discovering more and more bands like Testament, Slayer, Exodus and the list goes on. The biggest influence to us are definitely the classic thrash bands from the Eighties, but we incorporated also elements of groove-riffing which has been influenced by Pantera and we also have the element of the more punk-styled thrash which has been heavily influenced by Municipal Waste and other crossover bands!
Old thrash metal is coming back in fashion, with bands like Municipal Waste, Violator, Bonded By Blood, etc. How do you explain this thrash revival?
I’d say it’s coming back with the same kind of idea as what we have too, that more and more people start listening to the good old Eighties/Nineties band and get inspired to play the same kind of music! For us, we have always listened to music from those times and we really love the albums that came out at those times, it’s just pure attitude and having fun! It’s great that there are bands bringing back that vibe from those times!
Lost Society is the name of the band. What’s the meaning of such a name, is this your vision of our world?
I actually made up this name, years ago after we had tried many different names but none of them really stuck to us. Finally with the name Lost Society it just sounded so good that we decided to keep it! It’s short but yet leaves an impression so it’s one that the crowds can really remember. As for the concept, it’s kind of talking about society these days, or about problems there are. But we’ve never wanted to take a political approach, so I’d say its just two words that tell about some of our lyrical themes and stick to your head!
The song « Trash All Over You » relates to the fact that all the problems in the world seem to pile up and you get trashed all over. The song carries the feeling of being mad at everything and everyone at the same time. What problems do you relate to, precisely?
The lyrics were written about many problems that there are, of course we couldn’t cover them all, haha! But when listening to the song, basically everyone can think about what it is in their lives that just can be explained by ‘Trash All Over You’! Some problems around here can be just simply when there’s some people who really piss us off!
The album is called Fast Loud Death. It looks like, with such a title, you wanted to keep things simple and just introduce yourselves and say in three words what Lost Society’s music is about. Is this how it is meant?
Definitely! The title is keeping things good and simple, and it’s a title that I’m sure will stick in your mind! But also it is really explaining the theme of the album and a lot of our music! The songs are fast, they are loud and they’ll take you away with them! With the title plus the album cover art, the listener will get the full package of energy that Lost Society has to offer!
« If you’d meet us you’d know we’re not the kind of monsters we sound like with the songs, haha! »
The lyrics are pretty agressive. You’ve got songs like « Kill Those Who Oppose Me », « Bitch, Out’ My Way », « Piss Out My Ass ». Where does that agression come from. Are you guys particularly angry or is this just for fun, just like the artwork suggests it?
A majority of the lyrics always are the very aggressive kinds, but if you’d meet us you’d know we’re not the kind of monsters we sound like with the songs, haha! We definitely have things that we want to get out there, angry messages and all, we get them very well out with the music. Songs like « KILL », « Bitch, Out’ My Way », they have the message that we go on no matter what comes against us!
On the artwork, we see your tourbus leaving a city that’s been destroyed. Are you the kind of band that destroys the backstage and hotel rooms after a show?
I’d say it refers more to the gig, we come to the place, we play a loud, aggressive and energetic show which will leave the place in ruins! We always give it our complete all when we play live and we always « destroy » the place! We get the audience in with us and together we always have a great time on stage! Come check out the show whenever you can!
The clip for the song « Braindead Metalhead » includes supportive words from several thrash legends: Mille Petrozza of Kreator, Schmier of Destruction, and Andreas Kisser of Sepultura. What does this support represent to you?
It has been really amazing seeing the quotes that the guys and the press have given after listening to the album! It’s so cool seeing that the legends who have influenced us so much and who we idolize give us good feedback, it gives us a lot of motivation and a feeling that we’ve definitely done a good album! All of us are so proud of the album and we really feel that the crowds are gonna like it too!
There is a song called « Diary Of A Thrashman ». Is this a hommage to Ozzy Osbourne and his « Diary Of A Mad Man »?
Yeah, it’s definitely a tribute to Ozzy! When we made the song and I started writing the lyrics to it, basically the first lyrics I made were the ones in the verse: « I gotta get a drink, I gotta get a drink now » and we thought of the name ‘Diary Of A Thrashman’ which kind of relates to the lyrics plus it has the tribute element to Ozzy!
You took part in the world-renowned GBOB (Global Battle Of the Bands). Can you tell us more about this contest?
We entered the contest in the beginning of 2012 when we played in the semi-finals in our hometown of Jyväskylä. We won that one and went over to the finals in Helsinki which we won too! The world finals were held in London in December 2012 in which we had a great time! All in all it was a really great experience for all of us and we met tons of new people and heard many new bands that were really awesome!
Did you see some repercussions on your career?
Until now our career has gone very smoothly forwards, there haven’t been any problems which we’ve noticed and it’s just been a really fun trip for all of us! We really love playing music and doing what we do so we enjoy the hell out of all of this! We practice a lot and we hang out together all the time so it’s really an awesome time all the time!
« We come to the place, we play a loud, aggressive and energetic show which will leave the place in ruins! »
There is a Kiss cover song on the album. What’s your relationship to this band?
We chose the KISS song as a cover because we had been playing this song so many times live and in rehearsals and we had made a pretty cool version out of it with tons of solos and just a faster tempo! All of us from the band really love KISS and we’ve been listening to it for all of our lives so its a kind of tribute to them by putting it on the album!
Actually, you did pick a song that isn’t an obvious classic Kiss tune. Do you have a special relationship to this song or did you want to show to people something different than « Detroit Rock City » or « I Was Made For Loving You »?
The reason is a bit of both, we have been playing the song « I Stole Your Love » so many times live and in practice and the song itself is one of our favorite KISS tunes, but also a part of why I liked doing it is because it’s not maybe the first song you’d think about when you talk about KISS so maybe people will go check it out and see why it’s so awesome!
Interview conducted by e-mail on February 25th 2013
Questions: Metal’O Phil
Introduction: Spaceman
Lost Society on Facebook
Album Fast Loud Death out since March 15th 2013 via Nuclear Blast Records
