Chris Harms – Lord of The Lost ‘A Unification Lost Souls’

One of the best things about the heavy music community is the comradery between music fans. Sure, we’re all open to different opinions about what’s classed a banger and what’s not, but for the most part, we’re some of the best and most welcoming humans in the world. Love ya legends.

So when you come across a band with similar values who are doing their part of their side of the world to make the community an inclusive place, you have to stop and give them the spotlight! That’s where we’re at today with Lord Of The Lost, a five-piece operatic metal band from Germany who is set to release their seventh studio album Judas on July 2nd via Napalm Records.

To celebrate, we’ve got the leader of the lost himself, Chris Harms, joining WoS for a chat all about the band’s early beginnings, the difficulty with performing epic songs in a live setting and the chances of them heading along to Eurovision (where let’s face it, they’d annihilate the competition)..

Hey Chris, great to meet you! For those discovering you, tell us how Lord Of The Lost came to be the band you are today…

I think it’s impossible, for many reasons, to write an entire book here in this one paragraph. Let’s say it was my last resort. I founded it because me and my ideas did not seem to fit in any of the musical projects I was involved in back then. And over time it became the last resort for more and more people that were searching for something that speaks to and for their hearts. People that did not seem to fit in somehow, as well. This is what we, and also the band’s name, as an allegory for this feeling, stand for.

Love that mentality. It’s like the heavy music scene, we’re all misfits, that just fit in with each other and we all get along. Your forthcoming release Judas is your seventh studio album (and it’s a double record too!). For a band that’s been called masters of genrefluid sounds, how do you keep it fresh and exciting with each release that comes our way?

We keep it fresh and exciting by not trying to keep it fresh and exciting. We just follow what feels right. All of these things, we never do them for strategic reasons, or because someone might like it best that way, or because this and that might be in, hip or lit, or however you wanna call it. The moment you try to be innovative, you are not.

Listening to your latest single ‘For They Know Not What They Do’, it takes you on a journey from start to finish BUT it sounds so epic. I can’t help but imagine this song playing in a huge church somewhere around the world and how it’ll sound with a backing choir – how would you guys go about performing this one in a live setting (once shows return post-COVID)?

On one hand, we do use a sequencer which is responsible for being the third, fourth, fifth and so on hand of our keyboard player. But this sequencer, of course, does not cover any of the stuff that we ourselves are doing on our instruments. So, the live versions are always rougher, more rock n roll, harder, sometimes heavier, less attention to details, more attention to the moment. An album is like a movie, full of special FX, CGI, thousands of hours of shooting, post-production, colour grading… A live show is like the same movie on a theater stage. If you wanna put Star Wars on a theater stage you have to plan with the same kind of workarounds.

‘For They Know Not What They Do’ is considered by some to be your ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. How did the process of aligning all the key factors (instrumentals, choir etc) come about to make it the opus it has become?

Thanks for the compliment but I dare to disagree. Sure, we use the obvious visual “Bohemian Rhapsody“ quote in the video, singing together as a choir. But apart from that, our song is WAY simpler, with a very different arrangement and order of parts. Our song is based on a very classical pop structure except for the two separate chorus parts, the QUEEN song is an ABC-part song without any logical structure and no real repetition of any major part. Much more like classical music. Without trying to devalue our song, but it cannot sustain the comparison with such an artwork like “BH“.

Totally get you there. Then would you say Queen/Freddie Mercury play a big part in influencing your music or what do you consider to be the biggest musical influence in your life?

I have started listening to QUEEN quite late actually. They have been always around. But as a kid or young person I did not understand the fascination about the band. That changed very much after I got into studying audio engineering. I re-discovered their groundbreaking productions and I fell in love with the uniqueness of Freddie’s voice and character. I remember Freddie’s death being on the news back then. It was the first time I have learned about AIDS and it was the first time hearing people ranting about gay people. Something I did not understand back then and I still do not understand today.

You’re not wrong there. It’s definitely one of those things that just doesn’t make sense – why be interested in criticising something that has nothing to do with you! Anyway, we’re in a good place with our scene though. The shit people tend to fade into obscurity! Back to you guys though, I’d half expect to see you representing Germany at Eurovision. Have you thought about applying to perform for your country?

Definitely yes. If we are free to be “us“, 100%, we’d do it.

You’ve got my vote! After the release of Judas on July 2nd, what are your next plans for global domination?

Free condoms for everyone, everywhere, at every time. In pharmacies for instance. Well, maybe we just start with “one free condom in every order“ at LORD-SHOP.de

Sounds good to me. We can send them to the homophobes of the world first too!

Interview by Paul ‘Browny’ Brown

Follow Lord Of The Lost on Facebook and Instagram

Judas is out July 2nd via Napalm Records.
Pre-Order here

Lord Of The Lost – Judas tracklisting

CD #1 – Damnation

1. Priest
2. For They Know Not What They Do
3. Your Star Has Led You Astray
4. Born with a Broken Heart
5. The 13th
6. In the Field of Blood
7. 2000 Years a Pyre
8. Death Is Just a Kiss Away
9. The Heart Is a Traitor
10. Euphoria
11. Be Still and Know
12. The Death of All Colours

CD #2 – Salvation

1. The Gospel of Judas
2. Viva Vendetta
3. Argent
4. The Heartbeat of the Devil
5. And it Was Night
6. My Constellation
7. The Ashes of Flowers
8. Iskarioth
9. A War Within
10. A World where We Belong
11. Apokatastasis
12. Work of Salvation