Lost Society interview

They go by the name of Lost Society, they originate from Finland, they specialize in traditional thrash and they stand as one of Nuclear Blast’s newest favorites. Having a charismatic lad like Samy Elbanna as their leader, the Finns are here to prove that, although somewhat latecomers to the scene, they rightfully deserve a place among its most talented new additions. Following the release of their debut, "Fast Loud Death", we contacted the aforementioned youngster in order to learn more about this highly promising band.

Hello from Greece! Since you are newcomers at the thrash metal scene, could you introduce yourself and the band, in a few words?
Hey man! I’m Samy Elbanna and I’m the guitarist and singer for the thrash/speed metal band Lost Society! The band was founded in 2010 by myself and my friend who later on left the band. After many line-up changes, we finally got this line-up together in the summer of 2011 and since that have been playing gigs around Finland and practicing all the time! Towards the end of 2012 we went Sonic Pump Studios to record our first album "Fast Loud Death" with Nino Laurenne as our producer and we signed to Nuclear Blast Records! The album is out on March 15th in Europe, March 18th in the UK and April 2nd in North America via Nuclear Blast Records!

I must say that I truly enjoyed listening to your debut album, as I found your sound impressively fresh and uncompromising. What would you say is the factor in making "Fast Loud Death" so appealing?
Thank you so much! I'd say that the theme throughout the album is the energy and attitude on the songs, it's just fourteen own songs plus one cover of pure aggression, fastness and loudness! We just like to keep the adrenaline running throughout the album and we are so happy with the outcome!

I have to say that Nino Laurenne is a strange choice for producing a thrash metal album. Do you think that his work may prove decisive, so your album lands in more pairs of ears?
Having Nino produce the album was a really good thing, because he definitely knew what he was talking about and made cool ideas and little things on the songs which made them even better! Nino also of course knows about thrash because in the 80s he played in a thrash band called Antidote! Tight stuff! Nino is the man!

In my opinion, it’s the production that separates you from most thrash bands of your generation - apart from your obviously top musical skills, of course. At this level, one could say that Lost Society is the thrash metal equivalent of bands such as Enforcer, regarding the sound’s energy as well as the balance between modern and traditional stuff. Would you agree on that?
The production on the album is definitely great! Sonic Pump Studios really gave the album the sound that we all were looking for, and it’s great that Nino really got the kind of energy and adrenaline that we have live captured onto the album!

The artwork was designed by Ed Repka, who I believe ended up with an intriguing job, although it’s quite different from his usual pattern. Was the cover’s theme your idea?
We came in with the idea of the tour bus leaving a city that’s destroyed, and we gave this idea to Ed and he transformed it into this masterpiece with the grim reaper driving the bus and with all the awesome detailing. We're really happy with this album cover and we believe that it definitely portrays the album very well!

You come from a country which has a rather insignificant tradition in the thrash field. How come didn’t you end up playing in some atmospheric/melodic/folk band?
For all of us in the band, our music listening has always included mostly 80s and 90s music, we all have started with Iron Maiden, Kiss and so many more! So basically when discovering more bands from that time period, we ran into the thrash metal bands too, and that's how it all started for us! This type of music is just what we love to play and this is what runs in our veins!

Is thrash metal supported in Finland, in general? Is there an underground scene or any specific bands that we should know about?
With all the death metal and more traditional metal here in Finland, there are few thrash bands, but the ones that are around are KILLER! Here in our hometown (Jyväskylä) there’s one called Forced Kill, and in Helsinki there’s one called Nuclear Omnicide! Crazy bands!

You have the privilege of being supported by one of the biggest labels in the metal industry and I notice that their support is overwhelming, something that also applies to the acceptance of the press. After all this that’s happening so fast for you, do you feel accomplished, vindicated, or even somehow stressed about your future?
Nuclear Blast has been doing such a great job with all the promotion and everything in general. We're definitely in the best hands possible, and after all of the press we've got towards the album and in general, we all feel so happy and lucky! It's such a great feeling to read the stuff people write about the album and the band, it's great to know that people enjoy our stuff! We're really thankful towards all the fans and we hope to be continuing playing music for as long as we just can!

What does the '∇X' symbol stand for?
It's a logo I came up with years ago, at the same time actually that the name Lost Society came up. I never really thought that there's any huge meaning for it, I think it's a simple and easy to do logo which sticks to the people who check it out! For some reference, a skull with two bones is probably the closest kind of thing to it!

Considering the hyperactivity of the thrash genre during the last years, I can only assume that Lost Society is equally motivated by newer and older bands. Which ones can you name as the most influential for creating your blend?
The two biggest influences we have, and actually the bands that got us into thrash in the first place are Megadeth and Anthrax! Some of the other types of influences we have in our music come from Pantera with the whole groove-riffing thing and then there’s the crossover aspect that comes from bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Municipal Waste! Also the old Finnish thrash band Stone has been a big influence!

Being one of the newest bands around, would you say that the so-called ‘thrash revival’ thing holds a big significance for you, in a similar way as the older bands do?
I'd say that in a certain way it did make it easier to come OUT THERE now that thrash is coming back, but we've never really thought about it too much. We've just been practicing and playing gigs around and having a good time and now we've got to this place and we're all really happy about all of this!

Your music is heavily influenced by US thrash, of course, yet there’s also a lot of crossover/punk stuff that can be found therein. Do you consider yourselves fans of these types of music as well?
Yeah, definitely! We all started with the 80s thrash with Anthrax and Megadeth, and when we started discovering the other thrash bands, we also discovered bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Municipal Waste which have definitely influenced the music with the more crossover type stuff!

Are there any touring plans yet? What would be the most ideal tour line-up for Lost Society, if you could choose it all by yourselves?
Now that the album has come out, we'll be doing some one-off gigs around Finland and in April we'll be doing a five gig support-tour with Overkill around Finland! In the summer we'll be doing some festivals in Europe and here in Finland! More dates will be confirmed soon and you can always check them out from our Facebook page and the Nuclear Blast pages!  The most ideal line-up would definitely include Anthrax and Municipal Waste, I think we could really cause mayhem!

Can you name five albums that you’ve been listening to, lately?
Stone - "Stone", Municipal Waste - "The Art Of Partying", Anthrax - "Spreading The Disease", Enforcer - "Diamonds", Exodus - "Tempo Of The Damned".

Last -and most important- question: Are the lyrics of the track "Piss Out My Ass" a reference to South Park's episode "Le Petit Tourette"?
YES! South Park is a show that we all enjoy a lot and we watch all the time so it seemed fitting to show tribute by doing this track and it worked out pretty well!

That’s all from me, man! Good luck with your album as well as everything you’ll be doing in the future! Last words are yours...
I'd like to thank all of the Lost Society supporters out there! Check out the album, come see us live and enjoy!