The trauma of losing the Eurovision Song Contest can do funny things to a country. In Finland, where the words "nul points" are burned into the national psyche, they have decided to take radical action and appoint hard-rocking death metal band Lordi as their Eurovision entry for 2006.

A far cry from the breezy folk tunes and ultra-safe pop of traditional Eurovision fare, Lordi have scored hits with songs such as Blood Red Sandman. They wield chainsaws on stage, and never perform or give interviews without wearing their rubber fright masks. Lordi's Eurovision entry, Hard Rock Hallelujah, opens with the lines, "The saints are crippled on this sinners' night/ Lost are the lambs with no guiding light", and goes on to celebrate something called "the day of rockoning".

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the choice of Lordi has been greeted with dismay by religious groups both in Finland and abroad. A group of Greek protesters known as the Hellenes have called on the Finnish government to intervene: "We ask the Finnish Commission of the Eurovision Song Contest to cancel the procedure and choose another song. This evil and satanic Finnish band is not welcome in Greece." (This year's contest will take place on May 20 in Athens).

Lordi's supporters argue that the band could hardly make Finland's Eurovision record any worse. Since the country began competing in 1961, it has never troubled the top five, and on three occasions Finnish contestants have come home with the dreaded zero point score.

"It's been a total failure, it is truly a national trauma to us," says Kimmo Valtanen, the managing director of Sony BMG Music Finland, Lordi's record label.

Lordi's lead singer, Mr Lordi (real name: Tomi Putaansuu) vehemently denies that his band are satanists. "We have absolutely nothing to do with devil worship," he says. "I mean, Hard Rock Hallelujah! Would a satanic band write a song title like that? No. Our second single was called The Devil Is a Loser. Although we are not a gospel band, either."

Putaansuu, an Arctic Laplander, cites classic hard rockers Twisted Sister, Kiss and Alice Cooper among his influences, and admits that he will be surprised and disappointed if his band is eliminated from the competition. "We are bringing rock credibility to the Eurovision song contest," he insists. "I always said that it doesn't matter where you perform. If you do a good painting, it should look the same whether it's on the wall of a museum or if it's on the wall of your toilet."