First of all please introduce The Lamp Of Thoth to us. Give us a little insight in your own musical background as well as that of your fellow musicians and please let us also know, when and why you guys decided to form The Lamp Of Thoth.

Lord Strange: All three of us have played in various bands over the years which are too obscure to mention. Our musical backgrounds are the typical do-it-yourself approach of many underground bands – we write the songs that we would like to hear – none of us are trained musicians that I know of. Our line up is as follows: The Overtly Melancholic Lord Strange: bass and vocals; Randy Reaper: guitar; Lady Pentagram: drums. We have existed as a band for about a year now, united for a love of NWOBHM and Doom bands.

Who came up with the moniker The Lamp Of Thoth? And what’s the meaning behind that name?

Lord Strange: The Lamp of Thoth was an esoteric coven which existed in the town of Keighley from where we hail, around 1880. It was rumoured to be made up of some very important people from the area who held power and influence in the town. As the story goes, the used a system of magic which they ‘borrowed’ from The Golden Dawn, but they used this magic not in a self –illuminating way, but in a way which gave The Golden Dawn, and even Madame Blavatsky of the Theosophists cause for concern. It was claimed they were making sacrifices and raising elementals for their own personal gain and power. We practice right next door to where this all happened – the house which they used to hold these meetings was supposedly demolished because of a railway line (which actually goes nowhere near it) but there are rumours that the house was so haunted by what these cultists released it simply had to be destroyed. Coming from Keighley and knowing the dark and oppressive atmosphere which characterises this small industrial town with its dark satanic mills, we identified with the story and felt it answered a lot of questions!

The Lamp rocks as a classic power trio... which advantages does such a constellation have for a band and what was it that made you decide to kick off the band as a threepiece?

Lord Strange: The band is a threepiece because musically in a band, i think that’s all you need. We love that classic sound. It makes things easier in terms of writing, there’s not too many cooks spoiling the broth!

If you were asked to describe your band’s sound to someone who’s never heard any of your songs so far and who’s also not too familiar with Doom Metal in general, what would you tell him?

Randy Reaper: Occulticus Fucking Doomicus?…we’re Heavy Metal aren‘t we? What do you think Lord Strange?

Lord Strange: Yeah we’re heavy metal! Heavy Metal okay? There have I said it enough? We’re heavy metal! Just like your fucking brain!

If you look back on the Lamp’s career so far, what would you say are the cornerstones in it’s still young existence?

Lord Strange: Supporting some great bands! Reverend Bizarre, the almighty Gates of Slumber, Centurion’s Ghost and Earthride.

Randy Reaper: Yeah definitely the gigs, that’s what Heavy Metal is all about, getting up there playing live, showing who you are and getting very much in peoples faces - each gig has been fantastic to play and they keep getting better. September will see us head to Germany for the Power of Doom Festival to share the stage with Candlemass and Warning - October will see us play twice with Pagan Altar, those gigs will undoubtedly be highlights for us all.

Only a short time after The Lamp’s first songs started to float around on the internet, the band has been offered a deal by Rich Walker of the famous English underground metal label The Miskatonic Foundation. How did come to this dangerous meeting of two of Albion’s coolest old school metal forces?

Lord Strange: Rich managed to get hold of our demo, and because he liked it he recommended that the nefarious Randy Reaper should be raised from the dead and should join us. He asked us to play at the Doom Metal Inquisition in Leeds and then offered us the chance to make an album.

Randy Reaper: I’ve known Rich for nearly a decade and as I left his place one evening he said in passing ‘you’ll be signed soon enough, now fuck off home before I miss Eastenders…’. He never let on that he wanted us on Miskatonic until a few months later...and nor could we ever have dreamed of being part of such a legendary label.

And what do you expect from the collaboration with Rich? What can an established and prestigious label like Miskatonic do for a young and hungry band like The Lamp Of Thoth?

Lord Strange: What I expect from this collaboration is to make a great album with the knowledge we have someone who understands exactly what we are about behind us. Rich is one of the pillars of the underground metal scene in England, and its great to be associated with him. He has given us some fantastic opportunities that we never would have had otherwise. It is nice to be involved with someone who is doer, who doesn’t fuck about, gets things done and says exactly what he thinks whilst still being enthusiastic about the music. His vision of a continuing traditional British heavy metal scene which ignores all trends and fashions and is purged of all egotism and bullshit is one we all share.

How many songs will be on the album? And will there also be any re-recorded tracks from your first demo “I Love The Lamp”? If so, which songs will it be and in what way will the album versions differ from the demo versions?

The Lamp Of Thoth: We are hoping to record all the songs from the demo again. We have just re-recorded The Lamp of Thoth for a single.

And as we’ve just mentioned your demo, let’s talk about it in more detail... where and when have the five songs + intro been recorded and what were the sessions alike?

Lord Strange: The songs were recorded in our practice room, whilst the intro was recorded at my house using a cheap keyboard and the screams from the captive women in my cellar.

Randy Reaper: T’was me who made her scream, but I’m not saying how….

How has the demo been received by fans and media? I suppose you’ve got a lot of positive feedback and reviews, haven’t you?

Lord Strange: We have been very happy with the reviews we have read so far. They all seem to be positive, and people seem to like us.

Randy Reaper: Yeah there were some good reviews, we’re looking forward to seeing what people make of our first proper recordings which will see light as ‘The Cauldron of Witchery EP’. It has The Lamp of Thoth re-recorded and also our take on Cirith Ungol’s Frost & Fire. It will be available only on 10” vinyl and limited to 500 copies…oh and I believe it’s out July 31st.

My fave song of the whole demo is a completely fucked up obscure doom metal monster by the prominent title of “Blood On Satan’s Claw”. Is there any connection between that song and the Reverend Bizarre hymn of the same title? Or is your “Blood On Satan’s Claw” rather a homage to the old horror flick than to the Finnish doom merchants?

Lord Strange: I knew that Reverend Bizarre had a song of the same title, but I think it was a single and, to be honest, I have never heard it.

On your MySpace site (www.myspace.com/thelampofthoth) there are also two songs which are not on the demo, namely “The Boggart” and “You Will Obey”. Why haven’t they found their way to “I Love The Lamp”, too? And do you still have any other aces up your sleeve that haven’t been drawn yet?

Randy Reaper: Well at the time the demo was hastily put together, we had the support slot with Reverend Bizarre and realised that people might ask us if we had a demo - we didn’t have any money to pay for a studio and so recorded just a few songs ourselves.
We have lots of others which people haven‘t heard yet - Into The Lair of The Gorgon, Sing As You Slay, Dread Of The Land are just a few of the titles which will be on the album - we’ll probably be playing some of these in Germany and London as a taster of what is to come….Hopefully the near future will also see us collaborate with the amazing Cold Embrace for a split single.

How would you describe the Heavy Metal scene in the UK at the moment? Is it any vivid and lively? And what’s the overall situation alike for an upstart like The Lamp Of Thoth? Do you get a lot of recognition, support, oportunities to play live, etc?

Randy Reaper: We get relatively few chances to play live as we‘re not what the ‘metal scene‘ wants, the scene in the UK is just full of idiotic trend following bands who copy whatever the flavour of the month is, but I guess that’s the same anywhere really….it makes it difficult to get gigs as we aren’t what the people want - not that we care. If we were Death Metal, or Thrash we’d be playing every week but that’s not what we’re about.
At the moment we’ve only played 3 gigs in 9 months! But at least it makes each gig momentous in it’s own way, we’re not ones to whore ourselves out to all and sundry.

Which other British Heavy Metal acts of the present do you consider the best and most promising? Which of your fellow countrymen should our readers definitly check out?

Randy Reaper: Well, I’m sure most of the people reading this will be aware of the UK Titans of Doom which are Pagan Altar, Solstice and Warning. But recently the scene has begun to stir a little and there’s now Witchsorrow, Sinister Tales, oh and of course the legendary Solomon Kane…

Lord Strange: Solomon Kane? That old one-eyed bastard Titus Crowe? He can steal my woman, but not my soul, you Bastard!!!

Thanks a lot for the answers! I hope you had some fun doing the interview... Good luck with your upcoming CD and all your other future plans!! I love the Lamp!!
 

Questions: March 2006 by Tobi
Answers: July 2007 by Lord Strange & Randy Reaper