The Lamp of Thoth - Omens, Portents and Doom (Miskatonic)
By Mike Ballue
July 18, 2008

Fasten your safety belt and put on your crash helmet boys and girls, you’re about to not just get hit but fuckin’ leveled. The Lamp of Thoth have been heralded for some time now as one of the leading lights of a new doom metal generation. They won that acclaim on a strength and an individuality that was ferocious and raw. The demo and the 10" were killer salvos of doom, but you could tell they were still finding the right bit, bridle and reigns with which to ride the beast they had created. Well, with this their first full length, they have found that full grasp with a bar of iron and a length of hangman’s rope. A step up for sure, but not a single drop of rawness sacrificed. This is some of the most assaultive, in your face doom metal to rip speakers ever. Good doom is always heavy and immense, and TLOT are definitely both of those but in addition there is just a snarling, evil belligerence present that sets them in their own unique territory. Forget the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, there are three riders, one’s a female and they’re headed for your stereo....

Opener “I Love The Lamp” bursts out in a demonic swagger before riding over the cliff into pit of consummate doom. There, right in the first two minutes of this hour plus opus, is one of the elements that makes this a classic album, the ability to weave diverse riffs and rhythmic sections into cohesive songs. The guitar rips auditory flesh like an iron-toothed wolf. The drums pound out the perfect bedrock foundation, while the bass pulls both together like gravity. Over it all the vocals carry a dark tale of..shall we say “Omens, Portents and Doom”? And well carried that tale is, for the vocals are strong, unique and very well suited to the sound of TLOT. All together it forms a whole, that is proudly and defiantly unique and individual, but not standing out as such due to any one particular factor. Underneath, it’s all animated by the twisted, dark, forceful soul of the band...and if you have the least love for doom metal, you’ll find yourself blessing this black, wretched soul. A couple of sly nods to Sabbath are worked in, without detracting or distracting from the flow of the song itself.

Next up is “Witchcraft & The Law” and the pounding, rolling wave of doom continues to crush all in it’s path. TLOT’s ability to generate high quality songs is impressive indeed. “Wings of Doom” will be familiar to close followers of The Lamp of Thoth and welcome indeed in a new and more fully produced version, for it epitomizes what TLOT are about. It’s not overly complex, not tricky...just powerful as hell and created and executed with a mastery of the doom metal craft that is exemplorary.

“The House” - begins as a metal ballad should be, creepy, haunting and threatening but compelling in a darkly beautiful fashion. This one has you looking over your shoulder and then.....BLAM! The metal axe, the war clubs and the pummeling mace assault you...and then you’re left bleeding on the floor, once more serenaded by the very demons that have just wrought destruction on you. The spoken word section is well written enough to be considered a poetic recitation, and played with enough class and restraint to let it come across as both attracting and disturbing in a horrific way, rather than cheesy as it may have in the ham-handed over-the-top fashion less talented bands would have wielded it in.

The onslaught continues with “Blood on Satan’s Claw” - another known tune for existing fans. This one just bleeds aggression, hate and nastiness. “Hey you! You motherfucking whore, you’re going to burn there’s blood on Satan’s claw”. No punches pulled what so fucking ever. “Victorian Wizard” rides in on another in the seemingly endless pantheon of flawless and crushing doom riffs. It just doesn’t get any more pure doom metal than this. This one is rapidly becoming my favorite track on the album. Thick, heavy and bruising while at the same time embedding the melodic components into the memory of the listener with an iron hook. It has all the elements that make The Lamp of Thoth a doom treasure. The absolute out and out pure doom in both slow and mid-tempo varieties, the haunting spoken word, the compositional strength etc., etc., etc. and so well done that not a second of it’s 10+ minute length in wasted or stretched.

If “You Will Obey” does not get your head banging, you’re either dead or completely bereft of musical taste; and I think it would more likely be the latter as this one is very likely to get even the dead head banging. Urgent and commanding (well titled in that aspect this one is), this song has that kind of feel that would send the energy through the roof live. “Pagan Daze” is proud, heroic and as close to an anthem for TLOT as currently exists. A previous version of this one has also been heard, but the new one slays...more mature, heavier, better produced and making full use of it’s nearly 8 minute length. “Hand of Glory” continues the procession of brutish musical beasts. Ever heard a doom metal band use whistling effectively before? Well lend an ear to this tune and you will, as well as hearing bone powdering heaviness. “Satan’s Hammer” closes it all out, appropriately all vitriol and evil.

This one is absolutely in the running for album of the year, along with TGOS’ Conqueror it’s currently well out ahead of the pack. It will rank up there with the classic doom metal debut albums of all time. For those who, like me, had previously heard not just what was there but what could be there with The Lamp of Thoth, the dark promise is now fulfilled and then some. Do I really have to tell you to buy this? Buy it! You will obey! Or there will be your blood on Satan’s Claw...


Purchase Portents, Omens, & Dooms and Cauldron of Witchery at the Hellride Music Superstore

Listen to an MP3 of I Love The Lamp

Read the Hellride review of Cauldron Of Witchery

Visit The Lamp Of Thoth website at www.myspace.com/thelampofthoth

slava donskoy

aye,killer review Mike...so when it's gonna be out?

Mike

just a few more weeks...

MetalSlug

Not too shabby!

__________________
Doom on!

MISKATONIC

Now at press, shipping in around 3-4 weeks.

__________________
Old films old views,
old problems, bad news
no answers, no luck
no bastard gives a fuck.
no sense in staying sane
no end to pissing rain

Skybone

Well looking forward to getting hold of this one!

daniel

While I liked the MLP, this song 'Hand of Glory' just sounds silly.

__________________
Are you the tyrant, who cast them to the sea?
One day you'll be among the dead.

quietus

While the mlp is killer, Portents blows it away easily. For me Hand of Glory is just another example of the band's insane genious and of course precedes the unreal Satan's Hammer.

__________________
"I tell you what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go out tonite.
Probably drop an acid tab first,I ain't gonna give a shit about them Ruskies. I'm going to go into my head tonight.

MISKATONIC

Nick, wait till you hear tracks like "Catweazle", "Ozzy's Ghost" and "THE LAMENTATIONS OF MY FIST". ha ha, there is no stopping this band.They're as mad as damn hatters.......

__________________
Old films old views,
old problems, bad news
no answers, no luck
no bastard gives a fuck.
no sense in staying sane
no end to pissing rain

daniel

Well that's the problem isn't it, I don't like humour and a feeling of insincerity in Doom.

__________________
Are you the tyrant, who cast them to the sea?
One day you'll be among the dead.

Peter Vicar

These are of course matters of taste, but.............

Where the fuck did you get that insincerity part, Daniel?! I think there's nothing wrong with a twist of eccentricity in music, and TLoT have loads of that. Why don't you respect their thing and sound instead of bitching. Let your music do the talking if you want to define what belongs to doom and what does not

__________________
Lord Vicar,
http://www.myspace.com/lordvicar C.O.T.D.

ORNE,
http://www.myspace.com/ornemusic

daniel

I just wrote a long reply but this CUNT FUCK SHIT forum lost my message somewhere cos it keeps logging me out after like 3 minutes. I'm trying to remember what I said word for word but I know I've forgotten half of it. Fuck off.

__________________
Are you the tyrant, who cast them to the sea?
One day you'll be among the dead.

daniel

This is what I remember, though I know the original nessage was better:

Humour doesn’t belong in Doom Metal to me, not these days, though it was often more stupidity than humour in the past. And that means I don’t appreciate a lot of RB material either. The band was never the same after the first album anyway.

Why should I NOT say these things, I act according to what I feel and think, without necessarily placing it in context of what is more accepted, and I’m not trying to say I’m being special here, that is utterly laughable and of no interest but I’m not recquired to respect anything if I don’t feel it inside. Why is it endless praise is so great for everyone yet the slightest criticism endeavoured to be surpressed. It is of no consequence whether I play or write music or not. It doesn’t change my opinion, nor does it automatically enter me into a competition where I have to prove my worth in order to be allowed to voice any dissent, and my opinions are viewed and judged solely based on what others think of what creations I have put forth.
I have’t critisised you for disliking Liege Lord for example, a band that blows TLOT away (not that it matters), nor for not really having any interest in the underground history of Heavy Metal.
I don’t even believe everyone is as enthusiastic as they purport anyway, some people just say certain things to belong.

It was already in London last year that this feeling started creeping up on me that I haven’t been able to shake, I feel the band is overly theatrical in their delivery, the ‘right’ emotion isn’t there for me, when I listen to them it feels like the band is having a laugh, I don't feel comfortable with that. It has nothing to do with who they; TLOT are, because I, unlike Rich, don’t act along the lines of; music good/ok/average + members friends, acquaintances etc. = AMAZING band + conflicting actions can be overlooked, music good/ok/average + memebers ‘disrespectful’, know ‘wrong’ people or on ‘wrong’ label = fuckin bunch of turds + conflicting actions have to be magnified and perpetuated ad nauseum in public.

__________________
Are you the tyrant, who cast them to the sea?
One day you'll be among the dead.

MISKATONIC

Have some more sour grapes Dani, why don't you?

__________________
Old films old views,
old problems, bad news
no answers, no luck
no bastard gives a fuck.
no sense in staying sane
no end to pissing rain