Interview with  

55 minutes of crushing ultra slow mega doom over 3 songs. It is quite a remarkable album you have made, what do you reckon ?

I guess since you are remarking on it, it is! It's been remarked upon as a vast proto-slab for sure.

Looking at the line up it is quite a stunning ensemble here can you fill us in on the line up and when and where came the idea up for this project ?

SUNN O))) and GOATSNAKE toured the UK together in June 2000, during which I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Mr. Justin Greaves. Following the tour I spent time in Nottingham with Greaves and his family, and spent time jamming and writing the foundations of which would become the ziggurat of TEETH OF LIONS RULE THE DIVINE. At that incarnation we were an instrumental 3 piece with Marvin from Varukers on bass guitar. We wrote some material re-arranged the KILLDOZER cover track and played one gig at The Old Angel there in Nottingham town centre. Following this and spreading some rehearsal tapes to Anderson and Dorrian, We converged again in Nottingham during winter 2000/2001 post-masochistic mental abuse to sort out this grimm thought pattern and lay some heavy doses down in the miniscule studio Thumb. Dorrian completed the vocals later in the year and Anderson and Billy Anderson mixed/mastered in San Francisco during the autumn 2001. Here we are.

Rampton is the title, what is the main message in that title ?

If I am not mistaken Rampton is the name of a mental hospital in the Coventry area. This is also an area where the local youth enjoy the sport of glue sniffing to a higher degree than what is normal for the British, or so I've heard, which I believe holds enough of a special place in the hearts of Anderson and Dorrian to warrant the title. Groups such as Whitehouse and others have also employed this plumage as an album title.

The production is made by the infamous Billy Anderson, how did he get involved in the project ?

Since Dorrian had recorded Endtyme with him in mid 2000, and Anderson had several association with him it became a natural choice. Billy has the ear and neurons to complete the fourth phase of this complicated transcontinental dirge.

Looking at the tracklist He who accepts everything that is offered, New Pants and The Smiler is there a lyrical message ?

Yes definitely, and I think the answers you are looking for are best interpreted by Dorrian's (and KILLDOZER's) poetry directly:

The Smiler

Harvester of death behind a marble altar Sucking your last breath – smiling A gibbering wreck, rope of love around your neck Life a crucifixion - keep smiling Sinking into depths, hands are tied behind your back Strangled by devotion – smiling Abandonment of self, depression is your ecstasy In misfortune engrossed – smiling Destruction is wealth - punishment your luxury Elation through pain - Still smiling Slave of bleak desire - In vacuum void of pity Exotic isolation – Smiling Barren emotion cuts like a blunt knife Against the hatred of your blackened heart Roaming through states in search of joy They spit out rejection you worship the spite Annihilation of your inner-self Breeds gratification in your hunger for wealth All that was beauty you've smashed wide apart With the fist of envy for nothing that's smart Servants to emptiness fall onto their knees Entranced by the Smiler they crave his disease Futility drives them as nothingness breeds In cartoons of virtue their observance bleeds In lakes of fire - they yearn to be blessed Slaves to perfection - baptised unto death King of lost feelings in pain he is crowned within loves inferno the Smiler he stands

New pants and shirt

Enter the 49 gates of uncleanliness said she hoisting up her skirt I held my breath against her fetidness As I gazed upon a swinish flirt I worked like a mule down in the pit For seven long days and seven lonely nights It makes one week exactly for those of you Who lack the skills to add things up right Born in this pig sty in my new pants and shirt But I leaned on the fence and I fell in the dirt Great Mr. peanuts Andels said(?) Yattle brained coot with a teethless grin I fled rather than- let myself Be bathed in the unforgivable sin I went straight home where I was met By my mother with a skirt up over her head Some times I wonder just why the hell I ever bother to get out of bed Born in this pig sty - in my new pants and shirt But I leaned on the fence and I fell in the dirt x2

(KILLDOZER)

He who accepts all that is offered (feel bad hit of winter)

(Take it all spoken)

Within her hands are gifts for the damned, you take them all Consume the pills, the acid, the booze, weakness can't refuse White speed, brown smack, bone pipe filled with crack, there's no turning back Mushrooms and cocaine fight wars in your brain, you can't stop the pain Your mind is ablaze, bleak streets are in flames, you burn in the maze Soul falling down deep into black sand where senses are D(c)rowned Still you take more smoke pills with your draw lick speed off the floor Your head hits the wall you're charged with death fuel the ecstasy's cruel The rooms turning red your trip becomes dread, yet still you accept She smiles then disappears-her face haunts your fear fear fear fear...Are you strong enough To feel real pain? C'mon - take it Are you man enough? - fucking coward You thought you were evil, Could take on all the world - big man But now you're feeble – feeble A scared little child In fear of your life - weakling The pantomime's begun- for you Twisted faces stare Into your barren soul – taking The void of nothingness - from you Dogs are growling Hungry for your flesh – fucker Your sanity in shreds - weak freak Plastic hippy shit Not so cool anymore - consumed by – hatred Crawling on the floor – pleading You pathetic clown In a circus of parasites – aaghaagh Your friends have become savage – monsters Hands covered in blood And shit now fills your mind - take it - more Your skull a plastic coffin - empty (delay & repeat loop)(you took it all) Within her hands were gifts for the damned - you took them all crippled self belief earns you a wreath for the future Black horse in her eyes-unsaddled you ride-naked unto death Blood pours from the sky through towers you race into the fire Inferno of lust, cremation of self - beyond your control The shit starts to work -your lost in your search for destruction Her face haunts your fears etc ....................x4 her face mangled mess Smash head against wall to relax your pain snort some more cocaine Her face has turned red your sensations are dead riot in your head

I had quite a good laugh over the name Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine,is there a meaning to the name or not and how did the name came up ?

I'm glad you found some humor in our work, as humor is essential to make ideas as such valid, even if it's not intended as a humorous spotlight. The moniker is directly taken from the second track on the EARTH 2 masterpiece, and which was inspired to Dylan Carlson of EARTH, I believe, from phrases from the book of Revelations in the new testament of the christian bible,
some of which I paraphrased in the album folder. This is not a christian referential point as such but rather the poetic, surreal and apocalyptic visionary one.

Musically this is the most morbid album I have heard lately, cause of Lees vocals there is hints of the first and the recent Cathedral album there is also bits of the other bands that you have or are involved with Iron Monkey, Sunn O))), Khanate, Goatsnake + a dose of Saint Vitus and some other ultra heavy bands. Now when the album is finnished are you pleased with the outcome and the final mix and what do you reckon about my similarities, am I right or do you have a different point of view ?

What pleased me was that the album held the raw and primitive essence of the compositional atmosphere in a way which complimented to the fullest. The album is a very severe listen but also is a very soothing meditational one. In the Indian musical traditions ragas are performed for such a time that members the audience, who traditionally listen very intently, are often lulled into a deep meditational state. While in the western musical atmospheres the idea of sleeping (as we would interpret this deep meditational state) is considered negative during a musical experience, in general. However I believe that with TEETH OF LIONS RULE THE DIVINE, and some other of our musical projects, a similar spiritual aspect is there to allow such contemplation and depth in the experience. This is vital.

After been listening to it I have to say that I really enjoy the concept that this album have, it is ultra slow the album feels like a punished trip to destruction and mortality, does TOLRTD have a concept ? cause it feels like there is one here.

The concept to me was originally twofold. Justin and I wanted to feel like we were playing early MELVINS tracks and ultimately the play with timing separates your mind form the atmosphere, or influences it, to the point that it really is altering reality. The performance and experience is a method of gravitational and temporal manipulation. The end result ended up closer to SUNN O))) with drums and a madman rather than the original ideas however, which was to be expected. Remember to breathe.

The album will come out on Southern Lord, so for dedicated doom fans and those who are looking for a alternative what can they expect to hear on Rampton, would you like to make a review, please ?

I think the piece I wrote for the Southern Lord sales sheet was adequate in the respects I mentioned above (including the humor):The awaited birthing of doom architects¹ morbid calling : Justin Greaves (IRON MONKEY/HARD TO SWALLOW), Greg Anderson (SUNN 0))), GOATSNAKE, THORR'S HAMMER), Lee Dorrian (CATHEDRAL, NAPALM DEATH) & Stephen O¹Malley (KHANATE, SUNN 0))), BURNING WITCH). Black fumes non-verbal carnage spilled forth the unholy mines, minds and lanterns of Nottingham, UK January 2001. Souls cracked and burned, a fitting feast for low end wavetorment and dark soundpressure hexing. Invocations of despair (vokills recorded) lain by Dorrian summer 2001. Six months rotting in the pits and graves to be unearthed and dissected by high necromancer Billy Anderson winter 2001. TEETH OF LIONS RULE THE DIVINE is the manifest of doomed mortality, divine suffering and flagellation through trance and drone. In the memory of Jules Leach (R.I.P.) TOLRTD command forth a golem of leprosy, madness, and punishment. Prepare to be doomed.

Finally what else are you planning for Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, is there going to be another album or a ep or maybe some liveshows fill us in please ?

We hope to do all of the above in the future, but the discordance of everyone's schedules makes the logistics a bit difficult... time will tell. Touring is the top of that priority.

Any last words ?

Thank you for the attention and patience. I appreciate it. Please contact me for further information.

Thank you very much for the interview, best of luck with Rampton and Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine. Take care.

Thank you. S

By Gabriel Lilliehook

For more TOLRTD info check out the Southern Lord page at www.southernlord.com email southernlord@yahoo.com or Earsplit Promotion at earsplitpr@aol.com

Stephen F O'Malley
PO Box 907
Cathedral Station
New York, NY 10025
USA