The Lamp Of Thoth / Twister Tower Dire | ‘Hail Britannia II’

Hail Britannia II, the middle section of the Miskatonic Foundation’s trilogy of NWOBHM worship series of seven inchers, features the USA’s Twisted Tower Dire and England’s The Lamp Of Thoth covering a pair of early 80s classics from Fist and Race Against Time respectively.

From the outset, the covers on offer are nothing short of astounding. TTD, with new vocalist in tow, prove that although the late Tony Taylor will be missed, Johnny Aune has brought a new sense of raw energy to the band’s vocals that Taylor didn’t have.

‘Name, Rank And Serial Number’ is played slightly faster, and lot heavier, and about a hundred times more rocking than the original. It simply rocks, no other way to describe it. This song lets the listener know what the NWOBHM must have felt like to those who experienced it first time round – music that sounded so fresh, so rocking and so much fun to listen to.

I seriously can’t hype this one enough, it’s up there with the very, very best of any covers I’ve ever heard. Twisted Tower Dire have never sounded so good, and this cover is an inspired choice.

On the B side of the record is occult doom legends The Lamp Of Thoth, who take a unique turn on Race Against Time’s extremely obscure song ‘Bedtime’, and with the eccentrically quaint vocals of Simon Strange, the lyrics take on an awesomely Victorian sense of saucy filthiness.

It’s vintage Lamp, the humourous take never descending into parody; and more crucially, Strange doesn’t try to emulate the mighty Dave Halliday’s inimitable style. It’s to their credit that the song is performed faithful to the original, yet with an entirely new slant on it, to the end result that it could easily be mistaken for an original Lamp song.

Cover art wise, there’s an Eddie-esque zombie motorbiker adorned with Venom and Motorhead logos, riding the Miskatonic Motorbike and wielding a spear adorned with Britannia’s flag and a certain label boss impaled on the end of it.

The inclusion of an obi-style strip is a nice looking exotic touch too. The vinyl itself is limited to 300, and like the previous Hail Britannia release, it’s not likely to hang around for too long, so get in there sharpish. You certainly won’t regret it; that Twisted Tower Dire song has to be heard to be believed, it’s that good. It’s not often a cover version is better than the original, but TTD have outclassed Fist’s original in every way.

4.6 / 5 - Dónal McBrien ::: 30/05/10