Last Rites have been storming UK clubs with their debut album Guided By Light. Tamulus Bane caught them at the end of their UK tour to get the news on the latest creation of former Fields of the Nephilim brothers, Paul and Nod Wright.

It's been many years since those halcyon days of Fields Of The Nephilim and there have been great changes since the days of Carl McCoy. After the break up of one of the greatest Goth bands, there came Nefilim and Rubicon. While Nefilim spawned Sensorium, Saints Of Eden and the AD version of Fields Of The Nephilim, Rubicon gave us Last Rites.

Last Rites was the brain-child of Nod Wright and Bob Ahern way back in their "winter of discontent, late two thousand" says Nod, which was oddly enough just after their former bandmate Carl McCoy had re-recorded and released his single One More Nightmare. The two had met when Bob's former band Bombchild supported Rubicon. Nod smiles: "He's become a sort of weird friend with a sitar!!"

Bob was a classically trained musician, until he bought a bass guitar and realised strumming was a lot more fun and developed a bit of a penchant for David Bowie.

The other members were soon roped together: James Quinn (guitar), Rory Garrett (vocals), Gareth Thorring (keyboards) and Nod's brother, Paul Wright (guitar), to make up the awesome sextet that is Last Rites. They wasted no time, and were snapped up by Dreamcatcher Records last January and soon embarked on a tour to promote their debut album.

Guided By Light has received critical acclaim from many learned sources but how did they arrive at the name? Nod explained. "(It was) a collective, to reflect the songs and their content." Indeed, all of the songs on the album have a unique quality to them yet they come together as a whole.

So do any of the tracks hold a special meaning? Bob dryly replied that The Powers That Be was the one that really did it for him. "Not only is it blissfully epic," he said, "but I also get the chance to have a cigarette on stage!"

Nod's thoughts were a little more concise! "Our history has me and Paul entwined right back to the beginning of lots of songs. When you have lived with it for such a long time, it is hard to put aside and pretend it didn't happen. Last Rites is the beginning of something new and the end to speculation and rumour." It certainly seems that the ex FotN boys are moving towards bigger and brighter things.

Gigging has played an integral part of the band's life over the last year and their popularity seemed to grow as the tour went on. Nod explains: "Before the album had been released, the crowd didn't know what to expect but the later gigs we've done where people have known our songs, have been great to see. They've had an effect on all of us." So a big thanks from Nod then to all who sang along at the concerts!

Their Sheffield gig in November was the last of the UK dates (for the moment at least), so do they have plans to get back on the road in the near future? It would seem so, as another UK tour has been planned for the spring and they've even got designs on taking their blend of gothic rock over to mainland Europe and Ireland. The band's already writing new material ready for the dates.

With new tricks up their sleeves, there's hope that Last Rites might be able to take over where Fields Of The Nephilim left off.