A few years back, Tiamat was as deathy as they came, though they exhibited a tendency for weaving atmostphere into their death art. Somewhere since, the inner children of Johan Edlund and Johnny Hagel kicked out the other members of the band and picked up studio musicians to conquer their new realm of musical fantasy. Today's Tiamat is hardly the HP Lovecraft horror wonder, capable of terrifying even the most stalwart of the corpse painted. Instead, Edlund and Hagel, along with producer Waldemar Sorychta, reach into the stratosphere, retaining only a hint at their former death days. Musically, the guitars intertwine and playfully chase each other on Floydian trips.
Keyboards pose both lush and vague, keeping the listener soaring in trance.
Even since Wildhoney was released, Tiamat has become a sort of guidepost for all the other bands leading into this unexplored genre. The Gathering chucked their death singers and found a gem in Anneke van Geirsbergen. Celestial Season threw in some violins and groove while countless others have picked up keyboards to trinkle away. Atmosphere is a difficult thing to achieve in heavy music, but Tiamat has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is entirely possible and in fact, a beautiful and monstrous addition to the expanding realm of metal. Whatever that hurts 3.