... – 9/10
9 – Prey – The tempo drops for this one as the ticking of time introduces the track, shortly before a shadowy guitar and vocal start up. There is no percussion or bass in this track, although synths offer some background. Not much progression in this one but it’s still a well written ... Read review
Advantages: Strong songs are brilliant. Good music. Disadvantages: Poorer songs aren't worth listening to. Might get boring after a few repeats.
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9 – Prey – The tempo drops for this one as the ticking of time introduces the track, shortly before a shadowy guitar and vocal start up. There is no percussion or bass in this track, although synths offer some background. Not much progression in this one but it’s still a well written track. – 8/10
10 – The Garden of Heathen – An introduction piece to Clovenhoof, it plays along with the general riff of the next track. Starting ... ...some "echoey" vocal synths. Quite a beautiful piece of music really. – 9/10
11 – Clovenhoof – Now the power guitars come back, along with the heavy bass and driving percussion. The synths are great, the vocals are interesting and the slide guitar is excellent. A great track. – 9/10
12 – Nihil – Piano and guitar work together on this track. This is a strange one. It has its good parts but it also has its bad ... more
THE INTRO
Tiamat are something of a strange force. They haven’t had overwhelming success in the UK, but they have been going for 17 years with a good name in heavy rock circles on the continent. Their latest album to be released was the one that introduced the band to me. It’s not necessarily their best work ever, but it’s not far from it.
Tiamat are a Swedish band, now based in Germany, who originally started out in 1990 doing death metal. They released one album of that genre and have, over the years, moved from a very heavy style of music to what they now describe as “Gothic symphonic rock/metal”, although “Gothic prog-rock” is how I’d describe them.
Musically, the band is exceptional. All of the tracks on most of their albums are produced by their lead singer, guitarist and “only permanent band member” Johan Edlund, who has an amazing ear for perfect music.
Tiamat are:
Johan Edlund - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Theremin Thomas Petersson - Guitar Anders Iwers - Bass Lars Sköld - Drums
THE TRACKS
1 – Cain – The opener sets the scene for most of this album. Powerful guitars, spoken lyrics, loud drums and a decent amount of bass. This isn’t the best song on the album, but it’s still a nice listen. It features the first hearing of an interesting sounding slide guitar work that returns in later songs. – 7/10
2 – Ten Thousand Tentacles – This is just a short instrumental focusing on the bass instruments of Cain. Nothing special. – 5/10
3 – Wings of Heaven – I like this track a lot. It starts of with a deceptively slow acoustic guitar, with more spoken lyrics. The rest of the band power in for the chorus. In terms of progression, this track this doesn’t really do that much but it’s still a good listen. – 8/10
4 – Love In Chains – Here, the album starts to get a bit more interesting. Powerful guitars work with good synths and pianos, driven along by a constant drum beat. We hear the slide guitar work almost all the way through on this track, adding another dimension to the track. Edlund is an impressive guitarist. A key change is the only progression but it works very well. Good track – 9/10
5 – Divided – This is a beautiful track, and the first chance we get to hear Edlund’s good piano work on this album. None of the other instruments overshadow the piano work, but all are easy to hear in a perfect example of how to mix a song. This track also features a brilliant female vocalist, Sonja Brandt, who pops up in the next track. This song is brilliant. – 10/10
6 – Carry Your Cross and I’ll Carry Mine – I love this track. It’s got everything. Power, good speed, great guitars and a fantastic piano melody, which I feel actually makes the song what it is. Once again we get the second best example of the slide guitar work on this musical masterpiece (in terms of this album). – 10/10
7 – Triple Cross – Another instrumental, although this is actually quite interesting in itself. It plays with the general riffs/melodies of “Carry Your Cross…” adding different instruments, in particular, a power synthesised bass and some strings. No guitars in this one. – 9/10
8 – Light In Extension – This is possibly the fastest song on the album. The synths take priority over the guitar for most of the track, whilst Edlund’s vocals have a darker sound to them. An enjoyable track. – 9/10
9 – Prey – The tempo drops for this one as the ticking of time introduces the track, shortly before a shadowy guitar and vocal start up. There is no percussion or bass in this track, although synths offer some background. Not much progression in this one but it’s still a well written track. – 8/10
10 – The Garden of Heathen – An introduction piece to Clovenhoof, it plays along with the general riff of the next track. Starting off with synths, then adding an acoustic guitar and finally some "echoey" vocal synths. Quite a beautiful piece of music really. – 9/10
11 – Clovenhoof – Now the power guitars come back, along with the heavy bass and driving percussion. The synths are great, the vocals are interesting and the slide guitar is excellent. A great track. – 9/10
12 – Nihil – Piano and guitar work together on this track. This is a strange one. It has its good parts but it also has its bad bits. There are two sections of this track, the most interesting of which is the second due to its slide guitar. Not memorable. – 6/10
13 – The Pentagram – This track is blatantly inspired by Pink Floyd. It’s slow, but progressive, with a haunting organ sound throughout. The slide guitar work is perfect, whilst at other times, the bass and piano work cushion the spoken vocals. This is a brilliant example of Tiamat doing prog-rock. – 9/10
14 – Sleeping (In The Fire) – Slow to begin with, this track soon picks up pace with the introduction of drums and the transformation of electric from acoustic guitars. This is a great closing track, despite the elements of a death-metal sound in Edlund’s vocals at times. – 8/10
THE VERDICT
Whilst not their most progressive work, this is a good album compared with Tiamat’s catalogue. Not their best, but good. Compared to other artists, they stand strong, although at times you might spot a slight quiver in their knees. They are different. Worth buying? Yes, if you can get it for less than £10.
