Tiamat (band)
Tiamat | |
|---|---|
 Tiamat on Hard Rock Laager, 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Years active | 1988 – present |
| Members | Johan Edlund Thomas Petersson Anders Iwers Lars Sköld |
Tiamat is a band from Sweden that was formed in Stockholm, in 1988. Their music can generally be considered doom metal, but the actual classification of the style varies with each album.
Biography
Initially, the band played straightforward death metal under the name Treblinka. They split up in 1989, leaving vocalist and guitarist Johan Edlund as the band's sole member. Edlund subsequently changed the name to Tiamat.
After Sumerian Cry (which was the first Tiamat album, but written while under the name Treblinka), Edlund's leadership modified the sound with moody, atmospheric textures and vocals that would attribute them (along with Samael and Rotting Christ) as one of the starters of dark metal and symphonic black metal. [citation needed]
1994's critically acclaimed Wildhoney mixed death growls, slow guitar riffs and synthesizer sounds which sounded different from other symphonic black metal bands active at that time. An almost continuous forty-minute piece of music, Wildhoney was considered to be a landmark release in the field of extreme metal, preceding many of the trends that would be repeated throughout the genre throughout the next decade. [citation needed]
Upon the release of A Deeper Kind of Slumber (1997), Edlund relocated from Sweden to Germany and declared himself the only permanent member of the band; all albums that would follow would cement the band into a more melodic sound, quite different from the extreme music they did in the years before, with recent albums showing a Sisters of Mercy influence.
The band is currently signed to Century Media Records.
Line-up
- Johan Edlund - Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards, Theremin
- Thomas Petersson - Guitar
- Anders Iwers - Bass
- Lars Sköld - Drums
Discography
- Sumerian Cry (1990)
- The Astral Sleep (1991)
- Clouds (1992)
- The Sleeping Beauty (Live in Israel) (1993)
- Wildhoney (1994)
- A Deeper Kind of Slumber (1997)
- Skeleton Skeletron (1999)
- Judas Christ (2002)
- Prey (2003)
- Church of Tiamat (2005)
See also
- Lucyfire
- Toby Driver, former member of maudlin of the Well and Kayo Dot, spoke about Tiamat as one of his most important musical influences.
- Moonspell singer Fernando Ribeiro mentioned Tiamat several times in interviews as one of their mayor influences.