Tiamat (band)
Swedish gothic metal band
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tiamat is a Swedish metal band founded near Stockholm in 1990 and led by Johan Edlund.[1] They have released ten studio albums. The band went through a number of styles before settling on gothic metal. Under Edlund's leadership, the band was influenced by Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Pink Floyd and King Crimson combined with Sumerian themes. H. P. Lovecraft also appears to have influenced Tiamat's lyrics,[2] a common trait in death metal.[3]
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- Gothic metal
- gothic rock
- death-doom (early)
- black metal (early)
Tiamat | |
|---|---|
Tiamat performing at Kavarna Rock Fest 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Treblinka (1987–1989) |
| Origin | Täby, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres |
|
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Century Media, Nuclear Blast, Napalm |
| Members | Johan Edlund Lars Sköld Gustaf Hielm Simon Johansson Per Wiberg |
| Past members | Jörgen "Juck" Thullberg Anders Holmberg Stefan Lagergren Niklas Ekstrand Thomas Petersson Johnny Hagel Kenneth Roos P. A. Danielsson Anders Iwers Roger Öjersson |
History
The band was formed as the four-piece Treblinka in 1987.[4] Using pseudonyms, they released the single "Severe Abomination" in 1989.[5] After recording the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, guitarist/vocalist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted with the other two founding members, who formed Expulsion.[6] They changed the name to Tiamat, after the Babylonian goddess representing the primordial sea and forebear to other gods. The Sumerian Cry album included re-recorded Treblinka songs, and was released in June 1990.[7]
Edlund recruited Thomas Petersson on guitars and drummer Niklas Ekstrand, and signed the band to Century Records.[8] They started recording in the middle of 1991, beginning a collaboration with Polish guitarist Waldemar Sorychta, who produced and played on many of the band's albums.
The 1994 album Wildhoney mixed raw vocals, slow guitar riffs, and synthesizer sounds that differred from other extreme metal bands of the time.[8] An almost continuous 40-minute piece of music, Wildhoney led to the band's appearances at the Dynamo[9] and Wacken Open Air metal festivals in 1995. The group returned to Dynamo two years later.
After releasing A Deeper Kind of Slumber in 1997, Edlund relocated to Germany and declared himself the only permanent member of the band. All following albums cemented the band into a gothic metal/rock sound, different from the extreme music they played previously.[10]
The band signed to Nuclear Blast in June 2007, and released their ninth album, Amanethes, in April 2008. In August of that year, Thomas Wyreson quit the band, stating that "it's just kinda hard to make everything work with the family etc."[11]
Their song "Cain" was featured in the 2004 video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.
The band's tenth full-length studio album, The Scarred People, was released in November 2012 through Napalm Records.
Musical style
When they were still named Treblinka, the band played raw black/death metal.[12] Early Tiamat albums like The Astral Sleep and Clouds explored death-doom,[13] before the band shifted towards a more gothic and atmospheric sound on Wildhoney (1994) and beyond, with later albums showing a Sisters of Mercy and Pink Floyd influence.[10]
Band members
Current members
Current touring members
Former members
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Former touring members
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Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [17] |
GER [18] |
AUT [19] |
BEL [20] | ||||||
| Sumerian Cry |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| The Astral Sleep |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| Clouds |
|
— | — | — | — | ||||
| Wildhoney |
|
— | 29 | — | — |
| |||
| A Deeper Kind of Slumber |
|
39 | 29 | 22 | — | ||||
| Skeleton Skeletron |
|
56 | 19 | 47 | — | ||||
| Judas Christ |
|
52 | 28 | — | — | ||||
| Prey |
|
— | 83 | — | — | ||||
| Amanethes |
|
13 | 69 | — | — | ||||
| The Scarred People |
|
11 | 62 | — | 154 | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "A Winter Shadow" | 1990 | The Astral Sleep |
| "Cold Seed" | 1997 | A Deeper Kind of Slumber |
| "Brighter Than the Sun" | 1999 | Skeleton Skeletron |
| "Vote for Love" | 2002 | Judas Christ |
| "Cain" | 2003 | Prey |
| "The Temple of the Crescent Moon" | 2008 | Amanethes |
| "Born to Die" | 2013 | The Scarred People |
EPs
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Gaia |
|
| For Her Pleasure |
|
Live albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Sleeping Beauty (Live in Israel) |
|
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Musical History of Tiamat |
|
| Commandments |
|
| The Ark of the Covenant - The Complete Century Media Years |
|
Video albums
| Title | Video details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [24] | |||||||||
| The Church of Tiamat |
|
5 | |||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Music videos
| Year | Title | Directed | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Sleeping Beauty" | — |
Clouds |
| 1995 | "Whatever That Hurts" | Tamara Jordan |
Wildhoney |
| "Gaia" | Tamara Jordan | ||
| 1997 | "Cold Seed" | Tamara Jordan |
A Deeper Kind of Slumber |
| 1999 | "Brighter Than the Sun" | Doro Film |
Skeleton Skeletron |
| 2002 | "Vote for Love" | Alexander Detig (Sound & Vision Film, Video & Media GmbH) |
Judas Christ |
| 2003 | "Cain" | Patric Ullaeus (Revolver Film) |
Prey |
| 2003 | "Do You Dream of Me?" | Eugen Erhan |
Wildhoney |
| 2012 | "The Scarred People"[25] | angst-im-wald |
The Scarred People |
| 2013 | "384" | Ioanna Lampropoulou[26] | |
| "Love Terrorists" | |||
| "The Red of the Morning Sun" |
