Tiamat, five long years of thunder and rain

Tiamat are finally back after 5 years with their new album, “Amanethes“.  One thing that fascinates me about Tiamat, is that they always kept the same heavy metal style, but always spiced up with influences surrounding them.

In Skeleton Skeletron, Johan Edlund, Tiamat’s vocalist was living in an urban area and it clearly shows from the album’s artwork and also with the introduction of atmospheric soundscapes/effects in their music.

In Amanethes, it clearly shows that Johan is living in Greece.  Although the album is heavier than its 2 predecessors, the perfect introduction of the bouzouki in their music, in track 10, Amanitis, and the lyrics of the track ‘Summertime is gone’, shows that he enjoyed the Greek Summer, and Winter was crawling in, while writing this album.

A chilly wind through my spine
And heavy clouds in decline
Winter’s work has begun
And summertime is gone

And i wanna see you once again
And i wanna tough you once again
Oh, this is what dreams are made of
My, oh my
These soothing times
The summer wine
Summertime is gone!

Tiamat even took care of the transition between each song.  Starting with heavy songs, in the beginning of the album and switching to softer / more relaxed songs at the end of the album, it feels like it is one long song, a musical journey.

To recap, Tiamat didn’t let us down, and they never did.  After a long 5 years break, they are back, as Johan says:

Yeah, it’s been a long time but we are back again
For another five years of thunder, lightning and rain