Tiamat have returned for the first time since 2003’s Prey, and not a moment to soon for me. The long hiatus has brought some change to the band, this is for sure. While they are nowhere near their Astral Sleep days Amanethes is their most aggressive album in ages.
There is plenty of the goth rock that Tiamat is well known for but there is more than depression to this album. Johan Edlund does not use his signature drone so much preferring a more venomous sounding anger. The best comparison would be A.A. Nemetheanga of Primordial, though he is not nearly that venomous. Then again who is? When he does stick to the clean singing he multitracks all of his vocals as opposed to the single track he used to use. I think he actually loses something because of this to be honest. For some reason his voice is not nearly as depressing when he multitracks the vocals. Then again this is not nearly as suicidal an album as their last few, so the multitracking doesn’t mess up the atmosphere of the album. His clean vocals also sound a bit deeper to me.
Then they threw another curveball in the song “Meliae” which almost qualifies as a country song to me. Just a well sung song with acoustic guitars. I’m not calling Johan Edlund the next Johnny Cash but this is good work to me. This album is pretty hard for these guys. However, there are plenty of slower moments just in case you still want a depressing drone. This is not death or black metal by any stretch but the newfound anger and venom on this record has impressed me quite a bit, I never thought they would go this route. It seems he spent the five years in between albums carefully planning a transition to a different sound while staying true to his vision of Tiamat.
Amanethes is simultaneously a radical departure for Tiamat and a natural progression. I just hope I don’t have to wait another five years for the next step.
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Too bad Johan’s vocals ruin the entire experience. Yuck!
on May 23rd, 2008 at 11:05Such a dissapointing album… but then again, so have been most of what Edlund has been putting out since Slumber. In contrast to that however, there’s actually two songs on the album that qualify as some of the best that’s been released under Tiamat’s name: Amantis and Melinae. Sure they’re different from anything they’ve done, but I think that’s why they work so good.
on May 23rd, 2008 at 13:43last time i heard from these dweebs was on firestarter comp long time ago. goth metal just ain’t my forte
on May 23rd, 2008 at 20:17props for the sweet cover art though
on May 23rd, 2008 at 20:19this album reaches wildhoney with the flavour of goth and elements of black metal as he said in an interview. this is one of their best albums. DO NOT BE NARROW MINDED.
up the horns greece
on Nov 24th, 2008 at 03:18I’ve been following Tiamat since their Astral Sleep days. Sure, this album is different from their earlier death days and probably better for it. I found this album to come pretty close to Wildhoney style wise. It is perhaps even more angry. I liked the signature ‘Woodhouse’ sound of the album as well. I guess some people like the ‘rockier’ Skeleton Skeletron’ or the more spaced-out …Slumber, but for me Amanethes is all that’s good about Tiamat. Just give it a spin!
on Dec 14th, 2008 at 03:46