Originally published in ‘zine issue #7, 1993
Tiamat is an atmospheric, heavy, melodic, just great band out of Sweden. In issue four of this ‘zine, there was [a review of] the band featuring The Astral Sleep, one of the band’s albums. The newer Clouds album is out and both are on on Century Media Records. Below are excerpts from a talk this interviewer had with Johan from Tiamat, starting with comparisons between the two albums.
Johan said, in reference to the production on Clouds, “I like it much more than last album. Especially the guitar sound is heavier. I’m pretty satisfied this time.” On the other album, the band had a producer that was unfamiliar with the band and vice versa, which affected the outcome.
Johan spoke of the next album, revealing that the band has already started on it and that each bandmember had parts to songs written. Speaking of bandmembers, Johan feels that the current lineup is the true Tiamat band, as compared to those on The Astral Sleep. Also, as far as progression of songwriting is concerned, the “difference will be less between Clouds and new one,” as compared to the difference between Clouds and the earlier album. “I think we have found what we want to do,” he explained. Johan went on to comment on how the lyrics for the next album will be, by saying, “It’s hard to describe them,” and they’ll be “hard to understand.” He compared the new lyrics to “an LSD trip” and pointed out that they’ll have less of the “evil” aspect.
Johan hopes to tour the U.S. for Clouds, but nothing yet is certain. The band has toured Europe four times, and he complained that he is sick of Germany because he’s been there so many times. So let’s hope that Tiamat can break out of Europe and tour in America. In the meantime, do take the time to check out Tiamat, because it will be well worth your while. ■
