Tiamat (band)
Template:Short description Template:Lead too short Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox musical artist
Tiamat is a Swedish metal band that formed in Stockholm in 1987 and led by Johan Edlund. They have released ten studio albums. The band went through a number of stylistic changes in their earlier releases before settling on gothic metal.
History
The band was formed under the name Treblinka in 1987. After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, guitarist/vocalist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently 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.
After the debut, Edlund's leadership would modify the band's style with influences ranging from Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Pink Floyd and King Crimson, with Sumerian lyrical themes. H. P. Lovecraft's writings also appear to have influenced Tiamat's thematology, a development consistent with a broader trend in death metal culture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Polish guitarist Waldemar Sorychta would produce and contribute instrumentation to many of the band's albums, as well as those by Tiamat's own tour and labelmates like Moonspell, Rotting Christ, Lacuna Coil and Samael.
1994's critically acclaimed Wildhoney mixed raw vocals, slow guitar riffs and synthesizer sounds which sounded different from other extreme metal bands active at that time. An almost continuous 40-minute piece of music, Wildhoney led to the band's appearances at the Dynamo<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Wacken Open Air metal festivals in 1995. The group would play a second gig at Dynamo two years later.
Upon the release of A Deeper Kind of Slumber in 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 gothic metal/rock sound, quite different from the extreme music they did in the years before.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
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 announced that he was quitting the band, stating that "it's just kinda hard to make everything work with the family etc."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Early Tiamat albums like The Astral Sleep and Clouds explored death-doom,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />
Band members
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Current
- Johan Edlund – vocals, guitars, keyboards, theremin Template:Small
- Lars Sköld – drums Template:Small
- Anders Iwers – bass, occasional vocals Template:Small
- Roger Öjersson – guitars, keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals Template:Small
Former
- Jörgen "Juck" Thullberg – bass Template:Small
- Anders Holmberg – drums Template:Small
- Stefan Lagergren – guitars Template:Small
- Niklas Ekstrand – drums Template:Small
- Thomas Petersson – guitars Template:Small
- Johnny Hagel – bass Template:Small
- Kenneth Roos – keyboards Template:Small
- P. A. Danielsson – keyboards Template:Small
Touring
- Nicke Andersson – drums Template:Small
- Martin Brändström – keyboards Template:Small<ref name="tour2004"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Henrik Bergqvist – guitars Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Fredrik Åkesson – guitars Template:Small<ref name="tour2004">Template:Cite web</ref>
- Henriette Bordvik – female vocals Template:Small
- Martin Powell – keyboards Template:Small
- Johan Niemann – guitars Template:Small
- Joakim Svalberg – keyboards Template:Small
- Rikard Zander – keyboards Template:Small
- Gustaf Hielm – bass Template:Small
- Thomas Wyreson – guitars Template:Small
- Carl Westholm – keyboards Template:Small
- Daniel Karlsson – keyboards Template:Small
- Jonas Öijvall – keyboards Template:Small
- Per Wiberg – keyboards Template:Small
- Magnus Henriksson – guitars Template:Small
- Simon Johansson – guitars Template:Small
Timeline
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width:11 bar:Treblinka from:start till:10/01/1989 color:name bar:Tiamat from:10/01/1989 till:end color:name bar:Johan from:start till:end color:vocals bar:Johan from:start till:end color:guitar width:3 bar:Johan from:start till:04/01/1992 color:keys width:7 bar:Johan from:06/01/1996 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:Stefan from:start till:08/01/1990 color:guitar bar:Tom from:08/01/1990 till:02/01/1994 color:guitar bar:Tom from:05/01/1996 till:03/03/1999 color:guitar bar:Tom from:04/18/2001 till:08/10/2008 color:guitar bar:Roger from:06/01/2010 till:end color:guitar bar:Roger from:06/01/2010 till:end color:mandolin width:3 bar:Roger from:06/01/2010 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:Jorgen from:start till:04/01/1992 color:bass bar:Johnny from:04/01/1992 till:06/01/1996 color:bass bar:Anders from:06/01/1996 till:end color:bass bar:Ken from:04/01/1992 till:07/01/1994 color:keys bar:PA from:07/01/1994 till:06/01/1996 color:keys bar:Anders2 from:01/01/1987 till:09/01/1990 color:drums bar:Niklas from:09/01/1990 till:07/01/1994 color:drums bar:Lars from:07/01/1994 till:end color:drums
</timeline>
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
GER <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
AUT <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
BEL <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | ||||||
| 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 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | |||||||||
| 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" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | Clouds |
| 1995 | "Whatever That Hurts" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | Wildhoney |
| "Gaia" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | ||
| 1997 | "Cold Seed" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | A Deeper Kind of Slumber |
| 1999 | "Brighter Than the Sun" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | Skeleton Skeletron |
| 2002 | "Vote for Love" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | Judas Christ |
| 2003 | "Cain" | Patric Ullaeus (Revolver Film) {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
|
Prey |
| 2003 | "Do You Dream of Me?" | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | Wildhoney |
| 2012 | "The Scarred People"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }} | The Scarred People |
| 2013 | "384" | Ioanna Lampropoulou<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
| |
| "Love Terrorists" | Johan Edlund, Ioanna Lampropoulou<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}
| ||
| "The Red of the Morning Sun" |
References
External links
- Pages using center with unknown parameters
- Century Media Records artists
- Musical groups established in 1987
- Nuclear Blast artists
- Napalm Records artists
- Swedish gothic metal musical groups
- Swedish gothic rock groups
- Swedish black metal musical groups
- Swedish death metal musical groups
- Musical groups from Stockholm