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Tiamat

Requiem

By Requiem
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Requiem

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Tiamat are one of those bands that for years was sort of in the shadows for me. For some reason they were never on my radar like Sentenced, Moonspell and even Rotting Christ were in my teenage years back in the 90s. I think Tiamat - especially in their 'rock' phase - were always a bit different and I wasn't attracted to them for some reason, which is a pity because now I simply love them.  

'Wildhoney' is a brilliant album and obviously a landmark release, but my two favourite albums of theirs are 'Judas Christ' and 'Amanethes'. 

'Judas Christ' is a miracle album that was totally under my radar for years. Songs like 'Vote for Love' and 'So Much for Suicide' just ring the emotion out of me for some reason. Also the Aldous Huxley inspired 'Love is as Good as Soma' is genius. It seems impossible to actually purchase this album new at the moment without paying close to $100... it's very rare. 

As for 'Amanethes', I had the good fortune to travel around Israel for a month a few years ago and the track 'Via Dolorosa' - and that 'Amanethes' in general was a real favourite and sort of became my soundtrack for that holy land trip. 

I've only just come around to ordering 'The Scarred People', and I really need to pick up more of this great and unique band's work. Any other fans out there? 

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Requiem Newbie

Requiem

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16 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

As you might predict, I prefer the old stuff from almost all of these bands that later explored Gothic rock paths. The influence was plenty apparent on my favorite Tiamat albums, those being Clouds and The Astral Sleep, but I prefer hearing them mixed with their black metal base than on their own. 

Halleluja, someone has posted in my goddamn Tiamat thread. You're right, this doesn't surprise me at all. 

In hindsight, I think Tiamat are a real hit and miss band for me. For instance, I love (as in 9/10 minimum) albums like 'Wildhoney', 'Judas Christ' and 'Amenethes'. But I really struggle to find much of anything that's interesting in albums like 'The Scarred People' and 'Skeleton Skeletron'. 

It just seems random. Sometimes they are transcendent, other times I just don't see where the hook is. Seriously, 'Judas Christ' is turning into one of my favourite albums. 

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BlutAusNerd

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Halleluja, someone has posted in my goddamn Tiamat thread. You're right, this doesn't surprise me at all. 
In hindsight, I think Tiamat are a real hit and miss band for me. For instance, I love (as in 9/10 minimum) albums like 'Wildhoney', 'Judas Christ' and 'Amenethes'. But I really struggle to find much of anything that's interesting in albums like 'The Scarred People' and 'Skeleton Skeletron'. 
It just seems random. Sometimes they are transcendent, other times I just don't see where the hook is. Seriously, 'Judas Christ' is turning into one of my favourite albums. 
I agree, but it's pretty much old vs. new foe me. I haven't followed any of their newer stuff though, Cain was the newest song I've heard from them, and that was some time ago.

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Requiem Newbie

Requiem

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On 28/11/2017 at 7:59 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

I agree, but it's pretty much old vs. new foe me. I haven't followed any of their newer stuff though, Cain was the newest song I've heard from them, and that was some time ago.

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Have you heard ‘Amenethes’? Great album that came out of nowhere. The follow-up ‘The Scarred People’ is so boring and disappointing by comparison. 

Such a hard band to get my head around.

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Have you heard ‘Amenethes’? Great album that came out of nowhere. The follow-up ‘The Scarred People’ is so boring and disappointing by comparison. 
Such a hard band to get my head around.
No, I never bothered with it. I still haven't even checked out Wildhoney or Sumerian Cry beyond a song or two, and I'm sure I would like them based on what I've heard. Got a track you would suggest for someone who hadn't heard it?

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Requiem Newbie

Requiem

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Ok, well firstly drop everything and listen to 'Wildhoney' immediately. I would have had it pegged as one of your favourite albums, so this surprises me. 

I don't have much confidence that you'd like 'Amanethes' now that I think about it. Maybe check out 'The Temple of the Crescent Moon' and 'Via Dolorosa'. Actually, on second thoughts maybe just stick with 'Wildhoney'. 

Fun fact: I was actually on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem listening to that song at one point. True story. 

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Ok, well firstly drop everything and listen to 'Wildhoney' immediately. I would have had it pegged as one of your favourite albums, so this surprises me. 
I don't have much confidence that you'd like 'Amanethes' now that I think about it. Maybe check out 'The Temple of the Crescent Moon' and 'Via Dolorosa'. Actually, on second thoughts maybe just stick with 'Wildhoney'. 
Fun fact: I was actually on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem listening to that song at one point. True story. 
I just pulled up Via Dolorosa and Whatever That Hurts. The former, yeah, not really for me. It wasn't bad, but it didn't grab me. The latter did though, sounding like a more atmospheric and introspective Clouds. Ivw had it on my radar forever, I've just never bought it, I'm not sure why. I'll have to remedy that.

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1 hour ago, BlutAusNerd said:

I just pulled up Via Dolorosa and Whatever That Hurts. The former, yeah, not really for me. It wasn't bad, but it didn't grab me. The latter did though, sounding like a more atmospheric and introspective Clouds. Ivw had it on my radar forever, I've just never bought it, I'm not sure why. I'll have to remedy that.

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'Whatever That Hurts' is awesome. 'Wildhoney' sits in that sweet spot from 1992-1995 when gothicy, doomy, metal had the real vibe. Ur gonna luv it. 

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NokturnalBoredom Proficient

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Tiamat did one of my favorite albums of all time: Wildhoney. This album was perfect even with the psychedelic rock song at the end "A pocket sized sun". I used to smoke weed and play this album on my iPod when I was going to sleep at night for most of my late teens, early twenties. It's also got some of my favorite cover art of all time and it's not a stretch to see that the cover art of Wildhoney influenced the cover art of Nokturnal Mortum's Verity rather heavily, as they have the same general motifs going on, same color scheme, etc.

Another good Tiamat one was Clouds. Although the band says that this was their least favorite record, it's one of the first metal CDs I ever bought back in the day and I still have a soft spot for it. That's another album that I used to listen to alone in my room with my blacklight on an incense burning as a moody teenager.

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Skadi Rookie

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Tiamat is awesome. My favorite album is Prey, I'm very attached to it because it brings me so many memories. I think it's very good on its own of course.

I really like Amanethes, Wildhoney and Clouds too. Recently I listened again to The Astral Sleep and I found it quite enjoyable. But it's been a while since I listened to the other albums, I should rectify that soon!

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