Tiamat is a
metal band that formed in
Stockholm, Sweden in 1988. Their music has been the subject of debate, utilizing subgenres like
black metal,
progressive,
doom/
death and
gothic, but more recently they have focused on what has been described as "
atmospheric/gothic rock"
[1] with
ethnic,
psychedelic and
experimental elements.
Initially, the band played straightforward black metal under the name Treblinka.[2] After having recorded the album Sumerian Cry in 1989, vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund and bassist Jörgen Thullberg parted ways with the other two founding members, and subsequently changed the name to Tiamat. The Sumerian Cry album, as recorded by Treblinka, was released as Tiamat's debut album in June 1990.
After the debut, Edlund's leadership would modify the band's style with influences ranging from Mercyful Fate, Candlemass, Pink Floyd[3] and King Crimson, with Sumerian lyrical themes. German 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, including 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 forty-minute piece of music, Wildhoney was considered to be a landmark release within the progressive/doom metal genres and would lead to the band's appearances at the Dynamo[4] and Wacken Open Air heavy metal festivals in 1995. The group would play a second gig at Dynamo two years later.
