UMUR "Judas Christ" is the 7th full-length studio album by Swedish band Tiamat. The album was released through Century Media Records in February 2002. It´s the successor to "Skeleton Skeletron" from 1999, and adds guitarist Thomas Petersson to the three-piece lineup, who recorded the predecessor, making Tiamat a four-piece on "Judas Christ".

Stylistically the material on "Judas Christ" continue the gothic rock/metal style of the predecessor (strongly influenced by artists like The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission). There are also still nods toward 60/70s influenced psychadelic rock and especially Pink Floyd comes to mind more than one time during the album playing time (tracks like "The Return of the Son of Nothing" and "Love Is as Good as Soma"). So while the stylistic elements which make up Tiamat´s sound are tried and true, the combination of those elements is what makes "Judas Christ" an interesting listen and which provide Tiamat with at least a relatively distinct sound.

The atmosphere of the music is predominantly dark and heavy, and in some cases hard rocking, but the most psychadelic influenced tracks usually feature a more uplifing mood and a more tranquil atmosphere ("Heaven of High" and "Too Far Gone" are two semi-acoustic tracks which despite their lyrical content are examples of that). The performances are organic and lead vocalist/guitarist/keyboard player Johan Edlund has a pleasant voice and a smooth laid back delivery. Many of the more upbeat goth rock influenced tracks feature female and male backing vocals by Danish backing singers Trille Palsgaard and Lars Nissen and it´s just another strong gothic rock element on the album.

"Judas Christ" is a well produced album, featuring a warm, organic, and powerful sounding production, suiting the material perfectly. The quality of the material is also high throughout and Tiamat are successful in combining the various elements of their sound to a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Skeleton Skeletron" is the 6th full-length studio album by Swedish band Tiamat. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 1999. It´s the successor to "A Deeper Kind of Slumber" from 1997 and features one lineup change as guitarist Thomas Petersson has jumped ship, leaving Tiamat a trio for the recording of "Skeleton Skeletron". The album features quite a few guests/session musicians though.

Tiamat had been an almost ever changing act on their preceding releases, starting out playing old school Swedish death metal on their debut album, quickly moving into death/doom metal territory on the next couple of releases, and on "Wildhoney (1994)" and especially "A Deeper Kind of Slumber (1997)", they played an atmospheric Pink Floyd influenced psychadelic tinged heavy rock/metal style, and actually completely abandoning the distorted guitars from their sound on the latter. To those who feel Tiamat strayed a bit too far from the metal path on "A Deeper Kind of Slumber (1997)", they will be glad to hear that "Skeleton Skeletron" is a heavier and more metal oriented release than its direct predecessor. The psychadelic Pink Floyd influence is also more or less gone from the soundscape and instead Tiamat play a dark gothic rock/metal influenced style and it´s now artists like The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, and Fields of the Nephilim, which are valid references. Contemporary releases by artists like Paradise Lost and Kreator (their 1999 "Endorama" album) are also references which can be used to describe the sound on "Skeleton Skeletron".

The 10 track, 45:34 minutes long album features both heavy and atmospheric tracks and more energetic and slightly faster-paced tracks. An example of the latter is the The Sisters of Mercy influenced "Brighter Than the Sun", which is a full fledged gothic rock song, featuring deep male vocals and female vocals on the chorus. "Skeleton Skeletron" also features a heavy cover of "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, which works well with the rest of the material.

"Skeleton Skeletron" is a well produced album, featuring a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production, which suits the material well. Upon conclusion "Skeleton Skeletron" is a good quality release by Tiamat. The fact that the band seem to have suffered from an identity crisis almost since their inception isn´t that important when they churn out quality music like this. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

lukretion Tiamat’s seventh full-length album has not a great rep among fans, which is somewhat unjustified in my opinion. The album was released three years after Tiamat’s “commercial” exploit, 1999’s Skeleton Skeletron. The line-up is largely unchanged. The band is still led by singer/guitarist Johan Edlund, with bassist Anders Iwers and drummer Lars Sköld forming a solid, no-frill rhythm section. The only addition to the line-up on the new LP is Thomas Petersson, who plays lead guitar delivering a handful of tasty solos throughout the record. Musically, Judas Christ continues Tiamat’s exploration of “easy-listening” gothic tunes. Edlund’s croony voice takes centre stage, with his catchy vocal lines and witty lyrics layered over simple guitar riffs, melancholic arpeggios, sultry Hammonds and atmospheric keyboards. The album mostly sticks to a pleasant mid-to-low tempo, enough to make you nod your head, but at a speed that is entirely safe for your neck muscles. It’s gothic metal, but soft and melodic, of the kind that you would have expected to hear in a rock club around those years.

The ample concessions to melody are partly the reason why Judas Christ disappointed fans of the band at the time, especially those who were already left unimpressed by Skeleton Skeletron. But there is another aspect of the album that somewhat penalizes the listening process. While Skeleton Skeletron had a very clear and coherent identity from start to finish, Judas Christ is much more heterogeneous, and probably even too diverse across its 12 songs for its own sake. The warning signs come early. While inspecting the album’s backcover, you will notice that the songs are divided into four “chapters”: Spinae (tracks 1 to 4), Tropic of Venus (tracks 5 to 7), Tropic of Capricorn (tracks 8 to 10) and Casadores (tracks 11 and 12). This is not just cosmetics: each group of songs sounds quite different from the others, to the point that one can almost think of Judas Christ as a collection of 4 distinct mini-EPs.

Spinae explores soundscapes at the intersection between gothic metal and melodic doom. The music is solemn, somber and dark. Even the most uptempo songs such as “Vote for Love” retain a deep sense of darkness and melancholy that makes them quite irresistible, frankly. The next chapter, Tropic of Venus, takes the doom and gloom of Spinae and filters it through a haze of 1970s psychedelia. “Fireflower” feels like a love affair between The Beatles and Black Sabbath, while the instrumental “Sumer by Night” screams Pink Floyd. “Love Is as Good as Soma” closes the chapter in great fashion, with a splendid combination of programmed loops, moody keys and dreamy melancholic guitar arpeggios. So far, Judas Christ is a phenomenal listen.

The other two chapters are alas much less interesting, in my opinion. The three songs included under Tropic of Capricorn feel a lot like outtakes from Skeleton Skeletron. They have the same “silly” rock vibe, playing on the combination between easy melodies, disturbing lyrics and gloomy atmospheres. However, while Skeleton Skeletron pulled that off with class, the songs here feel forced and tacky – not unlike Edlund’s side-project Lucyfire that was released one year prior. The album closes with Casadores – a chapter that takes Tiamat’s gloom in acoustic rock territories (“Heaven of High” is folksy, while “Too Far Gone” could have been written in collaboration with Tom Petty). It’s not a totally uninteresting experiment, although both songs fall a bit flat and are too long, ultimately coming across as slightly boring.

The rather dull second half is the sword on which Judas Christ ultimately falls. As the record comes to an end, I am left with a bittersweet taste that is hard to shake off entirely. It’s a pity because the album contains some of my absolute favourite songs in Tiamat’s discography (“The Return of the Son of Nothing”, “Vote for Love”, “Love Is as Good as Soma”). Indeed, the first 7 tracks are all of really high quality and I just kinda wish the album stopped there, rather than dribble along for another 5 lackluster songs until its unceremonious end. Despite these mixed feelings, it’s undeniable that Judas Christ once again confirms that, when it comes to gothic metal/rock, Tiamat are miles ahead of the competition in terms of class, artistry and musicality. So, whatever you think of this genre, Tiamat are among the very best that this particular brand of metal had to offer in the early 2000s.

lukretion Released in 2003 to launch Tiamat’s new full-length album Prey, Cain is a single containing three songs. Two are taken from the forthcoming LP (“Cain” and “Love in Chains”). The version of “Cain” included here is actually radio-edited and is about 90 seconds shorter than the version that will appear on the full-length (you can easily spot where it was cut as soon as you hear the horrible fade out that obliterates away Thomas Petersson’s solo at the end of the track). The third song on the disc is a cover of WASP’s “Sleeping (In the Fire)” that you can also find on some reissues of Prey. I have mainly two criteria to evaluate singles: 1) whether the record gets me excited about the full-length album, and 2) whether it contains any interesting non-album material that is not readily available elsewhere. Cain does not disappoint in either dimension, but it also does not get full marks.

Not having yet listened to Prey, the two album tracks got me moderately intrigued about it. Tiamat seem to have taken a darker course on this one. “Cain” is at the intersection between doom and gothic metal. Its verse is built around a particularly foreboding melody, that is only partially resolved in a brighter and catchier chorus. All in all, this is a good song that is catchy without being cheesy, and explores an interesting, dark mood. I cannot say the same about the other track taken from Prey, “Love in Chains”, where Tiamat took a page from the book of The 69 Eyes to write a fairly plain and run-of-the-mill goth rock number that chugs away without leaving any lasting impression on me. I actually like the Finnish band, but it is disappointing to see Tiamat, who have been among the forerunners of the gothic metal scene, lose their unique sound to churn out vanilla goth rock tunes instead.

Coming to the “non-album” track, I am not overly excited about it, either. Don’t get me wrong, I love WASP’s version of this song. It’s an awesome power ballad that Blackie Lawless literally rips apart with his incredibly emotive vocal performance. And that’s where the problem lies for Tiamat’s cover version. Edlund’s sedate voice simply cannot provide the emotional oomph that this simple song would need to leave its mark. He simply sucks the life out of the song, which makes for an interesting, but emotionally sterile listening experience.

Overall, Cain leaves me with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension about the full-length album the single is supposed to advertise. I am not sure that is a good thing. Would I buy Prey, based on these songs alone? Probably, but that’s because I am already a Tiamat fan. If I hadn’t already been into the band, I am less sure that this single would convince me to check them out. And that cannot possibly be a good thing.

SilentScream213 An album that leaves me with very mixed feelings. Halfway innovative masterpiece, halfway boring directionless filler. Wildhoney is considered to be Tiamat’s best release, as well as the one where they found their signature Gothic sound. It’s aesthetically unique and many steps ahead of the game, leaving a lasting impression on the Gothic Metal world. But can it back up that legacy?

Calling Wildhoney “Gothic Metal” is only correct because it’s the closest thing to a unifying sound found here. Less than half the runtime is Metal – the rest is a mix of Ambient, Darkwave, Rock, and Psychedelia. And therein lies the verdict. You see, the Metal here is great – particularly the doomier stuff, like Visionare. This track mixes some crushing Death Doom melancholia with the prettier and more ethereal Gothic Metal pretty much invented on this album. A great track, and the other Metal tracks aren’t far behind.

The weakness lies in everything else. Nothing against those other genres of music, but none of the songs are done particularly well. The album doesn’t sound like a super creative mix of many styles; rather, it sounds like a few great Gothic Metal tracks and then a bunch of filler stuff that was easy to put together to fill out the runtime. None of the ambient or darkwave stuff is memorable, and the last track which is an odd combo of Psychedelic Rock, Ethereal Wave and Folk doesn’t have nearly enough going on to justify an over 8-minute runtime. This album was an important piece of art in Metal history, but offers much less than its legacy might imply.