UMUR
"Amanethes" is the ninth full-length studio album by Swedish metal act Tiamat. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in May 2008. It´s the successor to "Prey" from 2003 and it´s a comeback album for the band after a 5 year long hiatus. There have been no lineup changes since the predecessor although guitarist Thomas Petersson has changed his name to Thomas Wyreson (if anyone wondered if it was a new member of the band). It would be Wyreson´s last album with Tiamat though as he left after recording "Amanethes". Wyreson was at that point on his third stint with Tiamat, having been a member of the band in the periods 1990-1994, 1996-1999, 2001-2008.
Although the last couple of albums by Tiamat have all been good quality releases featuring a gothic metal sound with touches of psychedelic rock (think mid- to late 90s Paradise Lost with touches of Pink Floyd and 80s goth rock influences), the occasionally more harder edged sound on "Amanethes" is a welcome addition to Tiamat´s sound (best heard on "Equinox of the Gods"). They haven´t included extreme metal elements like this since the early 90s. When that is said this really isn´t that extreme and it´s only on occasion that Tiamat dig deep and present the listener with a few extreme metal parts and elements, but it´s quite effective when it happens. Otherwise "Amanethes" in most other ways pretty much continues the gothic metal/psychedelic rock style which Tiamat have played since the mid-90s.
The musicianship is on a high level on all posts and although lead vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund maybe isn´t the most skilled or distinct sounding vocalist, he still manages to deliver some both effective and memorable vocal parts and melodies. He is the classic example of getting much out of little. "Amanethes" features a well sounding production job too, and it´s a good quality release on all parameters and even manages to stand out a little from the last couple of releases because of the return of the exteme metal elements (however few and far between they are). A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
