UMUR
"Clouds" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death/doom/goth metal act Tiamat. The album was released through Century Media Records in September 1992. It´s the successor to "The Astral Sleep" from 1991 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Jörgen Thullberg has been replaced by Johnny Hagel. Tiamat enjoyed some recognition and success in those days, and a music video for the track "The Sleeping Beauty" was made to promote the album.
"The Astral Sleep (1991)" saw Tiamat moving away from the old school Swedish death metal sound of their debut album, and enter doom/death territory instead, and that development of sound is further continued on "Clouds". Tiamat have added even more atmospheric elements to their sound, and there is very little focus on brutality and sharp riffs and rhythms on "Clouds". This is instead a melodic and atmospheric doom/goth/death metal release with semi-growling/shouting raw vocals, but also both spoken/sung word passages and chanting male choir parts. Keyboards are used frequently to create atmosphere and acoustic guitar parts are also an atmospheric element, which provides the overall sound with great dynamics. Several tracks feature soaring melancholic lead guitar melodies, which are similar in style to what an artist like Paradise Lost produced on their contemporary releases.
The musicianship is on a high level on all posts, although the vocal part of the music is probably a bit of an aquired taste. Lead vocalist/guitarist Johan Edlund´s hoarse croak isn´t always pretty and his speak/singing vocals can also sound a bit awkward. Sometimes the latter vocal parts sound like a slower Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies) gone goth (which puts a smile on my face, but also dimishes how serious I perceive the music). The critiqué sounds a bit harsher on paper than what I had planned, so please don´t misunderstand my words and think the music is unlistenable because the vocals aren´t up to par with the rest of the music, because there are plenty of other positive things to say about "Clouds".
The material on the 8 track, 39:27 minutes long album are well written, dynamic, and relatively varied for the style, and the choice to enter Woodhouse Studio in Dortmund, Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta was a great idea too, as "Clouds" features a warm and organic sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. Upon conclusion "Clouds" is a good quality goth/doom/death metal release, which may lack the final high quality elements to rank among the elite in the genre, but still is a good quality release overall. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.