TIAMAT — Clouds (review)

TIAMAT — Clouds album cover Album · 1992 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
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to "The Astral Sleep" from 1991 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Jörgen Thullberg has been replaced by Johnny Hagel.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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed