Tiamat

Wildhoney (Century Media)
by Scott Hefflon

If you were to translate Dali’s art into insomnia-driven poetry and then sing, growl, moan, whisper and recite it to doom/Goth/post-death metal guitar crunch, you might wind up with a concoction of contradictions such as Tiamat‘s latest release, Wildhoney (Century Media).

Originally a German death metal band, time has tempered Johan Edlund’s bitterness in both his lyrics and songwriting. The result is a slow and brooding mass of sound that has the beauty and overwhelming power of ocean waves. Furthermore, it has the lulling potential of an undertow. Drawn in by the soothing sway of tender acoustic guitar and breathy vocals, suddenly tossed into a tribal interlude of solos, then blinked back into an ambient awakening – this CD puts the listener through the moods and through the paces. Ending with the Floydian “A Pocket Sized Sun,” you realize you’ve drifted from the crushing immensity of the first tracks to the dreamy chaos of the last without noticing.

Wildhoney traverses the spectrum of moods and hypnotically draws the listener with it.