Tiamat
Wildhoney

THE REVIEW

Wildhoney is the fourth album, dating back to 1994, of this Norwegian gothic metal band: Tiamat. I discovered this group during an evening with metalhead friends, one of those nights where everyone tried to astonish and convince the others with the records from their favorite bands (resulting in listening to only a few seconds of each track, creating a nice mixed musical salad...). I, not being much of a metalhead, tried to stay afloat in that stormy ocean. Then, suddenly, the notes of Wildhoney, the title track, unexpectedly cradled me... a guitar with light chords, some tapping notes reminiscent of a xylophone, vaguely haunting, chirping and crickets in the background, an atmosphere that brought to mind epic landscapes, made of castles and moors... and then... just as I imagined myself on horseback, clad in my armor, a guitar as heavy as Thor's hammer hurled me into a whirlwind of notes that enveloped me like flames spewed from the mouth of a gigantic dragon... then again light sounds... then... Then the track was interrupted by the friend of the moment who insisted, "Come on, listen to this... feel how hard they hit!!!" and with the sounds of yet another track blasted at full volume from the stereo, I found myself back in the reality of the room.

I absolutely wanted to purchase this album to enjoy its continuation, also made of music that would perfectly accompany the darker and harder passages of The Lord of the Rings. Johan Edlund's voice is torn, sometimes morbid, but never excessive, managing to alternate parts with more "angelic" singing to others that are hoarse and raw, all upon musical backgrounds where the guitars and bass deepen the sound, both in the more distorted and in the more melodic parts, and the drums accompany heavily like the steps of a giant. As if that weren't enough, in some passages of the various tracks, samplings are used which still do not deviate from the group's metal sound. Besides the aforementioned title track, one should listen to the wonderful Visionaire or the ethereal Kaleidoscope.
Dedicated to those who want to let their imagination run wild with music, especially towards epically spectral worlds...