Judas Christ --- Tiamat --- 2002 (Century Media)
Hey, these guys look scary! You sort of wonder how dark their music is going to be, and I believe it is, usually, but I was fortunate enough to choose their “lightest” album to begin my exploration of their music. Kind of a mix of heavy metal, goth and new wave rock, this is actually one hell of a good album, and though I'm quite aware now that it's not representative of their usual musical output, I was very pleasantly surprised when I listened to it.
First off, I have to say, kudos to any band who names themselves after the mythical mother-dragon of Babylonian legend! Cool! And I also have to admit to a wry smile at the album title, but what about the music? I mean, you can look hard, have a cool name and a great attitude, but hey, if your music sucks, then what's the point?
Luckily, “Judas Christ” does not suck. At all. Weighing in with the doomy “The return of the son of nothing”, it's not exactly going to have you dancing around, nor indeed headbanging or playing your air guitar, but it's a great song to open what turns out to be a really great album. Some nice jangly guitar starts the track off before you're absolutely hammered by electric guitar and drums, and the doomy voice of Johan Edlund, his Swedish twang unmistakable, as he also plays the guitar, backed up by Anders Iwers on bass and Lars Skold on drums. Someone's playing a violin on this album, but I can't find a credit for it. I think it may be Edlund (yeah, him again!) on keyboards... It's a heavy opening, but the album does not stay that heavy, in fact “Son of nothing” is about the darkest and doomiest track on the album, by a long way. But once I had heard it, I was sold.
“So much for suicide” is a heavy enough song, but less dark than the opener, while “Vote for love” is positively poppy and very upbeat, with female backing vocals and a positive message:
”It's about time we all get out/ And vote for love.” “Fireflower” is introduced on spacy, swirling keyboards and ethereal vocals, before the guitar takes the track, while “Sumer by night” is a great piece of guitar work, the fretboard screeching as Edlund squeezes every drop of emotion out of it on this short track. If you've never heard a guitar scream before, you will here!
There's even a ballad on here, which I'm reliably informed is a rather large change for Tiamat, although in fairness its opening lines are
”I want to crush every bone in you/ Cos I got nothing better to do.” Not exactly a love song, then! But “Love is as good as soma” does come across as a ballad of sorts, certainly with its slow drumbeat, organ backing and acoustic guitar. It's almost like these guys have to be dark even when writing love songs, as later lines are
”Hug me till you drug me honey/ Kiss me till I'm in a coma.” Er, yeah. Sure. Very relaxing song though, if you ignore the lyrical content. What IS soma anyway? A drug of some sort, I'm thinking...
“Angel holograms” gets things sped up again, great guitar and a very catchy song wth some cool vocoder work on the chorus. The funny thing about this album is that it starts off very heavy, crunchy metal tunes and doom-laden lyrics, and as it progresses it becomes more accessible, commercial and evolves towards being more a standard rock album. Tracks like “I am in love with myself” and closer “Too far gone” would not be out of place on a Metallica or even Dio album. That said, Tiamat do have a sound all their own, which keeps them original and innovative, and definitely worth listening to.
TRACKLISTING
1. The return of the son of nothing
2. So much for suicide
3. Vote for love
4. The truth's for sale
5. Fireflower
6. Sumer by night
7. Love is as good as soma
8. Angel holograms
9. Spine
10. I am in love with myself
11. Heaven of high
12. Too far gone
Suggested further listening: Well, to be honest, I haven't heard any other Tiamat albums yet, and as this is something of a departure from their usual style, all I can say is, you know, proceed at your own risk...