Tiamat - "Skeleton Skeletron"
(Century Media)

It's been two years since Tiamat's last offer of "A deeper kind of slumber". The band's (or, should I write Johan Endlund's) new release is entitled "Skeleton Skeletron". It contains 10 slow, atmospheric, sometimes electronic, tracks, that do not differ much from each other. The music is highly melancholic, even imposing. Johan's vocals and recitations dominate, whereas there are female vocals in some of the tracks (i.e. "Brighter than the sun"). There are many gothic rock elements as well as electronic parts. On the whole, the album is desperately slow, as the fastest song is the cover version of Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" (although it is performed slower than the authentic track). This album has nothing to do with heavy metal, and, in my opinion, it is tiresome even for those who like the gothic/rock/atmospheric sound. There are not many changes, as far as the rhythms and the riffs are concerned (Besides, the album ius based on keyboards) and I would say that this album express Edlund's lack of inspiration. Let's hope it's only temporary. A grade? I would say not...

Melissa

PS: Thanx to Maria for her valuable remarks