Tiamat
Metaldays - 2019
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
Back in 2014, Tiamat had delivered one of Metaldays’ most memorable concerts, being the final band to play there that year.
Now, five years later, the band finally made their return to Tolmin, and they had the same time and stage as on their last visit.. Would they be able to recapture the same magic? We had to wonder.
“Kom igen nu, Slovenien!”
- Johan Edlund (vocals)
The arguably better known Dimmu Borgir had already closed down the main stage moments before, and yet it didn’t take that long to get from there to the second stage where Tiamat was about to close down the entire festival. Hence it was surprising to see that the crowd was quite small as the band took the stage, and opened up with the old Clouds classic In A Dream.
The band this night consisted of the core members Johan Edlund (only on vocals this night), Lars Sköld (drums), and Roger Öjersson (guitar). Anders Iwers was not with the band, so instead they had recruited Gustaf Hielm (Pain Of Salvation) on bass. Sadly, I’m not familiar with the hired keyboard player or the second guitarist, so if you should happen to know them, please drop a line below.
The band was surprisingly lively this night, given the style. Edlund displayed a nice, dry sense of humour, and the musicians were feeling and living the music. Hielm is always fun to watch, and he’s a great musician to boot, so the temporary absence of Iwers didn’t bother me.
How easy it was to play is uncertain however, as Edlund showed a knack for spending his non-singing time walking around, tickling his musicians or fidgeting with their effect boards. At one point he even got hold of a towel, and subsequently rolled it up and whipped it at his band mates.
This doesn’t mean that he neglected his vocal duties though, as they were perfectly spot on when Edlund focused on them. I was personally glad to hear the band play the Hoola Bandoola Band cover Keops Pyramid again, and regret that they haven’t made a proper recording of it - at least not one that I know of. The closest thing we have now is Thåström’s version of it, but it’s not quite the same, is it?
The band’s own material certainly wasn’t lacking either. Their Clouds / Wildhoney combo set has been going for a while now, and while that is still the backbone of the show, they’ve mixed things up a bit, taking a few of those tracks out, and giving more room to other material. Oddly, not a single song from their two latest albums, Amanethes and The Scarred People, made the cut despite them both having quite strong material - oh well, another time, maybe.
Neither was there anything from Tiamat’s two first albums, Sumerian Cry and The Astral Sleep, but that may be a bit more understandable - despite them bringing Clouds and Wildhoney back in a big way, the style of those two first albums is very far away from what the band is all about in this day and age - heck, it just the shift between The Astral Sleep and Clouds is highly noticeable.
In the beginning it was small, yes almost nonexistent, but the crowd grew steadily during the first couple of songs, and while it never got as big as one might think the band deserved, it undoubtedly obtained a decent size before too long.
I’d like to tell myself that there was a good deal of singing along to the songs, but while there surely was some of this going on, I fear some of the loudest participation may have been from myself.
Overall, the audience was receiving the music in a calm and collected manner. Now, remember, this wasn’t the wildest of sets played at the festival, and we were also at the very end of the night, the final night, so surely some were beginning to feel tired as well at this time. Some were up for burning off their final energy as well though, and the front was headbanging whenever appropriate.
So, did Tiamat manage to recreate the 2014 magic? Tough question. This wasn’t the same thing, but rest assured the quality was of the same high level. Even with Metaldays dishing out some rather outstanding concerts this year, Tiamat still managed to come out on top. I’ve said it before, but rarely has it been as true as now - this is how you close down a festival in style!
Setlist:
In A Dream
Clouds
Smell Of Incense
Cold Seed
Cain
Whatever That Hurts
Keops Pyramid (Hoola Bandoola Band cover)
Wings Of Heaven
Vote For Love
Visionaire
Divided
The Sleeping Beauty
Gaia
Now, five years later, the band finally made their return to Tolmin, and they had the same time and stage as on their last visit.. Would they be able to recapture the same magic? We had to wonder.
“Kom igen nu, Slovenien!”
- Johan Edlund (vocals)
The arguably better known Dimmu Borgir had already closed down the main stage moments before, and yet it didn’t take that long to get from there to the second stage where Tiamat was about to close down the entire festival. Hence it was surprising to see that the crowd was quite small as the band took the stage, and opened up with the old Clouds classic In A Dream.
The band this night consisted of the core members Johan Edlund (only on vocals this night), Lars Sköld (drums), and Roger Öjersson (guitar). Anders Iwers was not with the band, so instead they had recruited Gustaf Hielm (Pain Of Salvation) on bass. Sadly, I’m not familiar with the hired keyboard player or the second guitarist, so if you should happen to know them, please drop a line below.
The band was surprisingly lively this night, given the style. Edlund displayed a nice, dry sense of humour, and the musicians were feeling and living the music. Hielm is always fun to watch, and he’s a great musician to boot, so the temporary absence of Iwers didn’t bother me.
How easy it was to play is uncertain however, as Edlund showed a knack for spending his non-singing time walking around, tickling his musicians or fidgeting with their effect boards. At one point he even got hold of a towel, and subsequently rolled it up and whipped it at his band mates.
This doesn’t mean that he neglected his vocal duties though, as they were perfectly spot on when Edlund focused on them. I was personally glad to hear the band play the Hoola Bandoola Band cover Keops Pyramid again, and regret that they haven’t made a proper recording of it - at least not one that I know of. The closest thing we have now is Thåström’s version of it, but it’s not quite the same, is it?
The band’s own material certainly wasn’t lacking either. Their Clouds / Wildhoney combo set has been going for a while now, and while that is still the backbone of the show, they’ve mixed things up a bit, taking a few of those tracks out, and giving more room to other material. Oddly, not a single song from their two latest albums, Amanethes and The Scarred People, made the cut despite them both having quite strong material - oh well, another time, maybe.
Neither was there anything from Tiamat’s two first albums, Sumerian Cry and The Astral Sleep, but that may be a bit more understandable - despite them bringing Clouds and Wildhoney back in a big way, the style of those two first albums is very far away from what the band is all about in this day and age - heck, it just the shift between The Astral Sleep and Clouds is highly noticeable.
In the beginning it was small, yes almost nonexistent, but the crowd grew steadily during the first couple of songs, and while it never got as big as one might think the band deserved, it undoubtedly obtained a decent size before too long.
I’d like to tell myself that there was a good deal of singing along to the songs, but while there surely was some of this going on, I fear some of the loudest participation may have been from myself.
Overall, the audience was receiving the music in a calm and collected manner. Now, remember, this wasn’t the wildest of sets played at the festival, and we were also at the very end of the night, the final night, so surely some were beginning to feel tired as well at this time. Some were up for burning off their final energy as well though, and the front was headbanging whenever appropriate.
So, did Tiamat manage to recreate the 2014 magic? Tough question. This wasn’t the same thing, but rest assured the quality was of the same high level. Even with Metaldays dishing out some rather outstanding concerts this year, Tiamat still managed to come out on top. I’ve said it before, but rarely has it been as true as now - this is how you close down a festival in style!
Setlist:
In A Dream
Clouds
Smell Of Incense
Cold Seed
Cain
Whatever That Hurts
Keops Pyramid (Hoola Bandoola Band cover)
Wings Of Heaven
Vote For Love
Visionaire
Divided
The Sleeping Beauty
Gaia
Tiamat
