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Molti fans del metal estremo degli ultimi quindici anni non credo possano dimenticare questo lavoro degli svedesi Tiamat (di provenienza Hammarby-Stoccolma tanto per cambiare ) che si distinse come autentico pioniere nell'utilizzo di componenti spudoratamente melodiche all'interno della scena death-black primi nineties.
Uscito sotto l'egida della Century media nel 1992, ad un paio d'anni di distanza dal grezzo e malefico "Sumerian Cry", questo e`infatti il platter che consegnerà ai nordici il titolo di "creatori" del suono melodic-death (insieme agli At The Gates from Gothenburg) e che in seguito sarà fonte di ispirazione per molte bands svedesi e non tra le quali cito, su tutte, gli oramai famosi Katatonia. L'album consta di ben dodici tracce che si assestano su una durata media di cinque minuti, dotate di una produzione sorprendentemente cristallina, dove tutti gli strumenti trovano il giusto spazio e bilanciamento.
Il genere proposto dai nostri si rivela complesso, molto articolato e, quindi, di difficile catalogazione. Introdotti da un intro di stampo horror-sonfonico si comincia con la devastante "Lady Temptress" , assalto death-thrash dal riffing mozzafiato unito alle crude urla di Edlund (originale ed ispirato). Notevole la sezione ritmica che annichilisce l'ascoltatore senza alcuna pietà mentre l'assolo finale lascia intravvedere spiragli di brillantezza melodica che ritroveremo nei pezzi a seguire.
Infatti con il trittico " Mountains of Doom "," Dead Boys Quire "," Sumerian Cry 2nd Part " i Tiamat ci ammaliano con armonie novembrine di matrice doom-gothic unite alla furia del classic-death scandinavo. Morbide chitarre acustiche duettano con riffs feroci e taglienti, il tutto contornato da efficaci keys dalle tinte molto sinfoniche. Presenti anche partiture di hammond davvero interessanti nell'ultima delle tre da me citate.
Il growl di Johan, rauco e sofferto, si differenzia notevolmente dai titpici stilemi black-death e dona alla musica quel quid di originalità in più (uno dei pochi veramente in grado di " cantare "il death-metal).
Seguono "On Golden Wings" e "Ancient Dreams", brutali, grezze, sfoderando uno stile chitarristico che rimanda agli arcinoti conterranei Unleashed. Efficaci i solos di Thomas Pettersson, incredibile la verietà nel guitar-work caratterizzata da un'attitudine "progressive" che ritroveremo nei futuri capolavori seminali "Clouds" e "Wildhoney".
"The Southernmost Voyage" ci fa realizzare con che tipo di musicisti ci troviamo di fronte: assolutamente imprevedibili e fantasiosi! Una ballata acustica arricchita da keys tristissime, vocals sospirate e tenebrose, un vero inno all'ancestrale, alle ferite del cuore, ai sogni destinati ad infrangersi contro muraglie di gelo ed indifferenza.
Tra le tracks finali si segnalano "A Winter Shadow" per le sue atmosfere orientate sul passato piu`black del combo ed, in particolar modo, la solenne "Angels Far Beyond" un ibrido assai riuscito tra thrashy riffs-heavy solos e sequenze sinfoniche lugubri e lancinanti. Johan si dispera al microfono generando cascate di interminabili incubi..
"The Astral Sleep" incarna il suono melo-death e, a mio modo di vedere, lo inventa di sana pianta coniugando elementi che, pur provenendo da generi rock-metal distanti l'uno dall'altro, creano un amalgama quasi perfetto. Il quasi è d'obbligo poiché in futuro i nordici smusseranno i pochi angoli e si supereranno ulteriormente.
Nota conclusiva per la qualità dei musicisti, dotati di stupefacente padronanza considerata l'età media (19 anni!). Fatevolo vostro.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Lady Temptress (03:44)
Lady Temptress
Lucifer's daughter
Born in my flesh
Arise and be revealed
Unknown for the corrupted minds
She dwells in malignancy
In the distant crypts of your inner self
Where Man of God doesn't seek
Please don't leave me Lady Temptress
Revel in my body Lady Temptress
Lady Temptress
Meet me in my dreams
Trace my dark sides
In the depth of my subconscious
Open the door
To the slumbering sinner
Rule my evil thoughts
And let them all out
Please don't leave me Lady Temptress
Revel in my body Lady Temptress
Lady Temptress
You are the blood of Man
The remedy to hypocrisy
Please stay alive
You keep my desires unlocked
And my desires breed in you
The Lady of temptation
Hails the human nature
Please don't leave me Lady Temptress
Revel in my body Lady Temptress
I beg on my knees
Make love to me one more time
03 Mountain of Doom (04:36)
Evil imaginations of a time to come
Dreamly dead - Almost gone
Nocturnal visits from the beyond
I will travel down the Mountain of Doom
At the highest point visible
I behold the sun for the very last time
I see an awful sight with awful beings
As the sun goes down behind the Mountain of Doom
The Mountain of Doom
Has taken my life
Almost there
Trying to seize my mind
Still aware
Of their seek and find
I have lost hold of myself
Taken to the extent of my life
Eternal sleep in a dreamworld's coffin
Entombed beneath the Mountain of Doom
The Mountain of Doom
Has taken my life
Almost there
Trying to seize my mind
Still aware
Of their seek and find
Now I'm there
Enjoying my peace of mind
In this lair
Death is what you'll find
06 On Golden Wings (04:58)
People! This is my world
You are just parts of it
If I would have been a big tree
Then you would have been the fruits of my boughs
But join me
We're all kings
Don't fear for your insanity
Fly on its wings
Take my wings and rely on them in battle and fight
Fly on my dreams in the darkest of nights
Put those wings of gold to the fear of your dreams
And notice that what scares you is not always what it seems
In the end fruit always fall to the ground
And new flowers soon blossom
When watching you rise and fall
My limbs proudly extend you above
So join me
We're all kings
Don't fear for your insanity
Fly on its wings
Take my wings and rely on them in battle and fight
Fly on my dreams in the darkest of nights
Put those wings of gold to the fear of your dreams
And notice that what scares you is not always what it seems
In the end fruit always fall to the ground
And new flowers soon blossom
When watching your rise and fall
My limbs proudly extend you above
So join me
We're all kings
Don't fear for your insanity
Fly on its wings
Take my wings and rely on them in battle and fight
Fly on my dreams in the darkest of nights
Put those wings of gold to the fear of your dreams
And notice that what scares you is not always what it seems
Okay, beneath my magnificent crown of tree
I am being stained by dead bark and wounded twigs
Yes, it makes black holes..., but it opens doors
And that's what is giving me places for only a king to rule
Join me
We're all kings
Don't fear for your insanity
Fly on its wings
Take my wings and rely on them in battle and fight
Fly on my dreams in the darkest of nights
Put those wings of gold to the fear of your dreams
And notice that what scares you is not always what it seems
07 Ancient Entity (06:17)
Beneath the fullmoon
Covered in gloomy clouds
Obscure funeral spirits
Evil shadows on haunted ground
Every night they rise again
To meet the lords of death again
They live on as souls in eternity
Forced by an Ancient Entity
Through the mist I see
A circle around the gathered souls
In the mist I do belive
In sacred power of ancient kind
Knights of Satan, dead boys choir
Ten ore more around a fire
Invoking dragons and demons this event
They are not the ones that God has sent
I heard them whisper...
"As you reach the border to the unknown land,
Or when you are visited by the great lords of darkness...
Take your time, have in mind and remember...
This is not supposed to be a comfortable land..."
Every night they rise again
To meet the lords of death again
They live on as souls in eternity
Forced by an Ancient Entity
08 The Southernmost Voyage (03:12)
A sharpened shaft shines through morning dew
Drawn out shadows walk on you
Alone I stand to face the day
Tortured by a deathly silent view
Take my hand, please follow me
I was your love and your destiny
Let us over mistcovered mountains go
To a place where our lost souls can be
Not destined to a heaven built of lies and fantasy
We will sail to the empire of ecstasy
Travel through the back of out minds
And soon forever dwell in necromancy
The hall of Gods
Where you belong
If you have my blood
And faith that strong
May my words be engraved in the heart of every Man
Try to understand them as good as you can
"Drink to Lucifer or drink the blood of Christ
All things are depending on your own dreamland"
The hall of Gods
Where you belong
If you have my blood
And faith that strong
11 A Winter Shadow (05:23)
Black, cold and dismal
Sweeping through the nocturnal haze
Led by the midnight breeze
On its journey to its resting place
A shadow out of time
Hidden between different spheres
Forsaken by memory
To forever fly alone
A Winter Shadow
Under the haunted starlight
Under the light of the moon
Among stars so bright
Delivered from Gods
And cursed to an everlasting search
Passed certain heavenly places
Cried out at the gates of light
No open door was seen
Why it decided to assault
At the throne of the Almighty
It asked for hospitality
But the hands of God
Threw this stranger out
A Winter Shadow
Under the haunted starlight
Under the light of the moon
Among stars so bright
Delivered from Gods
And cursed to an everlasting search
Time for a final step
It searched through darkened space
Ended the hellish gates stood proud
But a shadow out of time
Yet caught between spheres
Is supposed to enter the night
And forever fly alone...
To forever fly alone...
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