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CelestialEmissary
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2023 8:19 pm
Posts: 56
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:19 pm 
 

Hi folks!

This week's album of the week is Tiamat's 1994 album Wildhoney. Let me know your thoughts on this album, memories of it and more.
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Benedict Donald
Veteran

Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:36 am
Posts: 3078
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Mar 29, 2024 10:49 pm 
 

Fantastic album, that was game-changing for me back in ‘95 when I discovered it. Along with “Amok”, “Tales From the 1000 Lakes”, and “Turn Loose The Swans”, it proved that metal can thrive with an “atmosphere first” approach. The traditional metal blue prints were discarded for this (to me) new ethos.

“Do You Dream Of Me?” is sublime and emits more emotion than any power ballad before it could ever hope to.

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Lane
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2002 11:54 am
Posts: 1108
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:41 am 
 

Pretty much like me, Benedict! Found lots of new bands in mid 1990's, like Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, Sentenced, Amorphis, Tiamat...

Albums like this opened my mind for something else than more typical metal/rock bands.
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Wilytank
Not a Flying Toy

Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:21 am
Posts: 5862
Location: 717
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:51 am 
 

Not quite my favorite material by this band, but it's a really cool album by this band. They stopped being metal like halfway through this album, but that hasn't kept me from enjoying it or anything Tiamat released since.
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LycanthropeMoon
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:53 pm
Posts: 2298
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 11:11 am 
 

Absolutely amazing album for sure. Great atmosphere and impeccable songwriting, it's the most popular Tiamat album for a damn good reason.

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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7622
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 11:22 am 
 

Never liked it much. Give me the first three Tiamat records instead.
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CannibalCorpse
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:55 pm
Posts: 1013
Location: Austria
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 1:30 pm 
 

"Whatever That Hurts" and "The Ar" are basically the only Tiamat songs I've ever listened to more than a couple of times. This band has a bunch of intriguing individual elements but they barely work as a whole, no matter what style shift they were opting for.
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Abominatrix
Harbinger of Metal

Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:15 pm
Posts: 9313
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 2:26 pm 
 

I like the album, but it feels like Johan Edlund playing with a band of studio musicians. It stands out weirdly in the band's discography and the balance between heaviness and lighter material feels off somehow. I think I prefer the next album, which has no metal on it really, but seems more personal and authentic. Wildhoney does start off well, and "Visionaire" is a great song. Other tracks depend too much on Johan's kind of lifeless vocals and the work of session musicians. How into drugs was johan around this time? A lot, I think.
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Benedict Donald
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Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:36 am
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 4:07 pm 
 

Abominatrix wrote:
I think I prefer the next album, which has no metal on it really, but seems more personal and authentic.


For as much as I like "Wildhoney", I strongly agree that "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber" is just better. "Authentic" is indeed a good word to describe it. The closing four-song suite is godly.

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FirebathDan
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Apr 21, 2004 2:32 pm
Posts: 1627
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 4:24 pm 
 

Benedict Donald wrote:
Abominatrix wrote:
I think I prefer the next album, which has no metal on it really, but seems more personal and authentic.


For as much as I like "Wildhoney", I strongly agree that "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber" is just better. "Authentic" is indeed a good word to describe it. The closing four-song suite is godly.


A Deeper Kind Of Slumber is one of the greatest albums ever made, regardless of genre.

Wildhoney is a moderately close second. Don’t really care that deeply for anything prior (Clouds is the best of that bunch but is really just OK), and everything after Slumber is pretty spotty (with Prey and Skeleton Skeletron being the best of that bunch).
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Benedict Donald
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Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:36 am
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 6:34 pm 
 

FirebathDan wrote:

Wildhoney is a moderately close second. Don’t really care that deeply for anything prior (Clouds is the best of that bunch but is really just OK), and everything after Slumber is pretty spotty (with Prey and Skeleton Skeletron being the best of that bunch).


I agree completely. I just dont find anything of interest in the pre-Wildhoney albums, and the post-Slumber albums are weak (although Skeletron has a few strong cuts).

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Abominatrix
Harbinger of Metal

Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 12:15 pm
Posts: 9313
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Mar 30, 2024 7:34 pm 
 

Nuts. The Astral Sleep is an incredible album. Wall to wall killer riffs and a really mysterious, dark vibe. I like Clouds too, although by that point it's fun to imagine what it would sound like with a better vocalist.
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AWinterShadow
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:13 pm
Posts: 123
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 3:17 am 
 

Abominatrix wrote:
Nuts. The Astral Sleep is an incredible album. Wall to wall killer riffs and a really mysterious, dark vibe. I like Clouds too, although by that point it's fun to imagine what it would sound like with a better vocalist.


"The Astral Sleep" is my #1 pick for any album I would choose if I had to live on a deserted island with only 10 albums.

I just love how the entire album feels like a dungeon crawl through some ancient mid-eastern temple ruins to a Chtulhu-esq god...not dead but dreaming, just waiting for the stars to once again be right!

While the first Tiamat album was good. Starting with "The Astral Sleep" all the way through "A Deeper Kind of Slumber" I rate each album an absolute must-have classic, but it's always "The Astral Sleep" I come back to. The latter albums after these just kinda fizzle too much, going too mainstream. There's still some great tracks, but as coherent albums they really lost the uniqueness of the earlier albums.

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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7622
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 3:45 am 
 

Abominatrix wrote:
Nuts. The Astral Sleep is an incredible album. Wall to wall killer riffs and a really mysterious, dark vibe. I like Clouds too, although by that point it's fun to imagine what it would sound like with a better vocalist.


Took me a long time to get into The Astral Sleep, but it's clearly my favorite of the band nowadays. Love how you've got a versatile arsenal of riffs packed into some kind of gothic horror package. Johan sounds awesome on it, too.

Clouds sounds a bit more stripped down and while Johan doesn't sound great on it, I've learned to appreciate his goofy vocals on that one.
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Metal_On_The_Ascendant about Virgin Steele's The Passion of Dionysus:
Metal_On_The_Ascendant wrote:

I'd advise you to hold off on what is likely to be a negative review and give this album the perspective it deserves.

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darthlazy
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:59 pm
Posts: 130
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 2:39 pm 
 

Ahhhhh, Wildhoney.
Well, honestly for me I was coming off such a high after the one, two punch that was The Astral Sleep/ Clouds that upon hearing Wildhoney the first time I remember feeling then, and still to this day was that it was pretty boring aside from Whatever That Hurts. I remember thinking how pointless it was to have 4 boring instrumentals on the album, surrounded by nothing that reminded me of the prior 2, and felt so disappointed.
Buuuut, I was 19, what did I really know?
However, It did influence me to not continue to follow their career, and I never bought another Tiamat album until Amanethes was released in 2008. Although, not a solid record by any means, it did have a darker image with a handful of songs that I absolutely loved, and rejuvenated the past love I had for the band. Ultimately I decided to fill in the holes and complete their collection on cd, and eventually vinyl (minus The Scarred People which I'm still trying to track down)
I've grown to appreciate Wildhoney over time for what it is, but like a whole bunch of their career to me, there is a whole hell of a lot of boring throughout. So, here I am 30 years later saying that Tiamat for me never recaptured the magic I felt listening to the 1st 3 albums, and Wildhoney started these feelings for me.
I wish Johan all of the best, and hope he figures out what he wants to do with this band, if anything moving forward. He's surrounded by talent, it's just a shame he's his own worst enemy. I'll buy the next record for certain.

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Reid
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:33 pm
Posts: 584
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 6:33 pm 
 

FirebathDan wrote:
Benedict Donald wrote:
Abominatrix wrote:
I think I prefer the next album, which has no metal on it really, but seems more personal and authentic.


For as much as I like "Wildhoney", I strongly agree that "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber" is just better. "Authentic" is indeed a good word to describe it. The closing four-song suite is godly.


A Deeper Kind Of Slumber is one of the greatest albums ever made, regardless of genre.


Co-signing this, ADKOS is such a fantastic, unique album. However, Wildhoney is pretty good as well. Haven't really cared for any of the other Tiamat I've heard.

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coupdebleus
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 3:11 pm
Posts: 284
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 7:11 pm 
 

Wildhoney is one of my favorite albums ever, I have the cover art tattooed as a half-sleeve. It’s simple, catchy, psychedelic; every part from the music, to the production, lyrics, and art works together to build a masterpiece oozing with atmosphere.
Random fact: The keyboards used on the album are Yamaha SY85/99, some of my favorite synth sounds of all time.

The videos for the songs are fantastic too, surprised no one mentioned them:




If you’ve only listened to the album digitally, you’re missing out on a beautiful booklet. Each song has its own piece of art to go along.
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lennonlikesmetal
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:25 am
Posts: 4642
PostPosted: Sun Mar 31, 2024 10:19 pm 
 

Treblinka demos are superior to Tiamat.

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