Band:	Tiamat
Album:	Skeleton Skeletron
Style:	Atmospheric gothic metal
Release date:	1999
Guest review by:	Stuart

01. Church Of Tiamat
02. Brighter Than The Sun
03. Dust Is Our Fare
04. To Have And Have Not
05. For Her Pleasure
06. Diyala
07. Sympathy For The Devil [The Rolling Stones cover]
08. Best Friend Money Can Buy
09. As Long As You Are Mine
10. Lucy
11. Children Of The Underworld [Japanese bonus]

In this album Johan Edlund and Co. have taken the best bits of the Sisters Of Mercy and added some heavily distorted guitars, occasional eastern melodies, ambient electronica, a varied vocal approach and pop sensibility to create a brilliantly atmospheric and entrancing expanse of musical escapism. It is best listened to from beginning to end as it has a far greater impact when listened to as a whole. As their name suggests Tiamat have always surrounded themselves with a certain mysticism and although they touch on everyday issues on this album, that sense of mysticism is still ever present and this adds an interesting flavour to the music.

The first three songs are probably the strongest tracks on the album. They all have memorable choruses sung with heartfelt emotion and yet give you the sense of both nostalgic depression and a mood of general indifference to any realities other than that involved in the immediate subject matter. The opener "Church Of Tiamat" has some clever lyrics which are wide open to interpretation and acts as an introduction to the dark world of Tiamat. The next couple of songs get a little heavier and "Dust Is Our Fare" is probably the best song on the album as it plays the bleakness of the vocals and keyboards against the stop-start riffing to perfection.

The early tracks seduce you into the music, so much so, that the ever so slightly weaker compositions that follow come across equally as strong as the album plods along in it's melancholic fashion. There is a rather interesting cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For The Devil", which is thoroughly enjoyable and even though it is immediately recognizable, it has got that unique Tiamat sound and compliments the album very well. The final few songs are almost up there with the opening tracks as we get the bluesy "Best Friend Money Can Buy" and then "Lucy" rounds up the album in a very solemn manner. It contains virtually no guitars, and is comprised mostly of keyboards, effects and a simple beat which is quite alluring in it's repetition.

This is one of the most truly beautiful and well-crafted Goth Rock albums you are ever likely to hear and although it is unlikely to inspire you into any dramatic fits of over-zealous action, it is the sort of album you will enjoy on a slightly hung-over, lazy Sunday afternoon or with a bottle of expensive red wine on a candlelit evening.