Band:	Tiamat
Album:	Prey
Style:	Atmospheric gothic metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Cain
02. Ten Thousand Tentacles
03. Wings Of Heaven
04. Love In Chains
05. Divided
06. Carry Your Cross And I'll Carry Mine
07. Triple Cross
08. Light In Extension
09. Prey
10. The Garden Of Heathen
11. Clovenhoof
12. Nihil
13. The Pentagram

Many years have passed since Johan Edlund formed a band bearing the name of the Sumerian God of War, Tiamat, and throughout the years he didn't remain static to a sound but explored many and different soundscapes, releasing monumental and influencial for many bands albums, to reach nowadays with a wonderful gothic metal masterpiece, "Prey". Memories of "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber" are obvious but they are placed in the album through a gothic prism, leaving behind most of the psychedelic rock influences and choosing to walk darker paths. Johan Edlund opened the gates of inspiration and presents us an album filled with so many emotions, filled with a dreamy dark atmosphere that paces with the whole album.

"Prey" has not many heavy moments on the guitars and we can say that it is an album based mainly on atmosphere, a gothic/dark one being evoked by the guitar chords and riffs, the piano and keyboard pieces and melodies and of course by Johan Edlunds' utterly expressive and melodic voice. In my opinion "Prey" is one of the albums that you listen to it as one because the dark serene feeling that overruns the whole album is being "divided" into the compositions that consist of "Prey". Turn off the lights and enjoy a dreamy journey into the tranquil atmosphere that "Prey" evokes, lose yourself into a world of beautiful darkness.

"Cain" begins "Prey" in the appropriate way being a wonderful composition (and a beautiful and theatric video clip) filled with a dark aesthetic of gothic beauty evoked by the guitar chords and riffs, some keyboard effects and above all Edlund's quite expressive interpretation filling the whole atmosphere with intense emotions. "Ten Thousand Tentacles", an extension of the arch and ending melody of "Cain", continues the album to slowly reach "Wings of Heaven", a beautiful-sounding dreamy composition filled with a serene feeling that fills you with the will and desire to fly free.

"Love in Chains" continues the album in the same tranquil mood with Johan Edlund singing in a calm and expressive way his lyrics talking of a "love in chains" that someday will break free, away from all the sorrow and pain. The two following compositions, "Divided" and "Carry Your Cross and I'll Carry Mine", continue the album in an elegiac way evoking a sweet melancholic feeling in the air reminding Theatre of Tragedy's days of "Aegis" with both Edlund and Sonja Brandt (the ethereal female voice participating in those two compositions) pacing wonderfully together as a duet. "Triple Cross" follows as an extension of the previous composition leading slowly to "Light in Extension" a mid-tempo beautiful composition with melodic accompanying guitar riffing and sweet-sounding keyboard melodies here and there and for one more time what can we say about Johan Edlund that pours his soul into his lyrics interpreting them in a quite expressive way. It is one of those times that concerned evil lyrics sound so melodic, so beautifully disguised by such tranquility and loveliness.

The homonymous composition, "Prey", follows continuing the album in complete calmness with only fading guitar chords accompanying the serene voice of Johan. "The Garden of Heathen" is the next composition and it is an instrumental one welcoming the following brilliant composition "Clovenhoof"; another calm composition with sweet melancholic guitar chords and echoing tranquil keyboard melodies at times accompanying Johan's utterly descriptive voice. "Nihil" continues Edlund's antichristian concerns in a beautiful and sweet way. He is definitely one of the few that can dress lyrics utterly antichristian with so much beauty so that many of the listeners won't notice it. "The Pentagram", whose lyrics are written by Frater Perdurabo (a.k.a. Aleister Crowley) and they are being used in this composition by kind permission of OTO (Ordo Templis Orientis), ends "Prey" in a tranquil and lyrical way with some psychedelic rock influences being obvious here and there.

"Prey" is an awesome release, lyrical and filled with emotion showing that beauty isn't always what it seems to be?
"Our evil is inherited from our innocence, our Paradise is but a faded picture on the wall."