Band:	Tiamat
Album:	The Scarred People
Style:	Atmospheric gothic metal
Release date:	October 31, 2012
A review by:	Ivor

01. The Scarred People
02. Winter Dawn
03. 384 - Kteis
04. Radiant Star
05. The Sun Also Rises
06. Before Another Wilbury Dies
07. Love Terrorists
08. Messinian Letter
09. Thunder & Lightning
10. Tiznit
11. Born To Die [Lana del Rey cover] [bonus]
12. The Red Of The Morning Sun
13. Paradise [Bruce Springsteen cover] [bonus]
14. Divided [live] [bonus]
15. Cain [live] [bonus]

At first I was excited. Overly so. I mean, a new Tiamat album is up for grabs. Once again it's taken the band a long time for another release to come out. I listened, and I liked what I heard. Then, after a while, I was considerably less enthusiastic about it, which is not to say outright disinterested. Now, after even more time has passed I'm wallowing in the territories of "Aw, shit, I don't know..."

What I just outlined is oftentimes a phase I'm going through with bands I've been listening to for years and years. At some point down the road the listening experience seems to transcend any meaningful boundaries of quality and with that comes a sort of acceptance of music just for what it is - new music by the artist you love. Oh, you'll still most definitely spot a turd if it comes along. You'll spot it and you'll hate it. However, as long as some close to average standard is maintained, as long as you find familiar guitar tunes, melodies, vocals, mood, etc, that tie it all together with the rest of the works, it'll be fine.

This appears to be the case with the new Tiamat album. It's... a new Tiamat album. It's... by Tiamat. OK, I really am doing it injustice describing it this way but it is what is. If you take Amanethes as a reference, it's in a way a continuation. It brings up some similar emotions. However, it's quite a bit, I don't know, smoother? I think that might be a good word to associate with this album. It's considerably calmer and smoother. I would even go so far as to say it feels peaceful.

When I was at a low point with my opinion of The Scarred People, I tried to figure out what there is to this album at all. Slowly, step by step I rediscovered what sparkled my initial excitement. I'll leave aside Johan Edlund's voice, which is a given. I already mentioned smoothness. Then, I found that I immensely enjoy twists in guitar-work, from occasional and base riffs forming the backbone of songs to high profile solos. The more I pay attention to individual songs, the more I find the layer that I so enjoy. Along with guitars, come the passages in the songs that I wish were explored and exploited more. Suddenly, I feel good about this album again.

However, once in a while I chance on elements that reference back to older albums: birds chirping, reminiscent of Wildhoney, "Radiant Star" or "The Red of the Morning Sun" starting out as something off A Deeper Kind of Slumber. Such flashbacks make me wish it was all that kind of stuff. And that's the moment I realise I'm back in limbo... As far as the album goes, it's a good Tiamat album, smooth and pretty even. The only song that really feels off the pace is "Thunder & Lightning." The rest does feel like a whole.