The religion of TIAMAT

By: Kalle Malmstedt
Photo by: Katja Kuhl

Almost one million records sold world-wide. And soon the world will have a chance to meet the Swedish high priests of goth metal and darkwave once more. When Release meet up with bassplayer Anders Iwers of Tiamat in his cosy home in Gothenburg, he tells us that the band will embark on a tour early next year. And then he shows us the video for the single "Cain", taken from the new album "Prey".

- Look, they even made me dye my hair black! For the first time, we look like a true goth metal band, he says.
But a band the boys have been for the last four records. Before that singer Johan Edlund changed line-up between every album. But now Anders Iwers, Lars Sköld and Thomas Pettersson have all been members of Tiamat for several years. On the album prior to "Prey", "Judas Christ", they even contributed to the songwriting. But Anders explains that wasn’t the case on "Prey".
- Nah, Johan had quite a lot of songs ready when we entered the studio in his home in Hamburg, he says.
- But we have all been a part of the process while recording and have had our say.
One of the songs Johan Edlund had in mind was the musical version of the poem "The Pentagram" by Aleister Crowley - an endeavour that sounds almost Herculean given that the Order of the Golden Dawn guards the heritage of Crowley.
- But they liked the song when they heard it, thought it was right in spirit, and we got permission to include it, says Anders.
He shares Johan Edlund’s interest for the occult and for different religions.
- Yeah, the two other guys aren’t as interested as we are. We are very fascinated with different beliefs and read a lot. Right now Johan is into Thelema, but I don’t know a lot about that yet. There aren’t any easy to come by reading material, so to speak. Johan has promised to compile the facts for me, but he hasn’t done that yet, says Anders.
Another thing that lies in the future is the tour. After playing with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Black Sabbath and Type O Negative and headlining the Dynamo Festival, Tiamat have a lot of live experience, to say the least. And they are eager to get out and play the material from "Prey" in front of a live audience.
- We are definitely going on tour after the New Year. We just don’t have any details yet, Anders promises.