# Tiamat (band)
**Tiamat** is a Swedish metal band from Täby, near Stockholm, led since its inception by vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist Johan Edlund. Founded in 1987 as a death and black metal act called Treblinka, the band renamed itself Tiamat shortly before its 1990 debut *Sumerian Cry* and over the following decade evolved into one of the pioneering groups of gothic metal, moving from brutal extreme metal through the psychedelic landmark *Wildhoney* (1994) to a gothic rock sound it has maintained since *Skeleton Skeletron* (1999).[1](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Origin | Founded as Treblinka in 1987 in Täby, Stockholm, Sweden; renamed Tiamat before the 1990 debut[1](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859) |
| Constant member | Johan Edlund (born 1971, Stockholm), vocals and guitars since 1989, keyboards and theremin since 1997[3](https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Johan_Edlund/12197) |
| Genre path | Death/doom metal (early); gothic metal and gothic rock (later)[1](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859) |
| Breakthrough | *Wildhoney* (1994), described as "death metal meeting Pink Floyd"; certified Gold in Germany[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) • [4](https://www.tiamat.pl/index.php?lang=pl&page=biografia) |
| Studio albums | Ten: *Sumerian Cry* (1990) through *The Scarred People* (2012)[5](https://label.napalmrecords.com/images/bands/tiamat/tiamat_biography_2019.pdf) |
| Current label | Napalm Records[1](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859) |
| Name origin | Tiamat, an ancient Middle Eastern goddess of chaos and a five-headed dragon in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) |
## Origins as Treblinka
The band grew out of the Stockholm-area underground of the late 1980s. Edlund, who had answered a musicians' advertisement after leaving the band Brainwarp, formed the group under the name Treblinka, a name chosen purely for shock value; the band never held Nazi views.[4](https://www.tiamat.pl/index.php?lang=pl&page=biografia) Treblinka recorded the demo *Crawling in Vomits* in 1988, followed by *Sign of the Pentagram*, and these recordings helped secure a deal with England's CMFT label.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) At this stage the group was rooted in black metal, complete with corpsepaint and, in the German press's account, pseudonyms and statements that were controversial at the least.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat)
Shortly before the debut appeared in 1990, the musicians adopted the name Tiamat. The early lineup carried deliberately absurd stage names: Edlund as "Lucifer Hellslaughter", guitarist Stefan Lagergren as "Emtoc", bassist Jörgen "Juck" Thullberg as "Juck The Ripper", and drummer Anders Holmberg as "Najse Auschwitzer".[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat) *Sumerian Cry* was the first full-length album recorded at Sunlight Studio in Stockholm; Entombed's *Left Hand Path* was released before it, but had been recorded two months later.[1](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859) AllMusic's retrospective calls the album slightly above average death metal, noting that the band favored solid riffs and varying tempos over all-out speed.[7](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000049135)
## From death metal toward atmosphere
Dissatisfied with the debut's distribution, Tiamat moved to the Century Media label and completed its lineup with guitarist Thomas Petersson and drummer Niklas Ekstrand.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) The second album, *The Astral Sleep* (1991), produced by Waldemar Sorychta, already stepped outside death metal, giving keyboards far more room and showing the first change in Edlund's singing.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat) The band toured Europe with [Paradise Lost](https://www.edgepedia.org/paradise-lost) and added dates with Samael and Unleashed in early 1992.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat)
By *Clouds* (1992) the transformation continued: drummer Lars Sköld and former Sorcerer bassist Johnny Hagel had joined, and Hagel and Edlund formed a songwriting partnership. At their first show in [Tel Aviv](https://www.edgepedia.org/tel-aviv) in 1993 the band recorded the live album *The Sleeping Beauty – Live in Israel*.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat)
## Wildhoney and the breakthrough
*Wildhoney*, released in 1994 by a reduced three-piece lineup, became the band's artistic and commercial breakthrough, praised in metal circles for its brooding gothic atmospherics.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) The sound was often described as death metal meeting [Pink Floyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/pink-floyd), a connection Edlund made explicit by covering that band's "When You're In" on the 1995 *Gaia* EP, which otherwise held four remixes of *Wildhoney* material.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) Sales in Germany earned the album Gold status with striking ease for a band of that size.[4](https://www.tiamat.pl/index.php?lang=pl&page=biografia) Retrospectively, Metal Hammer ranked *Wildhoney* among the 25 best goth metal albums, writing that no one in gothic death/doom had previously given themselves over so wholly to mystical atmosphere, and that the record encouraged the next wave of bands to look beyond traditional metal instrumentation.[8](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/the-25-best-goth-metal-albums) The supporting tours took the band across Europe with [Type O Negative](https://www.edgepedia.org/type-o-negative) and [Sentenced](https://www.edgepedia.org/sentenced), and then with Black Sabbath through the United States and Europe.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat)
## A Deeper Kind of Slumber and the one-man band
After the *Wildhoney* touring cycle, Edlund moved permanently to Dortmund, Germany, where most of the band's albums had been recorded, and redefined the group: Tiamat became his personal studio project, and he declared himself the only official member.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) In 1996 he built a small computer-based home studio, which he named Studio Wildhoney, where much of the next album was written before recording at Woodhouse Studios.[4](https://www.tiamat.pl/index.php?lang=pl&page=biografia)
*A Deeper Kind of Slumber* was recorded between January and March 1997 at Woodhouse Studios in Hagen, Germany, and released on 6 June 1997 with a running time of 59:57.[9](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r304744) It was conceived on Edlund's home studio and produced by Dirk Draeger of Morgoth, and it moved into largely electronic territory with more personal subject matter.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography) AllMusic's review describes synthesizers dominating the arrangements and Edlund abandoning metal growling entirely for an unearthly croon, creating a numb, sleepy ambience shaped by his relationship difficulties at the time.[9](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r304744) In the same year the band headlined the Dynamo Open Air festival in [Eindhoven](https://www.edgepedia.org/eindhoven), Netherlands, before more than 70,000 people.[10](https://ondarock.com/artist/tiamat/)
## The gothic rock era
From *Skeleton Skeletron* (1999) onward, gothic rock became the band's calling card. The single "Brighter Than the Sun" walked almost directly in the footsteps of the [Sisters of Mercy](https://www.edgepedia.org/sisters-of-mercy), an influence Edlund has acknowledged: he names [Joy Division](https://www.edgepedia.org/joy-division), The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, [The Mission](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-mission-band), and Fields as formative listens from the end of the 1980s, which the band tried to mix with what he calls Swedish black metal.[6](https://laut.de/Tiamat) • [11](https://poetbabu.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/exclusive-interview-with-johan-edlund-of-tiamat/) His singing shifted from death grunts to a deep baritone style over this period.[11](https://poetbabu.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/exclusive-interview-with-johan-edlund-of-tiamat/)
*Judas Christ* (2002) and *Prey* (2003, though AllMusic's discography lists 2004) followed, with the former including "Vote for Love", described by the band's label as the most straightforwardly commercial song Tiamat had written.[5](https://label.napalmrecords.com/images/bands/tiamat/tiamat_biography_2019.pdf) • [9](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r304744) • [12](https://bands.metalland.net/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=1382&lang=en) Reviewers have noted the cost of this direction: like other mid-1990s gothic metal acts such as [The Gathering](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-gathering-band), Moonspell, and [Paradise Lost](https://www.edgepedia.org/paradise-lost-band), the gradual move away from metal cost Tiamat a large part of its fanbase, even as the band continued on the strength of *Wildhoney*'s reputation.[13](https://deadrhetoric.com/reviews/tiamat-the-scarred-people-napalm-records/)
*Amanethes* (2008), released through [Nuclear Blast](https://www.edgepedia.org/nuclear-blast) after a label change that took years to negotiate, was something of a return to the *Wildhoney* era's heaviness, with harsh vocals and double-kick drumming reappearing on songs like "Equinox of the Gods"; Edlund attributed the heavier voice simply to following where the songs led.[14](https://www.metalist.co.il/interviews/tiamat-the-perfection-of-imperfection/) • [15](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/28999/Tiamat-Amanethes/) By then Edlund had moved from Germany to Greece, an environment he described as an inspiring culture shock that fed Middle Eastern influences into the album.[14](https://www.metalist.co.il/interviews/tiamat-the-perfection-of-imperfection/) The tenth album, *The Scarred People* (2012) on [Napalm Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/napalm-records), combined elements of the early albums and the later long-players in a dark gothic metal style, and included a cover of [Lana Del Rey](https://www.edgepedia.org/lana-del-rey)'s "Born to Die", which Edlund chose because he considered it a brilliant song.[5](https://label.napalmrecords.com/images/bands/tiamat/tiamat_biography_2019.pdf) • [11](https://poetbabu.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/exclusive-interview-with-johan-edlund-of-tiamat/)
## Lineup and status
The band's one constant has been Edlund; in April 2014, after his father's death, he abruptly left the band and was hospitalized for seizures, delirium, and stroke, rejoining a week later.[3](https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Johan_Edlund/12197) The lineup on *The Scarred People* comprised Edlund on vocals, guitars, keyboards, and theremin; Lars Sköld on drums (a member since 1992); Anders Iwers on bass; and Roger Öjersson on guitars, keyboards, mandolin, and vocals.[5](https://label.napalmrecords.com/images/bands/tiamat/tiamat_biography_2019.pdf) No studio album has followed *The Scarred People*, but the band remains active: setlist.fm documents a Latin American tour in late 2025 and festival appearances in 2026, including Prophecy Fest in Balve, Germany, and Okkult Session in Barcelona, with sets drawing heavily on *Wildhoney* and *A Deeper Kind of Slumber* material.[16](https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/tiamat-53d68339.html)
## Musical style and legacy
Tiamat's catalog spans death metal, doom, gothic metal, gothic rock, progressive rock, and ambient music, and the band is routinely described as difficult to categorize.[17](https://www.staimusic.com/en/blog/tiamat-a-critical-look-at-the-band-and-their-loyal-following_2314.html) The Pink Floyd influence first surfaced on *Wildhoney* and deepened on *A Deeper Kind of Slumber*, and reviewers have traced Floydian blues and psychedelia through later albums such as *The Scarred People*.[18](https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Tiamat/The_Scarred_People/957663/) OndaRock counts the band among the pioneers of both death metal and gothic metal, and calls *Wildhoney* a milestone of the entire gothic metal genre, in which dark, obscure sounds merge with Floydian touches and atmospheres close to dream-pop.[10](https://ondarock.com/artist/tiamat/) Edlund himself frames the band's identity as openness rather than genre membership: "I'm into good music, I like songs rather than bands."
## References
1. [Tiamat, Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives](https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Tiamat/859)
2. [Tiamat Biography by Steve Huey, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/tiamat-mn0000588536/biography)
3. [Johan Edlund, Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives](https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Johan_Edlund/12197)
4. [Tiamat biography (Polish), tiamat.pl](https://www.tiamat.pl/index.php?lang=pl&page=biografia)
5. [Tiamat biography, Napalm Records (2019)](https://label.napalmrecords.com/images/bands/tiamat/tiamat_biography_2019.pdf)
6. [Tiamat Bandbiographie, laut.de](https://laut.de/Tiamat)
7. [Sumerian Cry review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/mw0000049135)
8. [The 25 best goth metal albums, Louder/Metal Hammer](https://www.loudersound.com/music/albums/the-25-best-goth-metal-albums)
9. [A Deeper Kind of Slumber review by Steve Huey, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r304744)
10. [Tiamat biography, OndaRock](https://ondarock.com/artist/tiamat/)
11. [Exclusive interview with Johan Edlund of Tiamat, Poetbabu (2016)](https://poetbabu.wordpress.com/2016/12/11/exclusive-interview-with-johan-edlund-of-tiamat/)
12. [Tiamat band profile, Metal Land](https://bands.metalland.net/cgi-bin/detail.cgi?id=1382&lang=en)
13. [Tiamat – The Scarred People review, Dead Rhetoric](https://deadrhetoric.com/reviews/tiamat-the-scarred-people-napalm-records/)
14. [Tiamat – The Perfection Of Imperfection interview, Metalist Magazine (2008)](https://www.metalist.co.il/interviews/tiamat-the-perfection-of-imperfection/)
15. [Tiamat – Amanethes review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/28999/Tiamat-Amanethes/)
16. [Tiamat Concert Setlists, setlist.fm](https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/tiamat-53d68339.html)
17. [Tiamat: A Critical Look at the Band and Their Loyal Following, STAIMUSIC (2022)](https://www.staimusic.com/en/blog/tiamat-a-critical-look-at-the-band-and-their-loyal-following_2314.html)
18. [Tiamat – The Scarred People review, Encyclopaedia Metallum](https://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/Tiamat/The_Scarred_People/957663/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Heavy metal scenes › Artists, groups, and people: Heavy metal scenes › Gothic & dark metal*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license