One star for quality control!!
I agree. Great album. Sort of a return to form for this sadly unknown-in-the-States gothic metal band. My rating is a combo of 5 stars for the music, and one star for poor quality control from Nuclear Blast. If you listen to several tracks, (the soft beginning of song six, for instance), you'll hear some annoying static sounds. I wrote to Nuclear Blast, and have gotten no reply, and since they are obviously still selling the CD, I guess they hope no one else notices. Maybe you won't if you listen on your crappy I-Pod headphones or computer speakers, but on a nice home stereo system, it's ANNOYING! I also know it's not in the recording, as I had downloaded a torrent of this album months ago, and no static sounds anywhere. No, it's a manufacturer's problem, and Nuclear Blast is obviously not going to correct it.

Yet another masterpiece from one of my favorite bands!
Tiamat is another band I've been following since 1995. Each album they put out is unique (sometimes to the point of sounding like a different band.) Amanethes is a little different, however. It's kind of a culmination of all their works... Like their older works, it's a bit more aggressive than their newer productions. It still as the ambiance of their newer albums, however. As a whole, the album is rich and deep, and flows very nicely from beginning to end. Amanethes is another "must have" album for any fan of European metal!

Great!
What can I say that hasn't already been said? This C.D. is one of their greatest works!

Fantastic Return
Talk about a big change in sound. To quote Johan Edlund on Temple of the Crescent Moon, "It's been five long years", which was enough time for Tiamat to re-invent themselves. The results? Well, mostly good. Amanethes is one of Tiamat's most original and exciting releases of their career. The riffs and melodies are great and really harken back to albums like A Deeper Kind Of Slumber and Judas Christ. The biggest change? Johan's vocals. They are weird. For the first time since Wildhoney, Johan is using that growl of his, which works for the most part. However, gone is the smooth whisper-like singing he used on Slumber through Prey. Johan's new vocal styling will take some serious getting used to as it is kind of shakey, but it still compliments the music well. Listen to the opening vocals on the first track and the verses on Lucienne to see what I mean. Raining Dead Angels and Equinox of the Gods are HEAVY and they are great songs and a welcome change. Will They Come and Thirst Snake are very somber and melodic, while Meliae is probably the most beautifully written Tiamat song ever. Amanitis has some great mandolin, which adds a very medieval feel to Amanethes. This album is very satanic, but Tiamat somehow make it a beautiful experience. Amanethes also wins best Tiamat album cover ever. Hot! If you are a fan of Tiamat from Wildhoney to present then you must get this album because it is truly an original and new Tiamat experience, it just may take some getting used to. Enjoy.