Tracks 9-13 recorded in Tel Aviv, Israel in June 3rd 1993. Originally released as "The Sleeping Beauty - Live In Israel".
Carries a 12-page booklet. Time durations not printed. Track 5 Dedicated to Hannah Stjärnvind.
A hidden track appears after the end of track 13.
Seriously though, I don't know what drugs were floating around in Stockholm in the early 90s, but clearly it was some of the best shit available anywhere. While at first glance this album may seem subpar - and, let's face it, we all know the reason is Edlund's vocal delivery, which sounds like a learning disabled troll with laryngitis - I feel once you get past that fact, it's really quite something, both innovative and masterful. Hell, I'll say it - I think it's Tiamat's best album, and there are quite a few good ones to choose from. While it's not as immediate as Prey or Amanethes, as unusual and drug-induced as Wildhoney, nor as unabashedly heavy and dirty as Sumerian Cry, it has its own unique charm that has kept me coming back to it over the years. The primitive, occult mystique of tunes like "In a Dream" and "A Caress of Stars," using synths rather liberally while still barraging the listener with simple yet crushing death/doom riffs, creates an interesting atmosphere that sounds pretty mediocre on paper but succeeds quite beautifully here do to musical genius Johan Edlund (and/or the drugs he was taking). Now, what possessed him to choose to make his delivery sound like a cross between a 95-year-old chain smoker and a retarded hippopotamus, as I'm sure all of you who've heard the album are wondering, I've no idea, but somehow it works in the context of the album, like Tim Baker in Cirith Ungol or Mark Shelton in Manilla Road (not that I think Shelton would necessarily be bad in another act, but many do think so and he is quite an esoteric vocalist). I would have thrown out some death/doom comparisons, but really I don't know any other bands or albums that fit that description.
Edlund's performance here leads to an even more unique atmosphere when you consider the juxtaposition among the bizarre vocals, mystical synths, and death/doom riffs. They may take awhile to fully reconcile, especially among those not as familiar with death/doom (as was the case for me when I first heard it); the switch from ethereal whispers to savage death metal riffs and Edlund's more "standard" vocals on the album in "A Caress of Stars," for example, may seem jarring to some. The songs that have fewer synths and mystical elements ("Smell of Incense" especially) may also make the album seem sort of pieced together - and I will be the first to say that those less-mystical tracks aren't among the best here, but they still don't detract from the experience much for me. After some number of listens, Edlund's vocals began to strike me more as ragged and desperate than as hoarse and retarded, even though I still recognize the quality is there. And that quality really works here, I think. Would the album be better with a vocal performance more along the lines of Wildhoney, or perhaps a more standard lower-pitched death growl? It's difficult to say, although I think the latter would take away some of the unique magic of the album. Whatever might be better though - even if it seems like Edlund is intentionally making himself sound worse here - I really think the performance works. Maybe not as well as it could, maybe not even as well as it should have, but still it does all the same.
The lyrics here, as they often do with the band, straddle the line between damn cool and goofy as fuck, but I think they usually manage to stay on the "damn cool" side. Even those that are undeniably goofy tend to make me grin like a schoolboy. For example, in the Scapegoat, the line "Then I turn to you and laugh, 'I worship Satan!'" (as well as the other slightly different choruses, although that one is my favorite) always makes me chuckle and grin for at least a few seconds at the simultaneous immaturity and audacity of it. I'm not sure whether Edlund took this stuff seriously or was trying to be somewhat farcical himself, but either way I still love it. There are some lyrics that speak to me on a pretty deep level as well, and they could definitely be construed as cheesy - perhaps I would even construe them that way if the album weren't so nostalgic for me - but the line "As a star to light your way, to where we are, not led astray..." still manages to bring chills down my spine every time, especially the whispered repetitions of the line that almost make me feel as if I truly am being transported to some other world where, as he repeats, "we are not led astray." Sure, it's not the most intelligent poetry ever concocted, nor is it awfully specific, but the sincerity and the atmosphere conjured up by the song really make it work for me. Overall, the album has a couple of songs that fail to rise above mild enjoyability, but there are enough strong and interesting tracks here to make it a very worthwhile experience. If you discarded this because of Edlund's vocal performance, if you like death/doom, or like Tiamat and haven't ventured into this album yet, I'd highly recommend you do so - if you stick with it long enough, I think you'll find it'll be worth your while.
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