There are bigger worlds for us to find if we just wake up and looking at things in a different ways. Not always take things for granted. The art show how limited human are today. He is sleeping a beautiful dreams and don't see those weird stuff going on around him.
Johan Edlund / Tiamat interview, Blasphemous #2, 1992
After signing a deal with Century Media, TIAMAT released their second album, The Astral Sleep, on this day in 1991.
I can't remember the exact details. I think UNLEASHED already had a contract with Century Media and Johan had asked them to do a good word for TIAMAT. We recorded "The Astral Sleep" in the middle of 1991. TIAMAT was already a completely different band by then. Stefan and Anders were not in the band anymore because they wanted to concentrate on EXPULSION and were replaced by Thomas Petersson and Niklas Ekstrand. I didn't feel comfortable anymore very quickly. Thomas and Niklas were not fans of Death Metal and preferred to listen to ordinary Rock. I think they would never have joined the band if we didn't already have a record deal with TIAMAT. The new songs were also much slower and more atmospheric, the music was not nearly as extreme as in TREBLINKA. It wasn't any longer why I was doing it for. Death Metal represented freedom for me. It was music where you could do completely your own thing and you didn't care what others thought of it. I just started to dislike the whole situation more and more. I remember that I went sailing for a whole weekend with a friend the week before recording "The Astral Sleep" out of sheer frustration. I also didn't feel like practicing the new songs with the others, I didn't have any passion anymore for the band. And so, a week after the recording of "The Astral Sleep", I quit the band.
Jörgen 'Juck' Thullberg / Tiamat interview, Voices from the Darkside
We progressed, matured, changed members, recorded in a better studio, we used a keyboardplayer, etc,etc.
The [cover] printing is brilliant and the lay-out is pretty killer, too. Everything fits our music and style. Too bad about all those spellng mistakes and such!
Johan Edlund / Tiamat interview, Mortuary #3, 1992