A Deeper Kind of Slumber

I have here used one of my own pieces of previously-created art for the cover of this legendary album. Known to fans simply as ADKOS, I actually know people who have this at the top of their 'most favourite albums ever' list. Certainly this album takes you on a journey, and where you end up is not the same place as where you were when you began listening. Brooding, moody, and incredibly creative, this album and the band's previous release Wildhoney redrew the maps on what metal was supposed to sound like.

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Here at the beginning of this album I should state that Tiamat's front man Johan Edlund is himself no slouch when it comes to producing the graphics for his band. My work owes a debt to his own, and at a time when I was making the break with my commercial career to producing only what I personally felt that I should be creating, Edlund's own graphic creativity was a timely reminder to me that often-enough when producing such images, it's best just to do stuff and see what happens. In direct contrast to the way in which I had become used to working in my career - of necessarily first producing a sketch for approval by a client (which I was contractually obliged to do, but which I always disliked because it tied down the end result before I had even begun to paint) - just letting an image evolve, just giving it the space to become, is my own preferred way of doing things.