Tiamat were part of the bands that pioneered the Swedish death metal sound. "Sumerian Cry" was the first full-length album recorded at Sunlight studios (Entombed's "Left Hand Path" was released before but recorded 2 months later than "Sumerian Cry"). They changed to gothic metal, then to gothic rock, and added some more metal elements again on "Amanethes" switching back to a softer gothic rock sound in their last effort "The Scarred People".