Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Ok you may be wondering why i am reviewing this album, well to me Celtic Frost never got credit for being a sludge/doom band but if you listen to some of their songs especially the early stuff and most of the Monotheist, it is some of the darkest, doomiest tunes ever recorded by the metal band. Triptykon’s first album "Eparistera Daimones" takes off where "Monotheist" finished but this even darker and more bleak than anything Tom Gabriel Fischer has ever recorded in the past. It is the sound of a man scorned, pissed off as this is one album of pure hatred and anger. Along with Fischer, there is Norman Lonhart from the German melodic death metal band Fear My Thoughts on drums, V. Santura from Dark Fortress on guitars and Vanja Slajh on bass. Fischer sounds like a man possessed and this album is the exorcism to which his demons are released. The album starts with "Goetia" which is a 11 minute lumbering beast which switches between rampaging beats and double kick drums to all out sonically charged doom passages. Some things never change like Fischer's trademark growl is still there on this album along with his distinctive guitar sound which on this album sounds like he has been revisting the Morbid Tales album for inspiration, only here its heavier than anything from that era. "Abyss Within My Soul" is even more bleak and dark but there is an unexpected blast of pure thrash in "A Thousand Lies" but its played with such a down-tuned guitar sound it still reeks of some sort of apocalyptic doom metal.
"In Shrouds Decayed" has a strong gothic doom vibe before it is taking over with some heavy crunching headbanging rhythms. "Myopic Empire" changes the mood slightly with female spoken word and classical piano as does "My Pain" which is the weakest track on the album for me. The hip-hop influenced sounding drum effects reminds me too much of bands like Portishead for my liking. The highlight for me though is the 19 minute monster called "The Prolonging". With so many twists and turns, multi-faceted vocals and a guitar tone to move mountains, this track is full of great riffs, exciting tempo changes and some of the best grooves ever laid down by Fischer. The riff that comes in at around the 5 minute mark is pure metal madness, the kind of stuff that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Pure metallic bone crunching genius! If the album isn't good enough already, it also marks the first time since Celtic Frost’s Into the Pandemonium that surrealist artist H.R. Giger has provided the artwork for one of Fischer’s albums. Its really only the track "My Pain" and some musical experiments right at the end of the album that stop this from being a instant classic. However, its a incredible follow up from Monotheist and maybe just the best release Fischer has done since the first three Frost albums.
"In Shrouds Decayed" has a strong gothic doom vibe before it is taking over with some heavy crunching headbanging rhythms. "Myopic Empire" changes the mood slightly with female spoken word and classical piano as does "My Pain" which is the weakest track on the album for me. The hip-hop influenced sounding drum effects reminds me too much of bands like Portishead for my liking. The highlight for me though is the 19 minute monster called "The Prolonging". With so many twists and turns, multi-faceted vocals and a guitar tone to move mountains, this track is full of great riffs, exciting tempo changes and some of the best grooves ever laid down by Fischer. The riff that comes in at around the 5 minute mark is pure metal madness, the kind of stuff that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Pure metallic bone crunching genius! If the album isn't good enough already, it also marks the first time since Celtic Frost’s Into the Pandemonium that surrealist artist H.R. Giger has provided the artwork for one of Fischer’s albums. Its really only the track "My Pain" and some musical experiments right at the end of the album that stop this from being a instant classic. However, its a incredible follow up from Monotheist and maybe just the best release Fischer has done since the first three Frost albums.
1. Goetia
2. Abyss Within My Soul
3. In
Shrouds Decayed
4. Shrine
5. A Thousand Lies
6.
Descendant
7. Myopic Empire
8. My Pain
9.
The Prolonging
Prowling Death Records
Reviewer: Ed
Apr 3, 2010
Apr 3, 2010
Next review:
Brigantia - The Chronic Argonauts
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