Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
Prowling Death/Century Media
March 19th, 2010

Topping this writer's list of must-hear metal albums of 2010 is the debut full-length from Switzerland's Triptykon, the new project of former Celtic Frost founder, vocalist/guitarist Tom G Warrior. Having formed Triptykon after creative differences caused Celtic Frost to disband a second time, Warrior picks up where Celtic Frost's final album 'Monotheist' left off. Blending black metal, death, doom, gothic and avant garde styles into a cohesive singularity, Triptykon fuses it's varied roots into a sound that achieves both visionary scope and a heaviness of black hole proportions.
As one of the founding fathers of extreme metal, Warrior once again displays his penchant for forging ahead and crafting something unique, original and historically signifcant. This album explores an untrodden landscape of heavy metal discovery that circumvents known, conventional formula in favor of brave new methods of heaviness.
The amalgam of styles here are layered in such ways as to bring out the strength of each musical component while simultaneously melding them together into a massive, sonic monolith. The guitars only shred when appropriate, instead prefering a thickly riffed-up, wall-of-sound approach, laying down melodic but deep progressions that leave plenty of breathing room for the remaining instrumentation. Open chugging is employed, but only at opportune moments, and with a seamingly unnatural ferocity. The drums are solid and intricate and carry the song structures adeptly, providing energy in faster passages while solidifying the slower grooves and hitting the numerous tempo changes with apparent effortlessness. The bass locks in with the timekeping perfectly while bolstering the guitars into obscene heaviness. Over this Tom Warrior belts out his trademark vitriolic, throaty snarl aided by low growls from second guitarist V Santura as they weave tales of the dark side of human nature, existential angst, and worldly skepticism. This technique comes off as effortless and natural without overendulging in pomp or pretense. The result of this combination is an album of stunning impact.
Standouts include opener 'Goetia' with its cold, doomy intro that quickly builds into a fierce riffsurge and 'A Thousand Lies' and its wrathful, lurching stomp. Another noteworthy entry, 'Myopic Empire' boasts a haunting, eponymous chorus and then shifts gears during the bridge for a short piano interlude before slamming back into it's crushing groove.
This recording contains no filler and is a rock-solid, mountainous affair through and through. In a year that spawned some great metal, 'Eparistera Daimones' recieves this reviewer's vote for best metal album of 2010.

-Justin Delord

(originally reviewed for Lit Monthly, Dec 2010)

I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about this. I dug the "monotheist" tape a bunch; and I was never much of a Celtic Frost fan, (dux). Maybe I gotta go back and poke around. I mostly missed the black and death stuff. Picked up mainly on the grind, thrash thing.

Edit: Oh, except for Venom. They were pretty big with the nascent hardcore crowd; guys who like fast metal and its congruence with "punk" as oppossed to the weirdo/political side of harDCore and Maximum Smoke A Bowl.

I you liked "Monotheist" then you'll probably dig this one. It sports alot of the same as far as guitar sound and overall weightiness, but the song structures are tighter and more complex, there's also more of an ensemble sound to the band. I liked Celtic Frost quite a bit, but this is far more compelling than any Frost album.