Triptykon/Cannibal Corpse, Glasgow 02 ABC 8th March

[Dunedin]

6pm doors open and work nights don't make a good combination and as a result we miss Job for a Cowboy and Enslaved. The former I know little about, but having witnessed the latter pull off a devastating last minute headline slot at Roadburn 08 we're pretty hacked off when we finally make it into the main hall of the ABC as Enslaved's roadies remove the last of their kit.
Still; 15 or so minutes later the sepulchral opening tones of Triptykons' intro promise to make up for it. Now as a long time fan of Celtic Frost, I've seen all of Tom G's performances on Scottish soil and after tonight I've had to reach a reluctant conclusion; Tom Warrior has yet to play an entirely successful show here. To explain, CF's first time in Scotland at the Edinburgh Playhouse was an unmitigated disaster in a one- tenth full theatre. Their return almost 20 years later saw them co-headlining with Kreator. While they gave the performance some of us wished we'd seen in 89 the bulk of the crowd that night was firmly in the Kreator camp and the venue pretty much erupted when they came on.
Back to tonight and Triptyon eschew any Frostie favourites such as Procreation of... or Dethroned Emperor in favour of opener Synagoga Satanae off the Monotheist album. Admittedly it sits better alongside Triptykon's material with its gothic monotony but as it gives way to Goetia followed up by The Prolonging I get a yearning for the "groove" that old school Frost could impart to even the heaviest of their riffs.
Still, the overall sound is an assault on Glasgow's collected eardrums. Vanja Slajh doesn't play her bass she physically chastises it, V Santura and Norman Lonhard have an undeniable presence and Tom plays the self deprecating frontman very well.
The 45 min set is intense but starts to feel pretty one-dimensional and when the house lights come back up and we realise there won't be a Circle of the Tyrants either we're left feeling perhaps not cheated but reluctant to declare Triptykon as the outright heir to Frosts legacy. A realisation that we've witnessed an almost entirely different entity hits home pretty quickly.
Tonight's headliners Cannibal Corpse play to a crowd strengthened in numbers and downright physical enthusiasm. A circular version of the Wall of Death breaks out on the middle of the floor as the band break into "I Cum Blood", like an ultra violence Hokey-Cokey. It's a sight I've never seen before and it puts a Cheshire grin on my face. CC are machine-like in their brutality buy they temper it with a mixture of gallows humour and bonhomie with the crowd, both things that go down well in a city like Glasgow.
Late in, we leave as C.C. encore. A better example of how the heaviest bands can still be so stylistically far apart I've not seen in quite some time.

[GeeZa]

You really had to see Frost in their 1985-1987 window to truly catch them at their best. On their day I rate them as good as any metal band in the history of the genre. And I'm serious. There are days when I think To Mega Therion is as good as metal gets.

I've not seen Triptykon, I bought a ticket for a gig up in Missouri on their first US tour but didn't make it, it would have been an arduous four hour drive anyway. I struggled with the album, thinking it was a little over-long and could have done with some astute editing. I mentioned this to Tom on a forum he hangs out on and he wasn't best pleased, which is fair enough, I understand his commendable aim of wanting to give value for money for the punters, but sometimes I do think less is more. I'm sure he and Martin were good artist foils for each other.

There's some awesome riffs, and some beautifully off-centre moments, he clearly still has a great record in him but it's somewhat struggling to get out. Monotheist was a crushing record but lacked the spontaneous excitement of CF's previous work. Some of the difficulty and burden in making it crept out to the listener and that's always awkward. Still, Triptykon are a band to watch for sure, their next record could be something special.

[Dunedin]

I regret not seeing Frost in their absolute heyday, I take it you did GeeZa?

[GeeZa]

I regret not seeing Frost in their absolute heyday, I take it you did GeeZa?

Actually I missed the Tragic Serenades tour gig in London, my friends went and reported that it was magnificent but plauged by shitty sound. So we got tickets early when the One In Their Pride tour was announced, got like third row centre stage seats and we all agreed that this was Frost at their pinnacle. The gig was incredible, the audience was packed and totally into it. Whatever you thought of Pandemonium, they were on the brink of becoming titans but blew it massively in what is probably the biggest career fuck up in metal history.

[MF]

I saw Celtic Frost in 1987 and got kicked out after about 2 1/2 songs by an overzealous bouncer. A HUGE disappointment.