Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

[Jötun]

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)

[lowdaddy]

i was listening to this behemoth today...MAN, it's got some of the heaviest songs i've ever heard on it.  musically and lyrically it's just molten lead heavy, you know?  it's not an album i want to listen to alot but when i'm in the mood for something crushing it doesn't get much better.  i remember i was rolling around in my jeep a few months back with a buddy who's not really into metal or heavy rock and i blasted this thing for him.

him: jesus.  i don't know russ, invoking satan on the first song!
me: well...their satanists man.  what're you gonna do?  this shit fuckin' rocks.

[tastelikedirt]

This is a beast of an album. Good stuff, not something I personally listen to every day, but it's an epic that takes you on a journey.