Artist: Triptykon
Title: Melana Chasmata
Genre: Black / Doom Metal
Release Date: 11th April 2014
Label: Century Media Records / Prowling Death Records Ltd.
Album Review
As CELTIC FROST arose from HELLHAMMER’s ashes, so arises TRIPTYKON from CELTIC FROST’s ashes – four years after the band’s outstanding debut ‘Eparistera Daimones’, the highly and curiously awaited second work ‘Melana Chasmata’ is to be liberated. Although TRIPTYKON carry on the ideas and motifs of Tom’s previous bands , it is still very audible that they grew even closer as a band and have developed their very own sound and style, testing and stretching the genre borders of extreme metal by creating utterly variable and multi-facetted music.
TRIPTYKON’s sophomore album opens up with the very powerful and forceful ‘Tree Of Suffocating Souls’, which is mainly dominated by a striking contrast between crushingly fast riffs and a slightly slower and grooving bridge. The following ‘Boleskine House’ was released in advance with ‘Breathing’ and pursues in a slower and more varied way and for probably the first time ever, TRIPTYKON also include acoustic guitars into their music. Still, or all the same, this song effuses a darkly fascinating and beautiful atmosphere, which is again driven by contrast and progress. Female vocals are included as well as clean and harsh male vocals. Although the overall tempo is rather slow, ‘Boleskine House’ does not lack any darkness or heaviness. ‘Altar Of Deceit’ stretches in an extremely grooving and laggard way, with a very remarkable chorus and a burdensome atmosphere – this track again shows yet another side of TRIPTYKON’s manifold interpretation of darkness.
In contrast, ‘Breathing’ depicts the fastest song on the album, scrunching the listener with Old School Thrash Metal influenced riffs, extreme variations in tempo and a musical manifestation of violence and brutality. ‘Aurorae’ takes away the speed considerably and is mainly driven by the dense and atmospheric instrumentation. However, the vocals add another layer, which makes up for a song with a very unique mood that is hard to put into words. In this context, the lyrics also need mentioning, since they are an integral part of TRIPTYKON’s appearance and effect. Each and every song tells his own story, which also open up different ways of interpretation and thus invite the listener not only to indulge in the music, but also to take a look at hidden meanings.
‘Demon Pact’ opens up with electronic elements and, somewhat appellative, disseminates an evoking, ritual and haunting vibe. Subsequently, ‘In The Sleep Of Death’ provides maybe one of the darkest and most despairing tracks on ‘Melana Chasmata’ – the lyrics are an homage to Emile Bronte, a British writer and are abysmally dark, yearning and distressed. This corresponds to the whole structure of the song, which rotates between more technical and more monotonous phrases. With ‘Black Snow’, the longest track of the album closes in, a collage of darkness and monotonous, heavy riffs. However, the song creates a strong and insistent tension, which is ultimately resolved in the final ‘Waiting’. In this title, female vocals are used again, and the overall mood is slightly hopeful and again darkly aesthetic.
To conclude, ‘Melana Chasmata’ offers a very strong and dark album, with an excellent production and astounding instrumentation, which however may also appear as a challenge to its listeners. The atmosphere may need a while to properly settle and soak in, and some details may only become recognizable after several spins. However, this challenge also is a quality of the album, since it establishes continuity and permanency. Moreover, the album combines demand and advance, and thus surely ranks among the most important releases of 2014.
Tracklist
01. Tree Of Suffocating Souls
02. Boleskine House
03. Altar Of Deceit
04. Breathing
05. Aurorae
06. Demon Pact
07. In The Sleep Of Death
08. Black Snow
09. Waiting
Line-up
Tom Gabriel Warrior – Voice, Guitars
V. Santura – Guitar, Vocals
Vanja Slajh – Bass, Vocals
Norman Lonhard – Drums
Website
www.triptykon.net / www.facebook.com/triptykonofficial
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 10
Sound: 10
Total: 10 / 10
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