Only Death is Real...
By now, most fans probably have heard how Celtic Frost blew apart from within 2 years ago, shortly after their triumphant return with the excellent Monotheist album and tour. Band leader Tom Gabriel Warrior made sure to post all sorts of vague and ominous statements on his website and MySpace page about what happened in the band causing him to render Celtic Frost dead, without every really revealing what actually happened. At this point it really matters not, as Celtic Frost has ceased to exist and Tom has assembled Triptykon from the ashes, a band that also features guitarist V. Santura, bassist Vanja Slajh, and drummer Norman Lonhard. Basically, Eparistera Daimones is the continuation of many of the themes started on Monotheist, yet this album is arguably heavier, angrier, more hate filled, and certainly more avant-garde than Monotheist. If Tom Gabriel Warrior had something to get off his chest, he's certainly accomplished that here.
Eparistera Daimones is not an album that's going to sink in on one sitting...in fact, it might take several listens before everything starts to make sense. By all accounts, Tom's statements over the last year seemed to indicate that he was going to take Triptykon into black metal territory, but that's totally not the case here. This is doomy avant-garde metal, with an emphasis on the 'doom' part. Opener "Goetia" kicks things off in classic Celtic Frost style, with frantic drums, tortured vocals, and raging guitar riffs, before things slow down and get downright crushing and doomy. Warrior is certainly angry, as his raging vocal attack is some of the most venom spewing every in his entire career. "Abyss Within My Soul" is a great avant-garde doom metal piece, filled with fascinating guitar layers from Warrior and Santura, as well as some crushingly ponderous riffs, and the haunting, moody "In Shrouds Decayed" recalls some of the Into Pandemonium material, especially Tom's tortured vocal delivery. The closest the band gets to early Celtic Frost or Hellhammer is on the speedy, almost black metal styled ripper "A Thousand Lies", a raging hate-filled track filled with frenetic drum blasts, crushing riffs, and maniacal screams & growls. After the funeral death march that is "Descendant" comes the even more plodding "Myopic Empire", a tune with bass & guitar riffs so slow and heavy you'll feel the walls shake with tremors. The melancholy "My Pain" is a mellow number with piano and female vocals, and the closing near 20-minute epic " The Prolonging" is the obvious centerpiece of the album. This is some spooky, avant-garde doom folks, filled with some of the heaviest guitar riffs you'll hear this year, and another angry vocal display from Warrior. Slow and plodding at times, this one also has some speedier moments and passages of dark, cryptic atmosphere, and when Warrior throws in some spoken word vocals the results are quite chilling.
It took me quite a few listens to actually start to appreciate Eparistera Daimones, but once I did there was no denying the uniqueness that Triptykon brings to the table here. The production is spot on, and the booklet is adorned with wonderfully lurid artwork from H.R. Giger, lyrics, and commentary from Tom Gabriel Warrior on the history & creation of each track.
Celtic Frost is dead, and the new era of Triptykon has begun.
Only Death is Real...
Track Listing
1. Goetia 11:00
2. Abyss Within My Soul 9:26
3. In Shrouds Decayed 6:55
4. Shrine 1:43
5. A Thousand Lies 5:28
6. Descendant 7:41
7. Myopic Empire 5:47
8. My Pain 5:19
9. The Prolonging 19:22
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