For those still unfamiliar with Triptykon, this Swiss quartet is under the capable hands and mastermind of the imponent personality of Thomas Gabriel Fischer (better known as Tom G. Warrior), the once outspoken and charismatic leader of mythical enshadowed undergrounders Celtic Frost. Besides his remarkable musical career, he was also deeply involved in Hellhammer and Apollyon Sun, acts which he is no longer actively participating.
Whence Thomas Gabriel Fischer announced his departure from Celtic Frost in May 2008, he took the scene by storm and legions of devotees sadly wondered and questioned him about his unpredictable decision. Shortly afterwards, he unveiled a new creation, namely Triptykon, which somehow unavoidably tends to follow Celtic Frost closely as musical reference, ever since the material envisioned for the full-length debut album ‘Eparistera Daimones’ was to be originally, the successor for Celtic Frost’s ‘Monotheist’, with darker contours and a heavier mantra yet slightly more experimental, risky and explorative than the material composed for ‘Monotheist’.
Regardless of its origins, Triptykon is not a stranger to the scene. In fact, they released their second full-length studio record not so long ago, entitled ‘Melana Chasmata’, which has been released once again by Prowling Death Records in cooperation with Century Media Records on April 14th in Europe and on April 15th in North America.
- ‘Tree Of Suffocating Souls’
- ‘Boleskine House’
- ‘Altar Of Deceit’
- ‘Breathing’
- ‘Auroræ’
- ‘Demon Pact’
- ‘In The Sleep Of Death’
- ‘Black Snow’
- ‘Waiting’
The almost eight minutes long video single of ‘Tree Of Suffocating Souls’, is the follow up to the outstanding ‘Auroræ’ video. A song that deviates from avant-garde old-school thrash metal within a splendid dark, top-notch gloomy grim essence portrayed in a sophisticated monochrome black and white combination of katatonic silhouettes, that reveals to be quite intriguing and hypnotic. Even though the song is lengthy, there is no sense of nostalgic dementia as it remains significantly irrelevant whence you gaze into the tune and overall visual approach. I dare say that during this year, ‘Tree Of Suffocating Souls’ is definitely one of the best videos amongst hundreds of others that I had the opportunity to view so far.
[blockquote cite=”Thomas Gabriel Fischer”]In producing this footage, we have elected to once again work in partnership with long-standing Triptykon collaborator and director, Philipp Hirsch, in Leipzig, Germany. As intensely minimalist as Triptykon approach and music are, as perfect and passionate was Philipp in creating images which combine such minimalism with the required darkness. The night during which most of these images were created was, for many reasons, a truly extraordinary night none of us shall ever forget.[/blockquote]
Triptykon are preparing to embark in a European tour at the beginning of next month, accompanied by At The Gates and Morbus Chron, as well as to play at the infamous Hellfest Open Air Festival as earlier reported by us.
As most of their United States fans know, Triptykon had to cancel their previously confirmed and extremely hyped over appearance as headliners at Maryland Deathfest 2014, due to Thomas Gabriel Fischer closeness to long time friend who passed away before the fest, H.R. Giger (Hans Rudolf Giger). There might not be a more directly associated musician with H.R. Giger than Thomas Gabriel Fischer’s Celtic Frost and Triptykon. Beyond their collaborations the two of them were close friends, and after the tragic passing of H.R. Giger in a car accident, Thomas Gabriel Fischer had to withdraw his band from their trip to the United States, as he was part of an integral group of people who organised H.R. Giger’s funeral events, and his support and presence were much needed at such time of grief.
Triptykon will however be one of the headliners at Maryland Deathfest 2015, most definitely the best underground metal festival in the United States. Visit their official website for the complete line-up of the festival, tickets and all other information.
