GO SEE TRIPTYKON AND 1349 LIVE
Video by popas7
After Celtic Frost disbanded and Tom G. Warrior announced the formation of Triptykon, he assured fans that his new project “will sound as close to Celtic Frost as is humanly possible.” That wasn’t just self-serving hype: Triptykon is not Celtic Frost in name only.
Seeing Triptykon live highlights this fact: Their set last Thursday evening here in Manhattan (with co-headliners 1349, who, unfortunately, I missed) was dominated by songs spanning the entire spectrum of Celtic Frost’s catalog, including Morbid Tales (“Circle of Tyrants,” “Dethroned Emperor”), Into the Pandemonium (“Babylon Fell”), and Monotheist (“Synagoga Satanae”). Triptykon might have new members, but they’re not a new band; they’re Celtic Frost with a very intense-looking woman, Vanja Slajh, playing bass instead of a very intense-looking man, Martin Eric Ain.
And will due respect to Ain, you probably won’t miss him.
That’s because Warrior has been smart enough to surround himself with musicians who are not only talented, but each have a strong live presence of their own; Slajh, guitarist V. Santura (also of Dark Fortress), and drummer Norman Lonhard (Fear My Thoughts) are obviously going to forfeit a substantial portion of the spotlight to their living legend of a leader, but they never feel like a backing band for a solo artist. Watching Triptykon is a little like watching modern Megadeth, in that the band is so good that only needless sentimentality in the mind of the listener could mar performances of the classic material.
Watching Triptykon is not at all like watching modern Megadeth, though, in that while Dave Mustaine’s voice is currently his band’s biggest liabilty, Tom G. Warrior still rules in pretty much every way imaginable. He doesn’t move a lot on-stage, but he doesn’t have to: He’s one of metal’s most intimidating presences, and he’s perfected the artform of being monolithic. Whomever had the idea to put that not-quite-corpsepaint around his eyes is a friggin’ genius — it augments his quietly murderous stare, which threatens to reach out into the crowd and strangle someone at any moment. Being in his presence feels like being in the presence of royalty, which certainly elevates the entire live experience.
In fact, my only real complaint about Triptykon’s set was that they didn’t play “A Thousand Lies” from Eparistera Daimones; I’d been looking forward to screaming “DDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!” with a few hundred of my fellow Warrior worshippers for months, but, alas, it was not to be. But hopefully, Triptykon are going to be around a long, long time, and will have many chances to make it up to me at future shows.
-AR
Triptykon’s North American tour with 1349 and Yakuza continues throughout October; get dates here.
