Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: Check Out the Triptykover
Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…
We’re working on the June Decibel right now, and I just got Jeff Treppel’s review of Triptykon’s sophomore record, Melana Chasmata. It’ll be out in just under a month and is going to be—rightly—universally jizzed upon (with the exception of J. Bennett, who would rather Tom G. Warrior revive “Cherry Orchards” for a new generation). Anyway, Jeff makes a great point about this band: “It’s impossible to even put your finger on what genre Fischer and his cohorts are working in—but it’s their own.” That was somewhat evident on 2010 debut, Eparistera Daimones, but the fluctuations between melancholic doom, runaway train thrash and suffocating atmospheric despair are so expertly realized on this record. If you aren’t already, you really should be excited. I’m not gonna say this makes Eparistera look like crap in comparison, but it’s such a great step forward. And from a 50-year-old living legend, by the way, who doesn’t have shit to prove.
Tom G.’s on the cover of the May issue, his long overdue first appearance. We gave the final Celtic Frost record, Monotheist (the closest comparison to what Triptykon is doing now), lead review honors in the June 2006 issue, but Hatebreed somehow beat them out for the cover. (Well, not “somehow.” Nobody knew Monotheist would be that good and relevant after Vanity/Nemesis.) This month, Justin Norton reveals the personal struggles that Warrior overcame to deliver the masterful new Triptykon album. “I always wonder what would happen if I didn’t have a valve,” Warrior ponders. “It could be a million dollars on psychiatry bills.”
If you’re totally false and somehow don’t care about this enormous accomplishment, you can check out my Hall of Fame feature on Failure’s Fantastic Planet. There’s plenty more good shit in the form of a Noisem flexi, new Mastodon album news and the 10th annual extreme baseball preview.
The May 2014 issue of Decibel can be purchased here… but Tom G. Warrior will need another million dollars for psychiatry bills if you don’t just get a subscription.
