Ex-Celtic Frost/Triptykon Frontman Was Near Suicide

We’ve all heard a lot of reasons for the delay of an album: money problems, health issues, tragedies, timing, relationships in disarray, etc. But death metal legend Tom Gabriel Fischer explained to Noisey that Triptykon, his awesome band formed upon the latest break-up of Celtic Frost, nearly couldn’t finish their awesome sophomore album because, um, suicide:

The reason I am still here is because my girlfriend pleaded with me not to take my own life. [Which] didn’t happen in a single day; it took a long time for her to convince me to stick around. I had to come to terms with that, and I began to try and rebuild my life to some semblance of order. And part of that order is my existence as a musician. This is what gives me strength and pleasure in life. Once I came to terms that I would remain here, I knew I would complete the album.

Whoa what?

I realize that sounds like drama to get some headlines, but I’m simply being completely honest. I’ve done this for 33 years now, and at almost 51 years old, I don’t feel the need to act like a macho heavy metal musician. I’m a human being like everyone else … Finishing the album didn’t become a secondary thing — it became the umpteenth thing in the line. It had no importance whatsoever.

Classy as hell, Fischer declined to elaborate on the causes for his plummet:

I personally think it’s pathetic to promote an album on the strength of your personal tragedy. So you’ve gotta draw a line somewhere. People like Rihanna and these reality TV stars promote their work on personal tragedy, and I cringe when I see that or read that. It’s embarrassing. I can explain the reasons [that] this album sounds the way it does, but at this point I think that’s as far as I should go. We are in the metal scene, and there’s just gotta be a line somewhere. Maybe some years down the line, one can look back and explain things, but I think it would be very cheap for me to say, ‘We had a hard time—buy our album!’

Now, Fischer hasn’t told us the details of his “personal tragedy,” but there might are some clues in the record whose life almost ended with Warrior’s. After all, Melana Chasmata got its title in advance of the band’s period of personal turmoil (read the whole interview), that translates to something like “Deep Depression” so yeah.

Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata came out two Tuesdays ago (get it here). Read the MetalSucks review here. Listen to two jams here.