Album Review: Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

Tree of suffering souls is an aggressive and exciting opening to Triptykon’s second LP. Frontman Thomas Gabriel Warrior mixes up the vocal delivery into three styles (spoken, grunts and screams) all in the one track and even trades off lyrics with what sounds like backing vocalist/bass player Vanja Šlajh on the killer chorus. There is a nice mix of guitars going on also, especially throughout the instrumental section which dabbles in middle eastern flavors. The next track Boleskine House slowly seeps it’s painful and haunting melody over 7 minutes. It sounds feverish thanks in part to Warrior’s signature spoken sections which contrast with Vanja’s melodic singing. The chugging outro sets the tempo for “Altar of Deceit”, a song enticingly invites us to involverilly head bang into a brick wall. Again, Warrior delivers an excellent performance, spitting his poetic-like lyrics with true hate. The guitar solo is delivered with a touch of delirium and is backed up by some slow but exaggeratedly heavy guitar riffs.

Breaking will be a fan favorite in the mosh pit with it’s straight up metal approach, as opposed to other songs on Melana Chasmata, due to its catchy thrash vibe. “Aurorae” brings Triptykon back down into an atmospheric doom metal dimension. After a 3 minute instrumental intro, the listener is greeted with a spoken passage by Warrior, who proves once again to be the master of sonic dynamics. “Demon Pact” begins with a semi-orchestral rhythmic section allowing the drums to really shine through. The performance offers a false sense of soothing tranquility given its lyrical theme, something which continues into “In the Sleep of Death”. “Black Snow” is the longest song on the album, clocking in at around 12 minutes it deals with themes of human extinction through bitter coldness and the feeling of waiting for certain death. As the album comes to a close Vanja takes the honors in a duet with Warrior on “Waiting”, one realizes that the record been an artistic endeavour.

Melana Chasmata is a classic in the making. The record is a cohesive and successful crossover into several genres including sludge/thrash/doom and even gothic metal. Thomas Gabriel Warrior is a genius.

Triptykon’s Melana Chasmata explodes with aggression and diversity, from the genre-bending Tree of Suffering Souls to the haunting doom of Boleskine House, Warrior’s masterful vocals and dynamic instrumentation paint a bleak yet captivating landscape, solidifying Melana Chasmata as a metal masterpiece.

Verdict

Triptykon is finally back with a studio album after some uncertainty regarding the bands future. On Melana Chasmata Triptykon redefine their own dark sound. It is a monster of an album album filled with intricate riffs, superb lyrics and immense heaviness. It is also head and shoulders over anything frontman Thomas Gabriel Warrior former band Celtic Frost ever recorded, at least in terms of songwriting strength and overall creativity.