Whatever else Melana Chasmata, the second album from Tom G. Warrior‘s post-Celtic Frost outfit Triptykon, might have to offer, two things about it are pretty much guaranteed: It’s going to be insanely dark and it’s probably going to have H.R. Giger artwork. From there, it’s up in the air as to where the actual sonics of the album might go. Triptykon‘s first offering, 2010’s Eparistera Daimones (review here), was an a-number-one mindfuck, bleak and oppressive and rife with torment, but it was also constructed from a lot of older parts that might’ve otherwise become Celtic Frost songs, as Warrior recounted in the liner notes. Whether Melana Chasmata will come from the same well of material, I don’t know, but I’m sure interested to find out.

The PR wire sent news of the album’s April 24, 2014, release date, and of course Triptykon were previously announced for Roadburn as well, so good things all around:

TRIPTYKON set to release second album MELANA CHASMATA April 24, 2014

Prowling Death Records/Century Media Records

TRIPTYKON is the occult/avant-garde metal band formed by Hellhammer/Celtic Frost singer, Tom Gabriel Warrior. After his exit from Celtic Frost in 2008, Warrior is proud to announce the groups’ second album, Melana Chasmata, set to be released on April 15 in North America. The album’s release will is a collaboration between the group’s own label, Prowling Death Records Ltd., and renowned metal giant Century Media Records. This is the same label partnership already responsible for Celtic Frost’s final album, Monotheist (2006), Hellhammer’s Demon Entrails demo compendium (2008), and Triptykon’s debut album, Eparistera Daimones, and Shatter EP (2010).

Melana Chasmata is evolving to be a vastly varied and strikingly dark and heavy album. The album’s title may be translated, approximately, as “black, deep depressions/valleys”.

Songwriting, arrangement, and recording sessions for Melana Chasmata occurred, intermittently, since 2011. Among the music available for inclusion on the album are songs such as Boleskine House, Stasis, Gate To My Own Death, Demon Pact, Gehinnam, Tree Of Suffocated Souls, Unchristian Anthem, and many more. A final track listing for Melana Chasmata will be issued in due course, along with further details on both album and artwork.

Much like Eparistera Daimones, Melana Chasmata is being produced by Tom Gabriel Warrior and Triptykon guitarist V. Santura, and recorded and engineered by V. Santura at his own Woodshed Studio in Bavaria, Germany, as well as at Triptykon’s bunker in Zurich, Switzerland.

Tom Gabriel Warrior: “We have been working on Melana Chasmata for some three years, in various shapes and forms. It’s not an easy album by any means, and to me personally it reflects an extremely complex gestation period, musically, spiritually, and, due to certain circumstances in my life, emotionally. At the same time, the album unquestionably reflects the continuity I was longing for so much during Celtic Frost’s period of self-destruction and demise. Hearing Triptykon creating such utter darkness again and exploring the potential of these new songs has been incredibly invigorating and inspiring.”

TRIPTYKON consists of V. Santura (guitar, vocals), Norman Lonhard (drums, percussion), Vanja Slajh (bass), and Tom Gabriel Warrior (voice, guitars).

TRIPTYKON Live 2014:
February 21 Bergen (Norway) – USF Verftet / Blastfest
April 13 Tilburg (The Netherlands) – 013 / Roadburn Festival
April 30 Munich (Germany) – Backstage / Dark Easter Metal Meeting (Facebook event)

More dates are to be announced soon…

TRIPTYKON online:
www.triptykon.net
www.facebook.com/triptykonofficial

Triptykon, “Goetia” Live at Wacken Open Air 2011

Perhaps it’s a mark of my own nerd-dom, but I haven’t heard the phrase “turn the tide” since The Two Towers came out and not thought of Lord of the Rings. Actually, there’s no “perhaps” about it: It’s definitely a mark of my nerd-dom. In any case, a new clip has emerged from Swedish heavy rock forebears Spiritual Beggars — whose lineup has changed but whose mission of paying homage to the best of heavy ’70s classics while keeping a modern edge has remained steady lo these last 20 years — for the song “Turn the Tide,” and whatever my sci-fi/fantasy associations might be with the title, there’s very little about it that has to do with elfin magic.

If that sounds like a disappointment, it’s not. Aside from being a lesson in frantic editing and how to use psychedelic effects and bleeds to make performance footage look more exciting — why you’d watch this Spiritual Beggars clip on YouTube versus any other one, let’s say — it’s got that singer-walking-down-the-street-mouthing-the-lyrics thing going as well, and that’s always a good time.

Enjoy the clip below, followed by PR wire-style info and tour dates:

Spiritual Beggars, “Turn the Tide” official video

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS ­ “Turn The Tide” video-clip launched; tour dates coming up soon!

In the light of upcoming tour dates later this month, Sweden’s Classic-Rock heavyweights SPIRITUAL BEGGARS are now launching an new video clip for the song “Turn The Tide”, coming off their acclaimed 8th studio album, “Earth Blues“, released in April 2013 via InsideOutMusic.

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS’ guitarist and main songwriter Michael Amott checked in to comment on the clip:

“Excited to have a second video off our ‘Earth Blues’ opus – just in time before we hit the road in Europe and Japan in October/November! We filmed this video in Mexico City and Cologne, Germany earlier this year while Martin Björnlund of Flat Feet Productions did a superb job on a heavy & psychedelic edit back home in Sweden.”

Here is an overview of all upcoming shows for SPIRITUAL BEGGARS in 2013

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS – “Earth Blues” Tour 2013
11.10.2013 Athens (Greece) – Kyttaro Live
12.10.2013 Thessaloniki (Greece) – Eightball
20.10.2013 Saitama City (Japan) – Loud Park festival 2013

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS – “Earth Blues” Tour 2013 + PURSON :
25.10.2013 Siegburg (Germany) – Kubana
26.10.2013 Roermond (The Netherlands) – ECI Cultuurfabriek
27.10.2013 Bremen (Germany) – Tivoli
29.10.2013 Weinheim (Germany) – Café Central
30.10.2013 Esch sur Alzette (Luxemburg) – Kulturfabrik
31.10.2013 Zoetermeer (The Netherlands) – De Borderij
01.11.2013 Lille (France) – Splendid
02.11.2013 Hasselt (Belgium) – Muziekodroom

https://www.facebook.com/spiritualbeggarsofficial

The new CD from one-time Penance drummer Mike Smail‘s band, Under the Sun, showed up in today’s mail, to be retrieved when I arrived (early!) back in the valley from the office, so I figured something off Penance‘s 1994 masterpiece Parallel Corners would be a good way to end the week. I’ll have that Under the Sun review up as promptly as possible, which I know isn’t saying much these days.

On that note, I’ve noticed lately that The Obelisk has gotten a lot of requests from people looking for reviews and such. That’s great, but here’s the thing: As much as I love helping people get the word out about their bands — and I do, really — I’m just about through pretending to dig stuff I don’t. So the On the Radar posts for bands who just email me and say “hey, cool site, write about my band,” are done. I like this site the best when I’m talking about stuff I legitimately dig and bands I want to help out. If I wanted more obligation in my life, I’d procreate.

And on that note, there’s a new podcast coming this weekend. The plan is to put it together tomorrow and have it posted by Sunday. Keep your eyes open.

Keep your eyes on the beer thread on the forum too to find out where the night’s drinking adventures lead. It’s been quite an evening already, if you couldn’t tell by the bold proclamations above.

Aside from being the resumption of the semester following this week’s “spring break,” next week I’ll have my long-overdue interview with Danny Nick of Suplecs posted, as well as reviews of Subrosa, The Osedax, and probably about three others if past is prologue.

I’ll also have a live writeup (hopefully with photos and maybe even video) of Clamfight‘s show tomorrow night at the Brighton Bar in Long Branch, NJ. If you missed the news, Clamfight will be forum040, the fourth release on The Maple Forum.

As to what the third is, it’s reportedly getting mastered this week, and I’ll have the announcement sometime soon about that as well. Stay tuned, and as ever, have a great and safe weekend.

The first album by Tom G. Warrior‘s post-Celtic Frost outfit Triptykon was a revelation. It was as though Warrior himself was reaching his hand through the speakers to say, “It’s okay that Celtic Frost is broken up, everything’s going to be fine…. and by that I mean we’re all going to die and life is utterly meaningless.” Eparistera Daimones stands stall as one of 2010’s most grim and beautiful releases, Warrior and his band reveling in their misery with all the avant blackened doom that has become synonymous with his name over the last 30 years.

And they killed it live. Both headlining Roadburn and when I saw them again in New York, Triptykon was a highlight of the year, no question. The only reason it’s not higher up my list is because there were other albums I listened to more. If this were a quality-only kind of tabulation (which, by being a tabulation, it couldn’t really be; discuss amongst yourselves), Eparistera Daimones would certainly be a top 10 record, but staying power counts.

I’ll say this for it: I may not have kept Eparistera Daimones in my player all year long, but every time I’ve gone back to it, I’ve found something new. Like Celtic Frost‘s last album, Monotheist, it’s a record best enjoyed over time. It got no shortage of hype over the course of this year, but I think the real beauty and complexity in Triptykon are going to take longer than a mere couple months to fully appreciate. I still get a shiver up my spine every time I listen to “A Thousand Lies.”

Seriously, even bassist Vanja Slajh comes off looking pretty well-hung in the shadow-puppet chorus scenes of Triptykon‘s new video for “Shatter,” the title track of their latest EP. The song rules, so I point this out in only the most lighthearted of joshing, but it’s kind of hilarious. Here’s the clip if you haven’t seen it yet:

“Shatter” was directed by Philipp Hirsch of Film-M. Triptykon‘s Shatter EP is out Oct. 25.

There has been much said over the years about Tom G. Warrior. One thing about the man in 2010: he is completely unwilling to compromise. He’s been down that road before, with Celtic Frost, and it made for one of metal’s most memorable missteps. But no more. When he left Celtic Frost in 2008 to form Triptykon, it became his singular vision that would guide the band, and no outside interest could sway it. Triptykon‘s Eparistera Daimones was a testament to this idea, a broad swipe of avant doom and black metals that showed not only was the venerable frontman as duly strong in his songwriting, playing and vocalizing, but his sheer creative will was more potent than ever.

This year, Warrior (Fischer by birth) was asked to oversee a day of the Roadburn festival in The Netherlands, which he did under the banner of Only Death is Real. Acts like as Pagan Altar, Witchfynde and Valborg made the day one of the most diverse the fest had ever seen, and with Triptykon‘s first live performance in the headlining slot, everyone had something to look forward to. Neither was anyone disappointed by the reality. Playing a two-hour set of half-Triptykon and half-Celtic Frost, Warrior, guitarist/vocalist V. Santura, bassist Vanja Slajh and drummer Norman Lonhard, gave due homage to the legacy of Celtic Frost while also showing how Warrior was moving forward into new and exciting territory. They finished with the massive, 20-minute Eparistera Daimones closer, “The Prolonging,” and I honestly think by the end of it the audience was more worn out than they were. Given that so much of his persona is wrapped in the dark, bleak and melancholic, it’s strange to think of Tom G. Warrior as excited, but as Nocturno Culto got on stage to guest on Celtic Frost‘s classic “Dethroned Emperor,” he clearly was.

And he remains excited now. When discussing his relationship to the other members of Triptykon, his voice tells of the passion he feels for making music with this lineup and being able to explore, unhindered, these fresh endeavors. On the eve of Triptykon‘s first North American tour, which kicks off Oct. 6 in Manhattan, and the release of the new Shatter EP later this month, the feeling I get is it’s a great time to be in the band, a great time to be inspired and a thrilling new beginning for a man who has helped define and redefine heavy metal for the better part of 30 years.

You’ll find the full Q&A, in ritualistic fashion, after the jump. Please enjoy.

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It wouldn’t be accurate to think of Spiritual Beggars as the first Swedish heavy rock band, because Sweden has been turned on and tuned in since the beginning, but what guitarist Michael Amott’s post-Carcass outfit did was embrace a more modern stoner sound and help found the scene that would later grow into one of the world’s most vibrant and prolific. And what’s more, they rocked. There’s no discounting the earliest work of Spiritual Beggars in the ‘90s. In both quality and influence, 1994’s Spiritual Beggars, 1996’s Another Way to Shine and 1998’s Mantra III are essential documents for anyone looking to understand the growth of European stoner rock.

Spiritual Beggars’ latest offering, Return to Zero (InsideOut/Century Media) is notable before you even hit play because of (Per Wiberg’s moustache, but also) the departure of vocalist JB Christoffersson, who left the band on good terms to focus on his main project, the mighty Grand Magus. Replacing Christoffersson is Apollo Papathanasio of Greek power metallers Firewind – you may have heard the name because guitarist Gus G. is now playing with Ozzy Osbourne – and though Christoffersson’s work on 2002’s On Fire and 2005’s Demons is not to be duplicated, Papathanasio does an admirable job, proving he’s a soulful, versatile singer in his own right, able to match Amott’s riff and solo magic with a bluesy throat and powerful delivery, and ultimately a worthy successor to Christoffersson and original vocalist Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand.

Amott is no stranger to melody, being a principal figure in melodic death metal as guitarist for the massively successful Arch Enemy. On Return to Zero, his songwriting formula is potent as ever across highlight tracks like post-intro opener “Lost in Yesterday,” metal-loving anthem “We are Free” (which makes good and honest use of the central riff of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky,” topping it with canned crowd noise) and “The Chaos of Rebirth,” in which the rhythm section of Sharlee D’Angelo (bass; Mercyful Fate, Arch Enemy, etc.) and Ludwig Witt (drums; Firebird) pull off stops and turns that would have lesser bands crashing and probably breaking up before they figured them out. Of course, the guitars lead the way the majority of the time, but if Amott meets his match anywhere in Spiritual Beggars, it’s with keyboardist Per Wiberg – who, for the remainder of this review, shall be referred to, with love, as “Per Wiberg and His Magical Mystery Moustache.”

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I don’t know if it’s the same this time around because I’m way on the outs of the proverbial loop, but in 2008, when Chicago outfit Nachtmystium released their Century Media debut, Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1, the anticipation was rabid and the reaction was so saliva-laden it was comical. It occurred to me the other day I haven’t gotten the same kind of fever-pitch vibe surrounding the follow-up full-length, Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2, but I’m more than willing to allow that’s because, in the two years since the last album, I’ve almost entirely stopped paying attention. So the situation might be the same and I just don’t know about it. Hype doesn’t make a difference listening anyway.

As regards that (listening), Addicts is a curious case. While “High on Hate,” which follows a minute and a half of spell-it-out introduction, could easily fit into a black metal mold at least as established by the last album, much of Nachtmystium’s material on the second offering of their Century Media era finds itself pushing forcefully outside the lines of that genre. “Nightfall” begins with and maintains a spirit akin to Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows,” and the insistent/incessant keyboard runs of “No Funeral” (provided by producer Sanford Parker) would also seem to place the track elsewhere categorically. Yet, throughout these songs and later genre-benders, the production maintained is thoroughly black metal, by which I mean lo-fi and almost purposefully underproduced. A headphone session reveals more psychedelic complexities of sound that regular speaker listening glosses over, and though I personally find it harder to listen to Addicts because of this, it can only be on purpose, since with the likes of Sanford Parker and Nachtmystium main man Blake Judd at the helm of the recording, it’s not as though either party doesn’t know what they’re doing.

Rather, I think it’s a case of Judd and whoever in the rotating cast of Nachtmystium players with whom he wrote these songs having simply outgrown the style in which they began – namely black metal. I’m sure if you were to ask Judd what he thinks of black metal, he’d say either that he doesn’t play it or that he doesn’t give a shit (and both may be true), but if genre concerns weren’t on his mind at least on some level, they wouldn’t be acknowledged in the album’s title at all, let alone in the fucking-with pun manner they are. So what we get is “black meddle,” reshaping a genre the band would probably be better off leaving behind altogether, at least in terms of production. Hell, if you want to compare labelmates, look at the Triptykon CD Century Media released earlier this year. Every nuance of that album was up front and clear, whereas with Addicts I feel like something’s trying to hide from me while I listen, as though Judd is embarrassed by his creativity and sans-box songwriting. Push that to the fore. I don’t give a shit if it’s kvlt. I want it to kick my ass, and if the corpsepaint needs to go for that to happen, so be it.

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