I listen to a lot of metal.
I write these reviews, I do a weekly radio
show, and to be honest, a lot of what I listen to is just a blur.
Much of what comes my way is just very generic
metal.
I figured out last year that I
listened to portions of over 400 albums between my writing and radio show.
If a band stands out then they have got
something a little unique, they've figured out how to put their own touch on
this metal genre.
If they stand out
enough that I give their release multiple listens, then it has to be something
special.
I think we can call this Tom G.
Warrior fellow pretty special.
For over
30 years now he has kept it interesting with Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and now
Triptykon.
Let me just join the chorus
now and state that this is his master work.
This album is so staggeringly good, with nothing on display that you could
even begin to call a misstep, that it boggles the mind a little.
The songwriting is
outstanding.
All of the songs sound like
they are of a whole.
There is nothing
here that seems as though its just a bunch of riffs pasted together.
The songs sound like fully formed ideas, and
they are given enough room to breathe and develop.
Each one seems to be exactly the right
length.
The performances are top
notch.
All of the playing on this album
feels like there is a symbiotic relationship between the player and the music,
that there is no difference between say the drummer and his rhythms.
They are one and the same.
As an album, all the songs work
together.
I've heard concept albums that
don't flow and work like this one does.
This band has simply put all the right parts together in all the right
ways to bring us something spectacular, something that does not often come
along.
You can't lump this in a nice
tidy box, genre wise.
It is most
definitely, without a doubt, metal, but you aren't going to be able to call it
black or death or anything so simple.
This is other metal, a distillation of the experiences of a metal
veteran, taking the best bits of everything he has done before to put forth
something so much greater than the sum of its parts.
“Breathing” certainly blasts along like some
tasty death metal, but yet has enough other things going on that you can't
simply call it death.
Other tracks, such
as “Boleskine House” and “Aurorae” are just a few BPM above what you might call
doom, but again, more than an easy definition awaits the listener.
“Demon Pact” is tribal and primal, sounding
like what you might imagine a gathering of Hell's minions would be like.
“Black Snow” is just twelve and a half
minutes of gorgeous darkness.
This album is brilliant.
Everything you could want in a metal
release.
Something I will listen to
repeatedly.
Definitely on my top 10 list
for this year, regardless of what comes out the rest of the year.
Mr. Warrior, you have done yourself
proud.
Valhalla
awaits.
- ODIN
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