Review of Triptykon - Shatter

Shatter, the new stop-gap EP from Triptykon, finds Tom G Warrior plagued with the same problem he’s struggled with since he re-emerged with Celtic Frost’s Monotheist—he can craft one hell of a sound and mood, but he just can’t manage to parlay style into substance through fleshed-out and worthwhile songs. Granted, he did make some progress on Triptykon’s debut effort. While Monotheist was a bloated, trying mess (and the most critically overhyped album in years), Eparistera Daimones actually achieved a good deal of what Warrior set out to do on Celtic Frost’s swansong. Sure, it was way too long and became samey, but overall, it emerged as the album that Monotheist could have been.

Shatter offers three new tracks (although one of them is an instrumental piece) along with two live Celtic Frost classics (and thank god for those). The opening title track is a somber midtempo piece and the strongest of the trio, but it still just fails to make the impact it should. The female vocals, usually safe harbor for Warrior, end up becoming too dominant, and despite the effective mood created, I kept waiting for the track to turn a corner it never reached. But holy shit, out of the frying pan and into the fire with “I am the Twilight,” the heavy offering of the bunch. Sonically, it’s massive, sporting the same chest-rattling elephantine heft of the modern Warrior sound. But talk about being all dressed up with nowhere to go… This clunker rides the same damn basic riff for nearly every one of its ponderous eight minutes. The song goes absolutely nowhere. Triptykon? More like tryptophan. The new material is rounded out by “Crucifixus,” an ambient instrumental. It’s a fine enough track, but given the issues with the other new material it’s meant to complement, it fails to make much of a mark. Also included are “Circle of the Tyrants” and “Dethroned Emperor” live from Roadburn. The latter features one Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone on vocals. The classics are great inclusions, of course, even though they further spotlight the declining quality of Warrior’s new stuff.

One could argue that I’m being too harsh here; after all, these tracks are more or less inoffensive pieces that don’t do things wrong, as much as they just don’t do much at all. Most of “I am the Twilight” aside, Shatter is reasonably listenable. Still, the Celtic Frost standard is sky high, and Warrior simply hasn’t done much to reach it over the last few years. Frustratingly, Shatter is a step backward from Eparistera Daimones, and the jury is out on whether future work will be more worthwhile.

Release Details

Triptykon

Shatter

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