Biography
Switzerland's Triptykon pursues an uncompromising strain of extreme rock that fuses doom, gothic, black, and more recently symphonic metal. Formed as an outlet for Tom Gabriel Fischer (also known as Tom Gabriel Warrior), who serves as the band's singer, guitarist, keyboardist, and chief composer, the group channels the same undercurrent of tension, darkness, dissonance, and sonic risk-taking that defined its 2010 debut, Eparistera Daimones. Although the collective has released material sparingly since then, it has remained a consistent presence on major heavy-metal festival bills and in concert venues worldwide. Issued in 2014, the follow-up album Melana Chasmata tightened the arrangements and heightened the dynamic range beyond the first record, reflecting Warrior's ongoing commitment to writing, arranging, and refining recording methods—an approach that yields finished works only when his exacting standards are met.
Triptykon came into being in May 2008 specifically to extend the musical explorations begun by Warrior's earlier outfits, the black- and extreme-metal trailblazers Hellhammer and, most directly, Celtic Frost, both of which he founded or co-founded and led. The name Triptykon was chosen to mark the project as his third major endeavor. Warrior, again handling vocals, guitar, and primary songwriting duties, assembled the lineup to finish an abandoned Celtic Frost undertaking left incomplete after that band's definitive 2008 dissolution. Joining the founder were guitarist/vocalist V. Santura (Dark Fortress), bassist Vanja Slajh, and drummer Norman Lonhard (ex-Fear My Thoughts). Century Media issued the band's first album, the widely praised Eparistera Daimones, in 2010; its artwork was created by Warrior's longtime associate H.R. Giger. Later the same year the label reissued the set as the box Eparistera Daimones: The Complete Sessions, appending the five-track EP Shatter. Extensive European touring followed, establishing Triptykon as a leading festival attraction and prompting many reviewers to interpret the debut both as a culmination of Warrior's prior Celtic Frost experiments and as an expression of his frustration with former colleagues.
Following two further lengthy tours, Triptykon—working with co-producer Michael Zech—delivered its second full-length, Melana Chasmata, in 2014. Critics heard the record as a distinct Warrior statement rather than a continuation of Celtic Frost, even though it featured guest vocals from Simone Vollenweider, who had previously collaborated with the earlier band. The album's denser, grittier sonics and improved production, including passages of clean singing, attracted a broad metal audience and expanded the group's touring reach across Asia, Europe, and North America. Live sets remained volatile and intense, regularly incorporating covers of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, and Apollyon Sun material. After these activities, Warrior launched the Hellhammer tribute project Triumph of Death, reviving early, once-derided recordings now recognized as foundational to black metal.
Norman Lonhard departed Triptykon in 2016 and was not replaced at the time. The next year the Roadburn Festival in Tilburg commissioned Warrior to complete and perform a long-gestating Celtic Frost composition, the multi-part Requiem, whose opening section "Rex Irae" had appeared on 1987's Into the Pandemonium and whose apparent finale surfaced on the 2006 reunion album Monotheist. Enlisting Triptykon alongside brass, string, and percussion players from the Dutch Metropole Orkest conducted by Jukka Iisakkila, Warrior finished the 32-minute connecting movement "Eternal." The completed Requiem received its premiere, recording, and filming at the 2019 Roadburn Festival, with Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Eternity's End) on drums and Tunisian co-lead vocalist Safa Heraghi. Century Media released the performance in multiple formats in May 2020, some editions including Blu-ray and DVD documentation of the concert.
Triptykon came into being in May 2008 specifically to extend the musical explorations begun by Warrior's earlier outfits, the black- and extreme-metal trailblazers Hellhammer and, most directly, Celtic Frost, both of which he founded or co-founded and led. The name Triptykon was chosen to mark the project as his third major endeavor. Warrior, again handling vocals, guitar, and primary songwriting duties, assembled the lineup to finish an abandoned Celtic Frost undertaking left incomplete after that band's definitive 2008 dissolution. Joining the founder were guitarist/vocalist V. Santura (Dark Fortress), bassist Vanja Slajh, and drummer Norman Lonhard (ex-Fear My Thoughts). Century Media issued the band's first album, the widely praised Eparistera Daimones, in 2010; its artwork was created by Warrior's longtime associate H.R. Giger. Later the same year the label reissued the set as the box Eparistera Daimones: The Complete Sessions, appending the five-track EP Shatter. Extensive European touring followed, establishing Triptykon as a leading festival attraction and prompting many reviewers to interpret the debut both as a culmination of Warrior's prior Celtic Frost experiments and as an expression of his frustration with former colleagues.
Following two further lengthy tours, Triptykon—working with co-producer Michael Zech—delivered its second full-length, Melana Chasmata, in 2014. Critics heard the record as a distinct Warrior statement rather than a continuation of Celtic Frost, even though it featured guest vocals from Simone Vollenweider, who had previously collaborated with the earlier band. The album's denser, grittier sonics and improved production, including passages of clean singing, attracted a broad metal audience and expanded the group's touring reach across Asia, Europe, and North America. Live sets remained volatile and intense, regularly incorporating covers of Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, and Apollyon Sun material. After these activities, Warrior launched the Hellhammer tribute project Triumph of Death, reviving early, once-derided recordings now recognized as foundational to black metal.
Norman Lonhard departed Triptykon in 2016 and was not replaced at the time. The next year the Roadburn Festival in Tilburg commissioned Warrior to complete and perform a long-gestating Celtic Frost composition, the multi-part Requiem, whose opening section "Rex Irae" had appeared on 1987's Into the Pandemonium and whose apparent finale surfaced on the 2006 reunion album Monotheist. Enlisting Triptykon alongside brass, string, and percussion players from the Dutch Metropole Orkest conducted by Jukka Iisakkila, Warrior finished the 32-minute connecting movement "Eternal." The completed Requiem received its premiere, recording, and filming at the 2019 Roadburn Festival, with Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, Eternity's End) on drums and Tunisian co-lead vocalist Safa Heraghi. Century Media released the performance in multiple formats in May 2020, some editions including Blu-ray and DVD documentation of the concert.
Albums
