It took Tom G. Warrior four years to unleash another manifest of darkness. Time might have poured oil on the troubled waters the Celtic Frost split has caused, but pain and rage are still part of the TRIPTYKON collective making their sophomore Melana Chasmata not a grain gentler.
Opening track Tree Of Suffocating Souls almost seamlessly picks up where Eparistera Daimones was left off. But following Boleskine House with the fragile singing of Simone Vollenweider marks not only a break but is also a stark contrast to the now brutally low-tuned guitars and bass.
Melana Chasmata is thoroughly a TRIPTYKON album yet different. It is a strange record, hardly to grab. Melana Chasmata is more subtle, not that raw as the debut. It is more depressing, more haunting and thus much more intensive. Inescapable. Melana Chasmata is also more varied, a bit more experimental and more sophisticated for both singing and stylistic influences. Altar Of Deceit for example rolls down like lava, heavy guitar riffing forms here a doomy masterpiece. The hauntingly beautiful Aurorae reveals Post Metal sensibilities, while Breathing punches you with its Thrash Metal aggressiveness. But the most disturbing track Demon Pact has to be that plagues your soul with fear and anxiety.
The monolithic tracks of Melana Chasmata - In The Sleep Of Death and the epic Black Snow - follow at the end of the album, before it fades with Waiting, a surreal piece of music, even deepening the strange feeling this record offers.
While the debut Eparistera Daimones does captivate with the first listen and immediately emerges as a masterpiece it is work to feel the same with Melana Chasmata. This album is challenging. It needs time and patience. But once succeeded it unfolds its black beauty, sums up to be the more interesting and more elaborated record and on the long run gets stuck even more intensive.