Triptykon have expanded and pushed boundaries back even further with their second full length, the monument of darkness, Melana Chasmata. The title, when translated from Greek is ‘chasms as black as ink.’ This album instantly captivated me and left my head swirling in astonishment. Never in my life have I heard anything quite like this.
To start with, how magnificent is Melana Chasmata‘s cover by seminal surrealist painter H.R. Giger? It captures the tone of the album perfectly. Alien and machine like, riddled with pain, hatred and sorrow, but provides a listening experience that reaches complete ecstasy.
Opening with “Tree of Suffocating Souls,” Triptykon draw the curtain back on Melana Chasmata with a sharp guitar sound and very quickly a riff blankets the opening track with suffocating blackness. It speeds up, it slows down, it does what they tell it to. Intense and aggressive vocals emerge and heighten the emotions further. Make no mistake, Triptykon begin this album with an unflinching and commanding presence that you will not encounter often.
Haunting female vocals arrive for the first time on Melana Chasmata with “Boleskine House”, opening another dimension within the album. All of the vocal performances throughout bring contrast into the sound and it is done quite often to remarkable and dramatic results. Production and the musicianship are just spot on the entire way.
“Altar of Deceit,” starts quite softly and the opening feels very much like a scene from a western film to me. It is not long before a thundering riff surges forward from the shadows, cracks the ground beneath you and continues on for several more minutes of mind bending madness. At the point this track ended, I already felt like my head had exploded several times.
As you descend further into Melana Chasmata with “Breathing,” “Aurorae,” and “Demon Pact” you are now fully aware, if you were not prior, that Triptykon are not here to fuck around. It will be darker. It will be heavier. You had better keep up. “Aurorae” is particulary unique amongst the album and is certainly the track that I felt was the most atmospheric and hypnotic.
Melana Chasmata’s final tracks “In The Sleep of Death,” “Black Snow,” and “Waiting” sound what I would imagine watching an avalanche crumbling back to the earth would be like. The power in which Triptykon conclude the album only further punctuates their signature as a musical entity unlike anything else.
There are so many different sounds, atmospheres, feelings, and textures moving in and out on Melana Chasmata, I feel like it will take me years to catch them all, if I ever do. It is presented without compromise, unmatched force, and moments of heaviness that topple and crush everything within reach. A complete and chilling masterpiece that I will certainly come back to time and time again.
Rating: 5/5
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