The Triumph Of Death

Triptykon performing Hellhammer's "Triumph Of Death" at Neudegg Alm near Abtenau in the Austrian alps, as part of the truly unique local midnight summer solstice celebration, on June 23, 2012. "Triumph Of Death" was part of a triptych of songs which also included Celtic Frost's "Synagoga Satanae" and "Triptykon's "The Prolonging" and which concluded that night's concert.

This was only the second time since 1982 that "Triumph Of Death" was performed by its originator. We had originally contemplated playing it with Celtic Frost in 2006. But subsequent rehearsals made us come to the conclusion that this was utterly incongruous, given the group's state of affairs at the time.

With many thanks to Sig Swat for the link.

May

Above: Newly applied Hellhammer graffiti, seen on the door to the bunker which served as Hellhammer’s rehearsal room in Birchwil, Switzerland, from May 1982 to May 1984. Photographed during one of my recent visits, March 3, 2012. (also see Mural Of Darkness)

30 years ago this month, in May 1982, Steve Warrior and I formed Hellhammer in Nürensdorf, Switzerland. We both had felt utterly frustrated by the reluctance of the members of my previous band, Grave Hill, to conceive and play more radical metal. So we formed our own, new band, designed from the outset to be more extreme. It was absolutely impossible, of course, to know at the time just how much this very act would affect our lives.

And four years ago this month, in May 2008, bassist Vanja Slajh and I formed Triptykon in Zurich, Switzerland, barely a month after my departure from Celtic Frost. There are many parallels, some obvious, some far less so.





Top: Steve Warrior and the author of this blog, photographed by Martin Kyburz at Hellhammer's bunker, spring 1983. Bottom: Hellhammer, Birchwil, Switzerland, January 1, 1983, photographed by Andreas Schwarber. Both of these pictures have not been published in the book Only Death Is Real.

Bleeding Black

With Scott "Wino" Weinrich, backstage at Roadburn festival after The Obsessed's performance, April 14, 2012.

We first met when Saint Vitus played with Celtic Frost at Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California, on June 13, 1986, and, many years later, were both featured on Dave Grohl's "Probot" album. What an incredible pleasure it thus was to have a chance to meet again and to discover that we have followed each other's musical path ever since that legendary concert in California. Photographed by NöktrymM.

The Wounded Kings

An apparently rare smile, backstage at yet another amazing Roadburn festival, with the absolutely astounding The Wounded Kings and the equally astounding Claudia, April 14, 2012.

I am infinitely indebted to Walter Hoeijmakers, Roadburn’s extraordinary organizer and one of my dearest friends in the scene, for arranging this visit and for thus making the above meeting – and much more – possible.

Equilibrium

Apollyon Sun logo, designed by Marky Edelmann of Coroner and Apollyon Sun, Zurich, Switzerland, 1997.



Inferno festival logo.

For every single magical night experienced by an internationally touring group, the exact opposite must, realistically, also be encountered. For every fantastic venue and/or concert, there will most certainly be a dismal one. Or an utterly dismal one. It's a morbid equilibrium of sorts.

Triptykon has experienced countless truly enchanting concerts. Iceland was but one example, as were Oulu, Nagoya, Tokyo, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Hamburg, Berlin, Manchester, London, and many others. The much-hyped Inferno festival in Oslo wasn’t one of them.

A number of my Norwegian friends had cautioned me in advance. And there was a reason Celtic Frost never played the festival in question. Perhaps it would have been appropriate to remember all of that. Starting with occurrences at the hotel, to the pitiable organization at the festival itself, to the infinitely deficient onstage sound, prevailing conditions served to render it difficult for Triptykon to perform at even a semblance of the band’s usual standard.

What a disappointment it was for the band, and what a disappointment it must have been for the audience.

"I Shall Breathe"

Audience video of Triptykon performing "The Prolonging" onstage in Manchester, England. A deeply mesmerizing night, due to the fantastic and utterly fanatic audience. "Destroyers Of The Faith" tour of England and Scotland, March 9, 2012.

The Eternal Light

Triptykon headlining the Eistnaflug Festival, Iceland, on July 9, 2011. One of the most extraordinary concerts this band has ever been granted to play, one of the most extraordinary locations this band has ever had the chance to visit, and one of the most extraordinary audiences this band has ever had the fortune to experience.

Photos © by Rakel Erna Skarphéðinsdóttir, used with very kind permission.

Remnants

Shrine to their eternal unfulfilled hope for consolation; evidence of human forsakedness. Birkenstein pilgrimage church Assumption of Mary, Fischbachau, Bavaria, photographed by TGF, January 22, 2012.

Photo For A Mutual Friend

With the incomparable Håkon Grav at Wacken Open Air, Germany, a few hours before Triptykon's appearance on the Black Stage on August 5, 2011. Photographed by NöktrymM.

Triptykon Press Release

Triptykon Conclude Destroyers Of The Faith UK Tour

Thank you to our audiences in England and Scotland, and thank you to our friends Cannibal Corpse and Enslaved, for making it possible that the Destroyers Of The Faith tour has become such a success and such a personal pleasure. We in Triptykon had been looking forward for quite some time to be able to play a proper tour in Great Britain, not least after the rousing welcome we received at last year’s Bloodstock festival. It was thus an absolute privilege to return as part of the Destroyers Of The Faith package. The reactions we encountered when performing onstage these past few days were absolutely astonishing. Equally extraordinary was the spirit of friendship, mutual respect, and cooperation between the groups on this tour. We bow to you all.

We are looking forward to coming back hopefully soon, and hopefully for an even greater number of concerts.

Tom Gabriel Warrior
V. Santura
Vanja Slajh
Norman Lonhard

Triptykon

Valediction

And any return no longer feels familiar, unlike when this photo was taken, two years ago. Who could have known. Photographed by TGF, January 18, 2010.

A visit in 2008.

Lucidity

Munich, March 22, 2010. Photographed by TGF.

This Blackest Sky

A few days ago, I found myself at a well-known hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, at the deathbed of a very good friend who is now losing her battle against cancer, after many years and uncounted medical procedures. This woman had always been deeply kind to me. She had embraced me and welcomed me into her life and family without prejudice. She had always extended friendship and warmth, in spite of the fact that my own life and appearance were as far removed from her own as is humanly possible.

As I sat there, looking at her in her morphine-induced semi-coma, helpless and strained, a multitude of tubes disappearing into her skin, her body disfigured by the disease, I couldn’t help but to be prompted to think about my Bulgarian stalker and her actions which are taking place at the same time (and for what seems like forever). Ignorant about anything around her, and oblivious about any other realities in this world, my stalker has embarked on the ultimate ego trip, simply because I did not ever cave in to her uncounted explicit advances, unlike others most recently.

I was deeply affected by the sight of my friend slowly dying in her hospital bed, every single one of her painful attempts to breathe through the fluids that have accumulated in her throat emitting a sound I will hardly ever be able to forget. All the while, my stalker is conducting her relentless smear campaign on the most contemptible level possible for a human being, defaming me in hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of messages (including the by now legendary 25 messages on January 19, 2012, alone) not only addressed to me but to my personal friends, to musicians all over the globe, in posts on discussion forums, and on the websites of other bands.

I had known, of course, how petty and ludicrously self-centered my stalker’s attempts are to destroy my life and career (her stated goal, as she has written many times). But in the context of last night’s circumstances, it became more evident than ever before. Put into such serious and sobering context, it almost appeared to me as if not even the cancer ravaging my friend’s destroyed body might thus be as depraved as the mind of my stalker.