Requiem (Live at Roadburn 2019)

Triptykon's Requiem one of the most anticipated releases of the year, seeing legendary Hellhammer/Celtic Frost figurehead Tom G. Warrior complete a project he began all the way back in the late 80's. I, like many others, was excited to hear this since last year when the performance of this was announced. Upon hearing it now and having given it multiple listens my thoughts are more mixed than I expected, but that should not be taken as a sign this is a piece of garbage.

My primary criticism is directed at the middle song Grave Eternal. I disliked it upon the first listen, thinking it was too long and drawn out for its own good. Repeated listens reveal the nuance in this song (especially the climax), but I still find it to be the most lacking part of the whole. The song strongly conveys a sense of loss, mourning and dread as it should but the composition is weighed down by a lack of tension and conflict. It is readily apparent most of the song is based around one or two core ideas and is heavily varied off of them. This is done cleverly with an interesting use of the orchestra to create a layered sound and some rhythmic playfulness in the middle of the song, but it still leaves some to be desired. These variations would have become more meaningful in the song if they were contrasted by more dramatic musical changes. The injection of more aggressive, guitar dominated sections and heavy riff changes would really add to everything without detracting from the atmosphere. A band like Disembowelment, for instance, demonstrates that sense of dynamics on their masterpiece Transcendence into the Peripheral.

Onto the more positive aspects of Requiem, Rex Irae is rendered masterfully and opens the album with a powerful sense of dread. Because of the lushness of the orchestra and an improved vocal performance from Tom compared to the original I find this to be the superior rendition of the song. Winter closes the album fittingly with all the sombre grace of the original. I also have to commend the mixing here which is superb, allowing all the layers of the music to be clearly heard.

Though Grave Eternal could have been better, the ambition of this project among all else should be commended, as many bands/musicians this far into their career would afford to play it safe rather than stick to one vision this long. Requiem is definitely worth hearing for fans of any of Tom G. Warrior's work so they can witness the close of this chapter in his career.