Triptykon, the latest brainchild of Thomas Gabriel ‘Warrior’ Fischer, was at once a very fresh act at the Copenhell festival, having started in 2008, but at the same time one with some of the most famous roots because of the frontman who has earlier brought us Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Apollyon Sun.

As I wasn’t an extreme metal fan back in the day, my knowledge of Fischer and his musical adventures are purely academic and I have no personal history with any of his music, but as his latest Triptykon release, Melana Chasmata, has received positive praise from around the world I have shortly looked into it and found it interesting. Now, it was up to him and the rest of the band to prove themselves on a live-stage, and the general anticipation was towering!
Visually, there was a nice red line as all of the string-bender’s had identical instruments, with one small difference being that Fischer’s was painted with an H.R. Giger motif whereas Victor ‘Santura’ Bullok’s guitar and Vanja Šlajh’s bass were both jet-black. Other than that, the appearance was toned down to quite ordinary, yet all black, outfits with Fischer’s trademark tea-kettle hat leaving us no doubt as to whom we were watching.
The performance was a long display of intense headbanging, especially from Šlajh, without much else going on. This was a song upon song gig, without any excessive conduct from any of the band-members.

Musically, I understand that we were treated to a mix of old Fischer material and newer Triptykon songs, but with my limited knowledge of either, I had a hard time telling the one from the other.
The sound wasn’t presented in the best possible version of itself either, but it seemed good enough for fans to follow along and enjoy themselves.
For this reporter though, the show didn’t have much to offer and I found no reason to see it through to the end – other experiences at Copenhell promised much more entertainment and were duly visited instead.

Setlist (incomplete):

Circle Of The Tyrants (Celtic Frost cover)
Goetia