MOMM (35)

Weekend fodder.

Jeff Beck: Wired

While many cited Blow By Blow as the quintessential Jeff Beck solo exploit, I personally prefer Wired. Although these releases were a year apart, Wired sounded like Beck moving on with an established identity. More importantly, there was no reliance on a tear jerker (Cause We've Ended as Lovers), the spontaneity, livery & chemistry was absolutely magical. Head for Backstage Pass - firm favourite.

Celtic Frost: Parched with Thirst am I & Dying

I have a love - hate affair with Celtic Frost's music. I got into them late & quite dislike the fuzzy guitar tones. Back then I was heavily into death metal & this kind of doom, down tempo deviation didn't sit well with me. I originally heard the materials in this compilation through the cassette tape format. Someone was circulating it in school & by the time it got to me, others were distracted by Countdown to Extinction (Megadeth). I clearly remember liking the two opening tracks here & the affinity still sticks today.

RIP: Martin Ain

RIP: Martin Ain (1967 - 2017), bassist of Celtic Frost. The metal camp knows the role of CF in metaldom. Enough said.

Triptykon: Eparistera Daimones

It's the end of Celtic Frost as we know it, internal conflict bled a cancerous relationship between the band members & the chapter was closed,


"Celtic Frost are dead forever; we've had our chance, we blew it & we have to live with it."

Thus spoke Tom G Warrior but his music lives on in a different manifestation. 2006 saw the final Celtic Frost release, Monotheist. Warrior's new formation, Triptykon, is a natural successor as evident in Eparistera Daimones. The Monotheist overtones are evident here, by that I mean the music as well as recording blueprints. If you are expecting any old-school Celtic Frost/ Hellhammer re-hash, it's actually the regurgitation of Monotheist which is more apparent. What can you expect? Warrior's music is a hateful dronescape, the canvass for his deep frustrations & lashing out. Guitar fans, do not expect any fretwork showcase, the tones on display here are harsh & judging by the sound of it, straight-to-mixer recording was employed. Music-wise, Triptykon is a continuous definition of what Warrior intended it to be, the proto-black beast carrying the genre's heavy definitions with liberal inclusions of doom- the mammoth, 19min concluding number is a fine summary of this release's adventure.