This is not an actual release of TRIPTYKON. This is an EP that will be available as vinyl (hell yeah!) and as digital download. This is probably to keep the interest for TRIPTYKON in high levels taking intro account the band's European live dates and most importantly the upcoming North American tour with 1349 and YAKUZA. Well, do TRIPTYKON need this kind of releases? I mean, how can we lose interest in a band lead by CELTIC FROST mastering Tom Warrior? On the other hand, the vinyl edition of the EP is at least attempting for all the collectors out there.

So, what will one find in "Shatter"? Well, there are three studio and two live recorded tracks. The studio songs were recorded during the sessions for "Eparistera Daimones" and for unknown reasons did not make it in the album. Maybe, there was not enough space since these songs cannot be called 'leftovers'. "Shatters" has mid tempo tormenting groove with a out-of-this-world bass sound and the "Monotheist" guitar sound that is more black than hell. Tom almost whispers the lyrics, while the female vocals add an even more evil feeling in the track. I cannot help it but listening to the track, HP Lovecraft came to mind along with the bizarre landscapes of Insmouth. "I Am The Twilight" continues in the same path but with the full scale vocals where Tom sounds old-school reminding me of the early VENOM days. The down tuned guitars give the killer heaviness "Eparistera Daimones" has along with the almost monolithic structure. The guitar solo is like an incantation to open the gates for the Great Old Ones and call them from the deepest and blackest multi-dimensional places of outer-space. "Crucifixus" is a instrumental track with minor keyboard work and plenty of electronic sounds. Although, it is not an actual track, it is 100% atmospheric and if you give it additional spins, you will find your imagination visiting places that you never knew of their existence.

The rest two songs belong to the CELTIC FROST days and were recorded in The Netherlands' 'Roadburn Festival'. The recording seems to be right from the sound console and hence, there is no 'live' feeling. I mean, the crowd is barely listenable and the overall mix is kind of flat. But, no one can say 'no' to "Circle Of The Tyrants" and "Dethroned Emperor", where Nocturno Culto makes a guest vocal appearance enhancing the Black Metal feeling to the maximum.

As I said in the intro, this is for the collectors and the vinyl lovers out there. I do not believe that someone can benefit from the digital download since "Eparistera Daimones" is more than enough to make you check TRIPTYKON, if you haven't already.