TOM GABRIEL WARRIOR EXPLAINS PRODUCTION ROLE ON NEW 1349 RELEASE, NEW HELLHAMMER BOOK, PRAISES VALBORG

Tom Gabriel Warrior (EX CELTIC FROST, TRIPTYKON front man)) explains his role in producing Norwegian black metal band 1349's latest release "Revelations Of The Black Flame". Norway's 1349 released "Revelations Of The Black Flame" June 2nd via CANDLELIGHT records as the release was produced by Tom Gabriel Warrior. FROM DELINEATION II: (http://fischerisdead.blogspot.com/)
The last week of May marked the release of 1349's new album, "Revelations Of The Black Flame", during the gestation of which I was invited to play a contributing role. Love or hate this new album, contrary to information disseminated by a party currently still closely affiliated with 1349, my responsibility was not that of its producer. I was merely present, at times, in an advisory role. 1349 knew very well themselves what they wanted to do on this album, and they were very determined to attain their goals.

The sole exception to my low key involvement is the cover version of Pink Floyd's "Set The Control For The Heart Of the Sun", where Ravn persuaded me, in his typical friendly/forceful manner, to play bass and guitar. This collaboration shall stand as yet another testimony of our friendship and, indeed, kinship.

There are many reasons for the concept "Revelations Of The Black Flame", some of which might truly be complex to understand for anyone outside of the group. It is not an easy album by any means, and certainly not a predictable one. Accordingly, it is quickly becoming a "controversial" album, and it is bound to polarize opinions. But isn't that exactly what Black Metal should be all about? Or, in fact, what Heavy Metal itself was once about, when this form of music was originally created?

Regardless of anybody's personal view of 1349's new album, it would be rather premature to typecast 1349 solely on the basis of their latest work. I know for a fact that the group's future releases will surprise their audiences yet again, and very powerfully so. And I am proud to be involved yet again, in a more prominent role, when that time comes.

In the meantime, here in Zurich, I just submitted the final few photo captions to the layout of the Hellhammer book. All that is left to do now is to go through the final layout once again, in detail, before the book will be fully transferred to the publisher in New York. More details on that should follow soon.
In the course of the production of a new documentary series about the evolution of music in the 1980s, German/French TV station arte contacted me some time ago to arrange an interview on the topics of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost. The resulting footage would be used as part of the episode on metal, industrial, and gothic music. Last week, a small team lead by author Tom Theunissen thus arrived in Zurich to film the segment at Triptykon's rehearsal bunker on the north side of Zurich. It turned out to be a very candid and explicit interview, although only a few brief seconds will of course make it into the final documentary.

Following a spontaneous and rather unexpected suggestion by Tom, we wrapped up proceedings by driving out to Nurensdorf, where I lived as a teenager and wrote all of Hellhammer's music, and Birchwil, location of the bunker in which Hellhammer and Celtic Frost used to practice all these years ago. Such occasions feel explicitly surreal. The music we created back then was an unreservedly personal refuge from a despondent reality, and none of us would have envisioned such attention to ever be cast upon our underground universe.

The documentary, a joint production by German TV station ZDF and arte, it is to be broadcast in autumn.

"TRIPTYKON bassist Vanja Slajh and I went to see German group VALBORG perform at the Gaswerk venue in Winterthur, Switzerland, last Saturday. Vanja has been friends with VALBORG's Christian Kolf for some time, and this is how I first became exposed to VALBORG's 'Glorification Of Pain' album. I instantly felt an intimate connection to the music and became deeply drawn to the album's density, darkness, and minimalism.

"But the album's impact pales completely in comparison to the dimension VALBORG's music attains onstage. To anyone receptive for such infestation, as I was, the rawness and nihilism emanating from the stage was fiercely addictive. It was almost as if witnessing a mixture of BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, early BLACK SABBATH, and HELLHAMMER. And yet VALBORG are abundantly original and unique.

"It is, not least, their commitment to simplicity and their refusal to become immersed in the usual music industry bullshit that makes me look forward to meeting them again."
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-