TRISTWOOD – The Delphic Doctrine

Somewhere in 1992, Neru joined forces with Deimon and formed a band under the name December. Their first demo, Torment, Traditional Black Metal with influences from the early works of Dimmu Borgir and Mayhem. The Austrian band remained inactive until 2001 when Neru and Jegger formed another band called Tristwood. Deimon came along and the 5-track mini-CD Fragments of the Mechanical Unbecoming saw the light of day in the summer of 2003. The band’s musical direction has changed since those December days; the addition of electronic sounds, synthesizers, and a great deal of programming added the word Industrial beside Tristwood’s performing style.

The band recorded another full-length album, Amygdala, in the late December of 2003, and an EP, Svarta Daudi, in early 2005. For the record, this EP was recorded in only 10 hours under the influence of loads of alcohol with the homonymous track written in honor of Jack Daniels.

In 2005, some prime recordings of The Delphic Doctrine were sent to Sound Riot Records and that convinced the label to offer the band a record deal.

The band has recorded 3 new tracks, which are free for downloading in the form of a single, By the Call of Seth.

After the short intro, “Indoctrination,” there is the homonymous track that surprises the listener with a fast-tempo and extreme Black Metal vocals. Tristwood’s music is based on electronic sounds that involve samplers and a lot of programming. The result sounds brutal and extreme through the technocratic Industrial “Eye.” In order to make their music more appealing and easy-to-listen to, Tristwood have cleverly added some catchy guitar riffs, gaining some more points for musical diversity.

“Chronos” comes next with great atmospheric keyboard work, some shredding guitar riffs, and a headbanging rhythm section. Somewhere between the samples and loops there are some Eastern melodies that create a strange, almost arcane, atmosphere, reminding of Nile’s work. The band flirts with Trance music via “By the Call of Seth – The Invocation of the God of Blood and War,” proving that they are not afraid of experimenting by mixing different kinds of music. Some more Eastern influences can be found in the lead guitars of the track “Anbeheh,” followed by “Pandaemonic Paradoxon,” which is a chaotic blend of strange keyboard sounds, low-tuned guitars, and almost Grindcore vocals.

“Nemesis – The Cyberstorm” continues the brutal sonic attack with relentless sampling and programming, while in “Through the Ninth Hall of Utukku,” the guitars play a bigger role with a compact tormenting rhythm section. The musical chaos returns in “Daedae Taengri,” which is the last song of the album, since the next track “Exdoctrination – The Blackest Void” is a simple electronic musical theme that plays the role of the album outro.

Everyone who is into music experimentation and likes the extreme expressions of the Industrial music genre will find The Delphic Doctrine more than interesting and definitely brutal.