Ex-Celtic Frost Drummer Opted Out of Triptykon

When Celtic Frost reunited in 2003 following a 10-year absence, they did so without longtime drummer Reed St. Mark, who bassist Martin Ain didn't want back in the band. So when Celtic Frost disbanded last year, frontman Tom Gabriel Warrior invited him to play with his new group Triptykon during their infancy. Ultimately, however, St. Mark decided not to join the band, which ended up hiring Norman Lonhard from Fear My Thoughts.

You'd have to ask him why he didn't want to be in Triptykon, Warrior told Noisecreep. "It is his life, and it is thus not my place to talk about this in intimate detail. Moreover, I myself might not understand everything that took place when Reed was playing a handful of sessions with us in Switzerland in late 2008."

Warrior seemed especially surprised by Mark's departure, because he and the drummer had wanted to play together again for many years. "We frequently talked about it whenever I was in the United States," Warrior said. "It was thus natural for me that I would ask Reed to join Triptykon when I left Celtic Frost. He agreed and saw as a tremendous chance for all of us. He duly came to Switzerland, and we played four rehearsal sessions together, but it did not click the way we all hoped it would, for reasons that are complex and probably not mine to explain. In the end, it was Reed himself who told me that he would be unable to do this."

While Triptykon feature no long-term members of Celtic Frost, guitarist V. Santura toured with Frost from 2007 to 2008 and all of the members are attuned to Warrior's primal, minor-key style of metal and have no problem complimenting his aesthetic. "I was creatively very happy in Celtic Frost and thus intend to pursue and further develop the same themes and approach," he said. "Triptykon's first album has become a slightly more personal statement, however, due to the fact that I wrote the music and lyrics contained on it before, during and after the destruction of Celtic Frost. A lot of my personal emotions are thus inevitably captured on the album."