Review: “Downfall” by Triskelyon

Triskelyon is the brainchild of guitarist Geoff Waye, a man with Thrash Metal in his heart and known for his work in Artach and Category VI. In the project he’s joined by Raul Marques of  Burning Torment fame who handles drum programming while a myriad of guests fill in the gaps in the jigsaw puzzle, Dwayne Pike, Keith Jackman, Darrin Pope playing bass on various tracks and vocalists Pete Healey, Marlee Ryley, Amanda Jackman, Des Mason all lending their throats. That all goes towards making “Downfall” the product of a who’s who of musicians in the Canadian Thrash scene…

At 36 minutes long “Downfall” isn’t an album that outstays its welcome and in truth the biggest blessing here is the consistency of performance from guitarist and mastermind Geoff Waye, who essentially holds the key from start to finish. Triskelyon is his vision brought to life and that is very evident as the album plays out, his riffs and soloing are nothing short of fantastic throughout while the accompanying drum programming by Raul Marques (Burning Torment) is barely noticeable as such. It feels like he’s playing along with a real drummer for the most part, a few flat sounding cymbal hits aside. Some may remember the Roadrunner Records “All Star” compilation album which a different group of musicians on each track with one captain at the helm for a handful of cuts and up to a point there is a similarity between the feel of both records. “Downfall” feels like a compilation album because it has a collection of different vocalists on board, not helped by the fact that the quality of the vocal recordings varies dramatically from track to track, probably due to use of different microphones in home studio setups.

The opening trilogy of cuts here were all previously released as a self titled EP, however they have been remixed and remastered to put them in the same place as the six new cuts that they have for us, making the transition between them reasonably seamless. However from those initial works, which are distinct in a style of Melodic Thrash that takes in the big choruses of Traditional Metal while having the chugging heavy riffs of Thrash, the new cuts are, for the most part Thrash pure and simple. Not that that is a bad thing by any means. There is a nostalgic 80’s feel running through the skeleton of the album while having modern production value, which gives the sound far more cut and thrust than was possible some 40 years ago.

The highlight of the opening trio is the rampaging “Odyssey (Blessed By Steel)” which finds Marlee Ryley of Hyperia in fine form. Waye is on the rampage with a collection of frenetic riffs and the result is an adrenaline rush of a song that really gets things going. “A Time of War” then finds Triskelyon in Megadeth territory minus the trademark snarl of Dave Mustainen for what can only be described as a classic Thrash anthem. Influenced by an episode of from the original series of Star Trek, “Balance Of Terror” finds Marie Jackman of Category VI joining the party to address the balance of power that has built up over decades and the soloing is nothing short of incredible, the finest that the album has to offer. The conjoined twins of “Apex Predator” and “Indifference” are perfectly placed, Marlee Ryley giving us some darker toned vocals on the former which mean the harsher almost Black Metal inspired tones of Ellim on the later have less of a shock value. All in all, there is plenty to enjoy here, especially if you’re a lover of the mighty riff [7/10]

1. Hunger
2. Find a Way
3. Odyssey (Blessed By Steel)
4. Willful Ignorance
5. A Time of War
6. Balance of Terror
7. Apex Predator
8. Indifference
9. Nobody’s Business (Billy Idol cover)

“Downfall” by Triskelyon is out 28th October 2022 via  Moribund Records with pre-orders available over at bandcamp