Alexamenos! by Tritonic is like sludge metal decided to crash headfirst into power-pop and somehow landed on its feet, guitar solos blazing and all. What really sets it apart is the use of handmade fretless guitars giving the whole thing this weird, slippery fluidity that no other heavy band dares touch. It’s like Tritonic took the rigid, crushing sludge formula, gave it a cheeky middle finger, and injected it with microtonal chaos and melody, straddling that awkward but thrilling space between noise and harmony. The riffs stomp with the weight of doom but then launch into these soaring, almost heartbreaking leads, somewhere in the Baroness ballpark, while the rhythm locks in a groove that’s hypnotic enough to make you forget you’re technically headbanging.
Then there’s the music video, which looks like the lovechild of a college film project and a fever dream with DIY practical effects, a janky spaceship made of what I’m guessing is leftover cardboard and glitter, ink swirling through water, and enough gold paint to make a pharaoh jealous. The whole thing is a time-warp trip where medieval maps meet space travel in a delightfully lo-fi sci-fi mashup that somehow works.
Alexamenos! by Tritonic thrives on this weird tension between old and new, analogue and digital; like the soundtrack to a universe that can’t decide if it’s collapsing or expanding. It’s a bit of a mess, in the best possible way, balancing destruction and beauty with a smile and a grimace all at once.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.
