TRIUMPHATOR - WINGS OF ANTICHRIST (1999)

On a reissue vinyl that was just released on Shadow Records limited to 500 copies. It comes with a  2 song bonus 7” with material from an unreleased recording done in 2001 and also a huge poster. Also included my old CD that was originally released in October of 1999 by Necropolis Records see picture of that one further down in the post.

I preordered this vinyl for about 1.5 years ago / whenever it was announced. Didn’t mind the wait because I already owned it on CD. Either way I much rather wait for something superb then get something subpar and Shadow Records does deliver the goods on this release. Wings Of Antichrist was recorded in The Abyss Studio with Peter Tägtgren and it was mastered by the former Death, Testament, Obituary etc. guitarist James Murphy and the album sounds fucking amazing.

The lineup on Wings Of Antichrist was Arioch (Funeral Mist) on vocals & guitar, Fredrik Andersson (Marduk) on drums and the Shadow Records owner & boss Marcus Tena on bass.

Daniel "Arioch" Rostén is my favorite vocalist of all time in the scene and his performance on the Funeral Mist albums Salvation (2003) and Maranatha (2009) are out of this world amazing! Only Attila Csihar on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994) is a vocal performance I think is better then those two. But Arioch has also done magical work with Marduk whom he breed new blood into when he joined them as Mortuus in 2004. His performance on Wings Of Antichrist is brilliant as always.

Fredrik Andersson has always been one of my favorite Black Metal drummers, just listen to what he did with Marduk (1993-2002) or Allegiance (1989-1999) and of course this record. The last record he appeared on was La Grande Danse Macabre by Marduk in 2001. His drumming is extremely missed in the scene!

Lots of notable people within the Swedish Black Metal scene contributing lyrics to this album. Like Morgan Håkansson (Marduk), Mika Hakola (Ofermod & Nefandus) and Nattfursth (Sorhin) all wrote one lyric each.

Mörk (Malign) wrote three of them and Arioch wrote two of their lyrics (Redeemer Of Chaos and The Triumph Of Satan). Marcus Tena wrote all of the music except for 2 songs that was written by Arioch (Crushed Revelation and Goathorned Abomination).

If you like your Swedish Black Metal raw, fast and violent then Wings of Antichrist is a great album for you. I highly recommend getting it if you’re into bands like Funeral Mist, Marduk, Sorhin or Malign.

Hell get it anyway! Because it’s a fucking excellent record!

This reissue sounds great and I'm very satisfied to own it on vinyl. Also that it's a Shadow Records release I've been a huge fan of Marcus Tena's record label since 1997 but I could see why Triumphator let Necropolis Records release this album because of their better distribution.

I think that both Triumphator and Wings Of Antichrist went under many peoples radar when it was released in 1999 and not a lot of people talk about it nowadays. Don't remember seeing Necropolis Records doing much promotion for the album when it was released. The only Triumphator interviews I ever read back then were in fanzines.

Sadly this was the only Triumphator album released and it's not likely we'll ever see another one after so many years. But if you want more there's a 2 song 7” released in 1998 called The Ultimate Sacrifice on Mark Of The Devil. They recorded it in the great Necromorbus Studio with Tore Stjerna (ex. Funeral Mist) where many other classics have been recorded. Actually I expected the album to be recorded in his studio. Later The Ultimate Sacrifice was also released on a MCD in 1999 on Holocaust Records.

As far as I know Triumphator only played live once at Waregem, Belgium in 2000. Check out an earlier post I made or YouTube for a song from that gig.

If you read my posts (especially on Instagram) you probably know that I'm a HUGE fan of everything Arioch/Mortuus has ever been involved with.

However Triumphator have their own unique sound and they definitely have a place in the Swedish Black Metal history.

Get yourself a copy over at helterskelterproductions.bandcamp.com while it's still available. Also check out www.shadowrecords.se!

This post is dedicated to the beautiful Melissa Nordell (1979-2001) who was brutally murdered two years after this release. Immortalized in the Necropolis Records release on the CD, inside the booklet and the back sleeve.