TRIPTYKON Mainman: 'I Guard Certain Aspects Of My Life As Much As I Can'

Justin M. Norton of Hellbound recently conducted an interview with current TRIPTYKON and former HELLHAMMER/CELTIC FROST singer, guitarist, and main songwriter Tom Gabriel Warrior. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Hellbound: Your new book ("Only Death is Real") is in its third printing.

Tom: The second printing is almost out and it's going into the third printing. The third printing is confirmed. It blows my mind. I'm not Dean Koontz. I'm in the process of going through my father's estate. He left an enormous amount of photographs because he was a journalist. We're talking tens of thousands of photos in his archive. I'm still working my way through them. To my astonishment, I found boxes of slides from the HELLHAMMER times. I didn't know they were in my father's possession. There are some photos that belong in the book and hopefully the third printing can include some of these photos to make it even more complete.

Hellbound: You held nothing back in terms of what was included in "Only Death Is Real". Part of a band is image and mythology yet you showed your whole childhood. Was it a difficult decision?

Tom: Yes and no. It's still not a complete record of my childhood. There are some things I will never talk about. I was married for 16 years and I never even told my ex -wife. I feel embarrassed about what happened even though I was a victim. Then you find yourself having to live with this shit the rest of your life. I could write a book about my childhood alone. The most drastic things aren't in there and will never be anywhere. Having said that, how could you write an autobiography if you didn't write about it? HELLHAMMER came about when there was no extreme metal. It happened based on my desperate situation…this aggression had to go somewhere. I wanted to create a parallel world. I'm frustrated when I buy a magazine and people say there is coverage of something and then there's a one or two-page article that doesn't got into any detail. So, my book is very comprehensive.

Hellbound: Someone who is a metal fan could see a picture of you on a skateboard or working on an assembly line and think that their dreams aren't something they need to let go of.

Tom: It is a possibility. Everything you are depends on what degree of control you are willing to take over your life. It takes a huge amount of stamina and courage and luck, of course. To a certain degree, you can also force luck to bend in your direction. So, the book is also supposed to be an inspiration. I'm sure there are people who have a background like mine or a background that's far worse and if anything it could be an inspiration.

Hellbound: If you want to find your first book "Are You Morbid?", you need to pay about 100 dollars on eBay.

Tom: That's good because the new book is far better. The original manuscript for "Are You Morbid?" was written in 1992. I'm a better writer now and a lot more experienced. I like my writing style better. I'm working on a massively expanded version of "Are You Morbid?", which will hopefully come out in about two years. So I'm glad it's difficult to obtain.

Hellbound: Are you going to use the original book as a base and how will "Are You Morbid?" look?

Tom: It will be a new book. It will go up to the second demise of CELTIC FROST and the formation of TRIPTYKON. I have a lot more material, both visuals and text. So the book will be more comprehensive and detailed. I'll also be a lot more explicit in the way I describe things. When I wrote the original in 1992, I tried to be politically correct to protect certain people. But now I've decided fuck it I'm just going to be explicit about everything in the new version.

Hellbound: Any more thoughts about breaking out some HELLHAMMER songs?

Tom: We're working on "Messiah" and will put it in our set soon. Maybe one day we'll bring out "The Third of the Storms". We couldn't have done that with the last lineup of CELTIC FROST because people just acted it. But in TRIPTYKON we've played it a few times and it sounds fantastic and authentic.

Hellbound: "Triumph Of Death" would also sound excellent live.

Tom: Yeah, but if you were to play "Synagoga Satanae", "The Prolonging" and "Triumph Of Death", that's one show. That's about an hour of music.

Hellbound: You seem like a private person but you never hesitate to give interviews and always seem forthright with your responses. Can you explain that disconnect? Do you enjoy interviews?

Tom: Both of the characterizations you've made are accurate and in complete conflict with each other. I'm actually a recluse in Switzerland. I don't go to parties and I hardly ever go to concerts. I feel very happy that way. But there's a public side to me I can't deny. I enjoy giving interviews that have some depth. I don't like when people have questions like "when is the next tour?" That bores me to death and it's a difficult to maintain a professional façade. I enjoy interviews where it's like a discussion and I have to think. But there is a conflict to being exposed and being private. I guard certain aspects of my life as much as I can.

Read the entire interview at www.hellbound.ca.