J-Man If you like your black metal to be just about as raw as it comes, Mexico's Warfield may be right up your alley. On Trivmvirat, the band plays crushingly heavy and violent black metal in the old school variant, with fast tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, and the whole ordeal. This EP was initially only three songs, but a recent reissue on Chaos Records gave the EP four bonus tracks consisting of three live cuts and a rehearsal track. Although the three songs on the original EP are quite enjoyable, if a bit flawed, the bonus tracks are really only for die-hard fans. The production on the bonus tracks is pretty awful, and the live recordings just sound like a messy collage of noise to these ears. Thankfully, the core material (which is obviously more important) is substantially better, and contains a much more listenable production and well-crafted compositions. It's nothing too special, and I would've still preferred a slightly better production, but Trivmvirat is a quality EP, and that cannot be ignored.

I wouldn't consider Trivmvirat to be one of the better black metal releases I've heard recently, but the three core tracks are all at least moderately enjoyable and make this EP worth 2.5 stars. Don't expect anything strikingly original from Trivmvirat, but the solid riffs and quality musicianship make up for the lack of originality and mediocre production in the end. If the band can work to achieve a more unique sound and get a professional production, I could see their next effort being very impressive.

Vehemency With a band name like Warfield I expected to be exposured to some fast war metal bursts when I’d put on their latest offering Trivmvirat, but what we’ve got here instead is rather thoughtful yet violent black metal, not that far from Watain, and what surprises me even more is that this band hails from Mexico and not from the northern soil.

Trivmvirat kicks off with ”The Initiate”, introducing maliciously ringing high-pitched guitar picking tones with a steady drumbeat behind until the song fires to more rapid speeds, semi-low growls echoing on top. ”Divinity” attacks with belligerent blast beats right from the start, and there’s a sweet death metalish lick in the rhythm that makes it stand apart from a generic and meaningless blasting. ”Trinity” continues in the vein of the previous tracks, concluding the original EP with an atmosphere that evokes also hopelessness, thanks to that fantastic, vaguely melancholic riff in there that makes the song the highlight of the EP.

The upcoming re-release also comprises three live and one rehearsal track. The live material is sound-wise of quite low quality, so audiophiles stand aside: compared to the rather professionally (yet tastefully) produced original EP material, this is really rusty and low-fidelity, offering little to someone who wants to hear all details perfectly. The sound is a mess where cymbals (and the outstandingly monstrous drumming in general) dominate, evil riffs and vocals more in the background. ”Pestilencia” is an instrumental rehearsal track of rehearsal audio quality, indeed. Personally I think that vocals are an important role in Warfield’s music, hence I find this track a little worthless here: with vocals and more worked production, this could turn into a great song.

Trivmvirat is a positive experience in the end, mostly thanks to the original songs and not the four bonus offerings that might have little worth to many listeners. Fans of utterly violent black metal (à la Infernal War) with a touch of versatile compositional structures are recommended to look into Trivmvirat, an EP that’s absolutely nothing new but where all the good ideas of savage black metal are put to very fine use.