Location: Zhytomyr
Country: Ukraine
Genre: Alchemical death metal
Full length: The Mortificatio
Format: CD, Digital
Label: Nocturnus Records (Ukraine)
Release date: November 18, 2025
January 2025 marked a significant transformation and innovative surge for Tria Prima, as they gave death metal a massive push forward by integrating elements of doom, black metal, classical guitar, and dungeon synth, often in unexpected places in ways you may not have thought would work.
With their debut EP “Three Primes of Alchemy,” the band demonstrated how all this could coalesce, shattering expectations of cliched lyrical demonology with themes of science, philosophy, and mysticism rooted in European medieval tradition. Their debut full-length, “The Mortificatio,” broadens the conceptual scope that drives them, offering an expanded perspective on the brutal heaviness of death metal.
It narrates an end-of-days story with a broader scope than most end-of-days tales. This story transcends end-of-the-world narratives that conclude with humanity’s demise. Somewhat echoing the myth of Pandora, “The Mortificatio” presents witches, cursed fortresses, occult legends, arcane rituals, ancient evil, global cataclysm, collapsing cities, the sky falling, Earth descending into hell, universal annihilation, and reality turning inside out.
I gather that one way to interpret it is as a would-be practitioner of magic seeking to steal knowledge and power that don’t belong to her, only to have it backfire and cause destruction that reflects her true intent. At any rate, it’s an ambitious horror story that keeps growing as it progresses. If you think about it, the implications are staggering. Where does an unleashed evil go once it has overrun the entire world? The answer Tria Prima offers lasts three songs, though it had enough material for an entire album.
Only “The Mortificatio” has more philosophical ground to cover in the next four tracks: transformation somewhat likened to Kafka, internal journeys through suffering, death and rebirth, mankind’s dualism where fate and free will are concerned, and pride and the search for knowledge. This last is explored in “Porta Alchemica,” something of an echo of the three-part narrative opening the album.
The well-produced brutal death metal, atmospheric elements, classical solos, and the dual guttural/melodic vocals in the three-part composition seem arranged to blur the lines between our reality and the fantasy horror. It gives life to the witch’s descent into chaos as a symbolic and literal arena, representing her obsessions with power and the widespread catastrophe resulting from it.
If the story were ever adapted into a movie, it would likely feature the most surreal gothic cinematography, unlike any other horror film. “Suspiria” or “Jacob’s Ladder” might come closest to capturing its nightmarish imagery and contrasts between eerie silence and explosive chaos.
The following songs are crafted to evoke themes of existential dread, alchemical transformation, mystical symbolism, and the perils involved in pursuing occult knowledge in an evocative and profound way. As the band’s technical ability increases, reading the lyrics becomes a transformative experience, compelling you to think beyond the surface appeal of “The Mortificatio.” –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Ruslan Hrytsiuta: Vocals, guitars, keyboards, lyrics
Serhii D. D. Bondar: Bass, backing vocals, keyboards, songwriting, conception
Yuriy Sinitsky: Drums
Session musicians:
Anira Star: Vocals
Evgeniy Maestro: Solo guitars, keyboards
Track list:
1. Arx Fatalis
2. Mortificatio
3. Actum Exitium
4. Transmutation
5. Magnum Opus
6. Arcanum Six
7. Porta Alchemica
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