Celtic Frost
Band Photo: Celtic Frost
Formed: 1984
From:
Zürich,
Switzerland
Last Known Status: Active
Background
Formed from the remains of seminal death/black metal pioneers Hellhammer in June 1984, with every one of their releases both in the Billboard and UK charts, the Swiss-American Celtic Frost were a pivotal influence on both the extreme metal and gothic metal genres, establishing many of the musical elements that have since become synonymous with bands such as Sepultura, Pantera, Therion, Emperor, Melvins, Paradise Lost, Cradle of Filth, Foo Fighters, Darkthrone, Dimmu Borgir, Obituary, Nile, and uncounted others.
The primal fury captured on Celtic Frost's first album, "Morbid Tales" (1984), and the subsequent EP, "Emperor's Return" (1985), have been widely emulated and are cited as influences on such recordings as Nirvana's "In Utero" (1993). Co-founders and co-writers Tom Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior, voice and guitars) and Martin Eric Ain (bass) created stark and compelling vistas reminiscent of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Aleister Crowley, and Charles Baudelaire. Fischer's trademark nordic warrior vocals and Celtic Frost's unique combination of a primitive yet at the same time highly intricate sonic assault soon made the group one of the leaders of extreme metal. Lyrically, Fischer and Ain depicted civilizations crumbling into decay, capturing the parallels between the corrosive and dark nature of a year's concluding seasons and the recurring collapse of human empires. The addition in early 1985 of legendary US drummer Reed St. Mark enabled the group to take a quantum leap both in the studio and on stage.
The group's second album, "To Mega Therion" (1985), was an epic evolution of the concept, now adding orchestral instrumentation to increasingly heavy songwriting. Swiss surrealist artist and Oscar-winner ("Alien") H.R. Giger's mentorship yielded visually brooding counterparts to Fischer/Ain's artistic vision, with Giger's paintings "Satan I" (1977) and "Victory III" (1981-83) gracing the album's cover. "To Mega Therion" would become a landmark release for an entire scene.
The "Tragic Serenades" EP (1986) featured cover art reminiscential of the "Sisters of Mercy", and the subsequent successful second tour of Europe and North America set the stage for the milestone experimental album "Into the Pandemonium" (1987), often regarded as the band's most pivotal release next to "To Mega Therion". Merging extreme metal with the band's passion for an early Wave scene dominated by acts such as Bauhaus, Wall of Voodoo or Siouxie and the Banshees, the album included sheer brutality ("Inner Sanctum" and "Babylon Fell"), Goth/New Wave vocals ("Mesmerized"); sampling/EBM fusions ("One In Their Pride"); melodic metal ("I Won't Dance"), and bombastic orchestral pieces ("Rex Irae" and "Oriental Masquerade").
Adorned with a detail scene of the "Hell" part of Hieronymus Bosch's famous triptych "Garden of Delights", and foreshadowing complex neo-classical metal artists like My Dying Bride and Apocalyptica, "Into the Pandemonium" received raving critical reviews all over the globe. The subsequent "I Won't Dance" EP (1986) with its legendary Isolde Ohlbaum cover art completed what was the band's most pronounced statement so far.
But Celtic Frost's line-up, now featuring an additional guitarist in order to enable the live performance of the increasingly complex songs, disintegrated at the end of an extended and highly successful UK/US tour, in late 1987. More than twelve months of legal disagreements with record company Noise Records, who had repeatedly tampered both with "Into the Pandemonium" and the group's artistic freedom, had exerted too much pressure on the line-up and also taken a devastating financial toll. Celtic Frost had defended the group's paramount principle of artistic integrity virtually to the point of total destruction.
On the basis of a new recording contract negotiated between the bands then manager and with CBS/Epic, Celtic Frost regrouped in mid-1988 and began work on a new album. The sessions initially included Ain and drummer Reed St. Mark, then a new line-up that Fischer would later find "completely unsuited" for Celtic Frost's conceptual vision. The resulting album was not the much-rumored mythical and ultimate Celtic Frost project "Necronomicon" but the dysfunctional and radically controversial hardrock album "Cold Lake" (1988), a release which virtually alienated many fans due to its visuals alone.
Two years later, Celtic Frost concluded months of recording sessions at Berlin's Hansa Studios by releasing the complex and metal album "Vanity/Nemesis" (1990), produced by Roli Mosimann (Faith No More, Young Gods, Marilyn Manson, Björk). It was widely regarded as an exceptionally strong comeback. Along with drummer Stephen Priestly, who had already played on Celtic Frost's first album, Martin Eric Ain had returned to the fold. Cover versions of David Bowie's "Heroes" and Bryan Ferry,'s "This Island Earth" paid homage to some of the artistic roots of Celtic Frost.
The group was now active almost exclusively in the UK and in North America and thus began the two-year development of the long-awaited successor to the dark visions of "Into the Pandemonium" overseas. It was intended to be a double album with the title of "Under Apollyon's Sun". Following the release of the unique career retrospective "Parched With Thirst Am I And Dying" (1992), featuring much unreleased musical and visual material, the group mutually decided to terminate all work on "Under Apollyon's Sun" in spite of its advanced state and to pursue separate paths instead.
Among various projects evolving from the ashes of Celtic Frost was the Fischer-instigated industrial/EBM project Apollyon Sun, which continued to develop his unique personal vision with an advanced concept. Considered the "elder statesmen" of innovative metal, Fischer and Ain saw their uncompromising conceptual framework and intricate instrumental orchestration blossom into an influence for several cutting-edge genres of today's modern metal, while Celtic Frost have been name-dropped by fellow artists from Satyricon to Creed to Marilyn Manson.
By 1999, an overdue modernization of the Celtic Frost catalogue became possible in cooperation with a now significantly transformed Noise Records. Returning from years of extreme reclusiveness, and working together with the original members of Celtic Frost for the first time in as long a time, Fischer oversaw the re-construction, re-mastering, and production of the five key albums of the group in Berlin in 1999 and 2000. These luxurious official re-issues were released to overwhelming acclaim by media and fans alike and also featured the restored original artwork, EP covers, conceptual packaging, unpublished photos, individual liner notes, complete lyrics, and unreleased music from each album recording session. The re-issue project coincided with the publication Fischer's much-lauded first book, a Celtic Frost autobiography titled "Are You Morbid?" (2000). The book is one of the few first hand reports on the birth of extreme metal during the early 1980s and the resulting branch of the music industry.
The creativity disinterred in the course of the work on the renovation of the band's back catalogue was far more than the re-issue project was designed to absorb, and Fischer and Ain, together with former Apollyon Sun guitarist Erol Unala, eventually began work on an actual new Celtic Frost album, the band's first in over a decade. St. Mark's position in the group, initially left void due to serious health issues, was eventually taken by highly renowned Swiss underground drummer Franco Sesa. Moreover, Ain and Fischer reanimated their old production company, Prowling Death Records, which in 1983 had already released the Hellhammer demos, to finance the new Celtic Frost album and retain full control of the project by the group up to the day of the new album's release.
In late 2004, Fischer partially opened the secretive and protected realm of Celtic Frost's inner sanctum to the outside world by beginning to chronicle the making of the album on his high-traffic blog "Delineation". Surprising to many, this journal revealed a group again driven by misanthropic vulnerability and nihilistic darkness, a group aiming at surpassing everything it had created before, a group whose protagonists proceeded even more courageously than they had on ground-breaking works such as "To Mega Therion" or "Into the Pandemonium". The final days of 2005 saw Celtic Frost signing a worldwide licensing agreement with Century Media, paving the way for the release of the material. Titled "Monotheist" and scheduled for a release in spring 2006, Celtic Frost's new album was produced by the band and co-produced by Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Dimmu Borgir, Immortal). It is extremely dark, inventive, and radically heavy. The album is to be followed in 2006/2007 by concerts on all continents, allowing Celtic Frost to play for more fans on one single tour than they had in the entire previous history of the band.
official Celtic Frost website press release
Latest Celtic Frost News
Triptykon Streaming New Songs Online
Triptykon, the new band formed by former Celtic Frost and Hellhammer mastermind Thomas G. Fischer, is currently streaming two new songs online. The tracks "Abyss Within My Soul" and "A Thousand Lies" can be heard at Triptykon's official MySpace page. Triptykon are expected to release their debut album "Eparistera Daimones" in 2010.
Column
Sunday Old School: Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost may very well be one of the most creative and artistic bands in the vast world of metal. They formed from the ashes of the band Hellhammer in 1984 and released their first studio album, "Morbid Tales" in the same year. The album was met with strong acclaim from music critics and the metal underground alike, which led to the band releasing an EP entitled, "Emperor's Return." The band once again released an influential album in the form of "To Mega Therion" in 1985 that did not feature bass player Martin Eric Ain, though he would return to the band after the record's release. Celtic Frost would release the next in a trilogy of acclaimed and classic albums in 1987 when they released, "Into The Pandemonium," one of the most ambitious and experimental albums in the history of underground metal. The record included a sound of an avant-garde nature and featured unlikely covers of the songs "Mexican Radio" by New Wave artists Wall Of Voodoo and "In The Chapel In The Moonlight," which has been performed by artists such as Dean Martin, Kitty Kallen and The Bachelors.
However internal struggle became a massive problem for the band with financial troubles and personal tensions causing the band to briefly break up before frontman Thomas Fischer revived the group with former drummer Stephen Priestly and new members in the shape of guitarist Oliver Amberg and bass player Curt Victor Bryant. The resulting album, "Cold Lake," proved less than well-received by the band's fanbase with some labelling the bands as sell outs. "Cold Lake" featured a much more mainstream sound that seemed to be more influenced by bands such as Motley Crue than Venom. Fischer would later claim that the musical style on the album was due to his lack of interest in the creative output of the band. Martin Eric Ain would rejoin the band and they recorded the album, "Vanity/Nemesis" which was more in the vein of thrash metal than it's previous releases, which allowed the group to regain some of the credibility they had lost with "Cold Lake." The band planned to follow this record with a double album entitled, "Under Apollyon's Sun" but decided to split up before they entered the studio. During the split Martin Eric Ain would find success as a businessman, becoming the owner of a number of bars and nightclubs, while singer/guitarist Tom Fischer founded the industrial metal outfit Apollyon Sun and wrote a book about the history of Celtic Frost entitled, "Are You Morbid?"
After working together on the re-issue of several Celtic Frost albums, Fischer and Ain began writing music together under the Celtic Frost banner once again, along with guitarist Erol Unala and drummer Franco Sesa. They released a demo named, "Prototype" which featured ten new songs, before releasing their comeback album, "Monotheist" in 2006. The album received a huge amount of positive feedback and was labelled the darkest album they had ever written and was accompanied by the band's most ambitious tour yet, touring in countries they had never performed in before and headlining festivals such as Wacken Open Air. However the reunion did not last for as long as many had hoped, when Fischer decided to leave the band in April of 2008, leading to the band's demise once again. Celtic Frost will now go down in the history books of metal as one of the most influential, creative and darkest bands the world had ever seen.
Triptykon Begins Mixing Debut Album
Triptykon, the new band formed by former Celtic Frost and Hellhammer mastermind Thomas G. Fischer, has begun the mixing stage of their debut album "Eparistera Daimones," which is expected to be released next Spring through the bands own Prowling Death Records. A message from Fischer reads as follows:
"This past Tuesday, I returned to Woodshed Studio in Bavaria, Germany, for the third time since we began studio work on Triptykon’s debut album, Eparistera Daimones, in summer. While briefly back in Zurich, I finalized the album’s artwork, and we recorded the piano, violin, and female vocals that will be featured in some of the songs. As Nadine Rimlinger played the violin on Saturday, it was impossible not to feel transferred back to 1987, when we recorded the classical musicians for "Into The Pandemonium". Even though we are producing a much darker and heavier album this time around, some of the sounds created by Nadine were at times eerily reminiscent of such era past.
"The week in Zurich ended appropriately. Our friends in the incomparable PANTHEON I played in Zurich, and that same night, we made new friends in fellow touring act Zoroaster, who sound much like a staggering, modern incarnation of HELLHAMMER.
"Now, back in Germany, we have commenced mixing the songs we recorded during prior sessions. It is a challenging and complex album to mix, not just because of its musical content. But this mixing session is at the same time also one of the most intriguing I have ever been a part of. This is an unusual album, for better or for worse, in a very distinctive context. It is winter here, cold, dark, and wet. An utterly perfect setting, then, for tomorrow’s mixing session of 'The Prolonging', all 19 morbid, lumbering minutes of it."
Tom Fischer In "Secret History Of Black Metal"
England's Terrorizer magazine has launched what is likely to become a separate quarterly specialist publication to complement the main magazine. The first issue, published in September 2009, is dedicated to "The Secret History Of... Black Metal." The 96-page magazine features various references to Hellhammer and Celtic Frost as well as a dedicated interview with Hellhammer/Celtic Frost/Triptykon guitarist/singer Tom Gabriel Fischer. A sidebar in the feature assesses the most significant Hellhammer and Celtic Frost releases, rating Celtic Frost's "Monotheist" album of 2006 as "Arguably, the metal album of the decade... This is darkness."
arte TV Documentary Featuring Tom Gabriel Fischer
As part of an a new six-episode documentary series about the evolution of the music scene in the 1980s, German/French TV station arte is set to broadcast episode 5, titled: "Gothic, Industrial & Black Metal," on Tuesday, August 25, 2009, at 10.55pm CET. This episode features new interviews with bands such as Killing Joke or Cabaret Voltaire as well as clips from an interview conducted with Triptykon's Tom Gabriel Fischer about the emergence of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost.
Further information can be found on arte's website.
Welcome to the 80's - Episode 5: Gothic, Industrial & Black Metal
Written and directed by Tom Theunissen, 2009.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009, at 10.55pm CET. The broadcast will be repeated by arte on Saturday, August 29, at 03.00am CET, and by German TV station ZDF on Thursday, September 3, at 06.05pm CET.
Triptykon To Begin Recording Debut Album
Triptykon, the group formed by Tom Gabriel Warrior after his departure from Celtic Frost in April of 2008, is scheduled to commence studio recording sessions for a first album in mid-August 2009. The album, tentatively titled Eparistera Daimones, will mainly be recorded in southern Germany, with additional recording sessions to take place in Switzerland. Produced by Warrior and Triptykon guitarist V. Santura, the recording and mixing sessions are expected to continue until November 2009. The album is currently scheduled for release in spring of 2010, through the group’s own label, Prowling Death Records (home of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost).
Songs currently under consideration for inclusion on Triptykon's debut album are, among others, "Myopic Empire", "Among Veiled Spirits", "Sepultus", "Abyss Within My Soul", "Goetia", "A Thousand Lies", and the 17-minute "The Prolonging."
Triptykon will follow the release of Eparistera Daimones with a number of festival appearances and a full tour. The group’s onstage debut is scheduled to take place as part of the renowned Roadburn Festival, in April 2010.
Tom Gabriel Warrior Named Curator For Roadburn '10
Holland's Roadburn festival has announced that Tom Gabriel Warrior, founder of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, and Triptykon has agreed to act as the curator for the Roadburn festival on Friday, April 16, 2010, and host a special event at Roadburn, called Only Death Is Real.
Tom's duties as curator include personally selecting the bands that will play on Only Death Is Real, as well as to perform the first major headlining set with his latest incarnation, Triptykon. Tom will be Roadburn’s third curator, following up on David Tibet in 2008 and Neurosis earlier this year.
The Roadburn Festival organizers further comment:
"We are overjoyed to have secured Tom's involvement in Roadburn this year, as he stands as a truly groundbreaking artist, with his previous bands having been extremely divisive, as is often the case with truly unique and original works of art. Ultimately his canon of work would prove not only legendary but hugely inspirational for an entire generation of musicians in the metal, doom and dark psychedelic scenes.
"Tom has always enjoyed pushing the envelope musically and challenging boundaries, and it was entirely that mindset that made him a perfect fit to act as our curator. It has been a constant goal of ours to keep Roadburn a festival that not only celebrates the established but charts new territory, and we could think of no better spirit guide than Tom Gabriel Warrior. We are looking forward to the new ideas that he will bring to our festival, as we feel that we are truly kindred spirits."
Tom Gabriel Warrior commented: "It is a surprise and an honor to be asked by Roadburn to act as a curator, and I am accepting this extraordinary opportunity with much gratitude and due humility. In my eyes, Roadburn is one of the most courageous and artistic festivals in existence, and its history is, in essence, a list of concerts by groups I deeply admire. It is quite a challenge to follow such footsteps, both as a curator and as a musician. I will try my very best to ensure that the groups I intend to propose to the organizers of Roadburn will be as ravishingly dark, unique, and exciting to the festival's visitors as they are to me."
Roadburn 2010, including Tom Gabriel Warrior's Only Death Is Real, will run for three days from Thursday, April 15 to Saturday, April 17 at the 013 venue and Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland. There will be an additional afterburner event on Sunday, April 18, 2010.
New Photo Book About Celtic Frost Announced
Bazillion Points Books have announced that they will be releasing a photographic history book of former Hellhammer and Celtic Frost front man Tom Gabriel Fischer. The book, which will be titled "Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History Of Hellhammer And Early Celtic Frost," will be released in November of 2009. The cover of the book and several interior photos can be viewed here.
Sarke, Tom Gabriel Warrior Join Forces At Wacken
Norway's Sarke, featuring Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) and Sarke (Tulus, Khold), will be joined by legendary Tom Gabriel Warrior (Triptykon, ex-Celtic Frost and Hellhammer) for their performance on this year's Wacken Open Air. Together, they will perform the Celtic Frost classic "Dethroned Emperor."
The Sarke band comments: "We are all massive fans of Tom and his music, and we are honored to share the stage with him at Wacken!"
Tom Gabriel Warrior adds: "It's an honor and a privilege to be invited to appear onstage with Sarke, a group whose line-up doesn't only contain personal friends but also musicians I respect deeply. We shall make our appearance at Wacken a truly special event!"
Since the recording of their debut album, "Vorunah," Sarke has grown to become a real band, and the live line-up is now officially part of the band. Sarke's line-up is completed with Asgeir Mickelson (Spiral Architect, Thornbound, ex-Borknagar), Cyrus (Susperia) and Anders Hunstad (El Caco, Autopulver, Morten Abel). The band is already working on new material, and a new album is expected in 2010.
Ex-Celtic Frost Mainman Faces Name Disupute
Legendary metal frontman Tom Fischer (aka Tom G. Warrior), who founded the bands Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Apollyn Sun and most recently, Triptykon, has been sent an email requesting he cease using his long time alias "Tom Warrior." A message from Fischer reads as follows:
"Late one night in May of 1982, bassist/singer Urs Sprenger and I founded HELLHAMMER and adopted the stage names Steve Warrior and Tom Gabriel Warrior. I still use that name - in parallel with my actual surname - as I have done on and off for 27 years. In many ways, it has become synonymous with significant parts of my life and work, and it is the name our audiences invariably call me.
"This week, I received the following e-mail to my personal MySpace account:
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