Celtic Frost
Formed: 1984
From:
Zürich,
Switzerland
Last Known Status: Disbanded
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
Below is our complete Celtic Frost news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
Displaying records 81 - 100 of 129 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Last
Celtic Frost To Do Two Mexican Headlining Dates
Celtic Frost will conclude their epic journey in support of the band's "Monotheist" album with two co-headline concerts in Mexico. The "Monotheist" tour began in Switzerland on May 29, 2006, and Celtic Frost will play the final two concerts of the tour at Circo Volador in Mexico City on August 10, 2007, and Cafe Iguana in Monterrey on August 11, 2007. The co-headliner for both shows will be Amon Amarth. These concerts will be Celtic Frost's first ever in Mexico, signifying the fulfillment of a long-held ambition. Celtic Frost are very proud to finally play for the band's Mexican fans, many of whom have already come to Celtic Frost shows all over the world.
Celtic Frost have just returned to Europe from playing their first concerts in Australia, and the band has now begun appearing at a number of Europe's summer festivals. As is the case with Mexico, playing live for Australian audiences has been an ambition ever since Celtic Frost released their first few albums, and Celtic Frost feel grateful and proud about the extremely favorable reactions by both fans and media down under.
Thrash Metal Book To Surface In September
Zonda Books has posted this press release:
Garry Sharpe-Young's latest book, "Thrash Metal", is being readied for publication this September. In addition, Zonda Books publishes Garry's "Death Metal", "Black Metal" and "Power Metal" all before the end of the year. These MusicMight titles replace the 2001 editions, which have consistently ranked number 1 on their Amazon.com searches for five years and more.
Thrash Metal. At first mocked by the Rock traditionalists Thrash would swamp the hard n' heavy world propelling one of its own - METALLICA, to the very pinnacle of Rock's elite.
In the early 80s Thrash breathed new life into the Rock scene providing older acts with a much needed kick. This new force opened the floodgates to armies of teens armed with flying Vs, bullet belts and a sense of purpose that would fuel genres such as Thrashcore, Crossover and technical Speed Metal. Without Thrash there would be no Death Metal, no Black Metal. That explosion of aggression has seen subsequent afterblasts, most recently Europe and South America has seen a genuine renaissance of Thrash Metal.
Without doubt, Thrash Metal still continues to make its mark in the biggest possible way. The "big four" - METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER are all documented here in the greatest possible detail with full, up to the minute histories, exclusive photographs and global discographies, which include demos, albums, singles, chart positions, track listings and catalogue numbers. Over 400,000 words leave no stone left unturned in pursuit of knowledge of ex-members, rare recordings and career milestones. The author has interviewed all these major acts. Indeed, he interviewed METALLICA's late Cliff Burton just days before his passing. The early days of MEGADETH are straight from the mouth of Dave Mustaine.
Also covered are the legion of groundbreaking Bay Area acts such as METAL CHURCH, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL and HIRAX. The European thrash explosion of KREATOR, RAGE, DESTRUCTION, SODOM, GRAVE DIGGER and HELLOWEEN is also covered in frightening detail. The Pagan Thrash of SABBAT, the avant garde eccentricity of CELTIC FROST and the Funk Thrash of MORDRED - it's all here. The second wave of thrash with major artists such as SEPULTURA, PANTERA and MACHINE HEAD takes the genre right up to the new breed of Thrashers, now a truly world-wide phenomenon. All examined in depth.
Having achieved its quarter of a century, Thrash Metal is not only alive, it is thriving. If you thought this rawest form of Heavy Metal was consigned to the past this book will deliver a rude awakening! Read the book, buy the records and bang that head!!
The scope of 'Thrash Metal' includes artists such as A.N.I.M.A.L., ABANDONED, ABATTOIR, ACCUSSER, ACID, ACID DRINKERS, ACID REIGN, ACROPHET, AFTERMATH, AGENT STEEL, AGONY, AGRESSOR, AIRDASH, AMEBIX, ANESTHESY, ANGEL WITCH, ANGKOR WAT, ANNIHILATOR, ANTHRAX, ANVIL, ANVIL CHORUS, APOKALYPTIC RAIDS, ARBITRATER, ARCH ENEMY, ARMORED SAINT, ARMOURED ANGEL, ARTILLERY, ASSASSIN, AT WAR, ATHEIST, ATOMIZER, ATOMKRAFT, ATROPHY, AZOTIC REIGN...
And that's just some of the "A"'s!
Celtic Frost Frontman Comments On Monotheist Tour
CELTIC FROST mainman Tom Gabriel Fischer has issued the following update:
"115 concerts into the Monotheist tour. Our 100th procession of musical morbidity since disinterring the prodigious Celtic Frost took place in Anaheim, California, on April 22, 2007. Incidentally, the venue hosted a 'gospel brunch' earlier that same day. A pitiable holy Sunday, serendipitously desecrated.
And time passes perennially, notwithstanding. Home, briefly, after two and a half months on the road in Europe, the US, and Europe again, we are to take Celtic Frost to an appearance at the Mystic Festival in Poland next week. This will be our first appearance in Eastern Europe, something we had always aspired to do during Celtic Frost's first incarnation many years ago.
And while on subject of touring. In the wake of Celtic Frost's return to the United States to tour as a special guest to TYPE O NEGATIVE in April and May 2007, after our extensive headliner tour last fall, we couldn't help noticing sporadic disparagement about this decision. It seems that some felt that Celtic Frost should not be a "mere special guest", and, more significantly, that we should not be a special guest to Type O Negative. Musical tastes are perhaps debatable. But Type O Negative's deeply respectful conduct towards Celtic Frost isn't. Hardly ever before have we been treated with such consideration, understanding, and appreciation, astonishingly not even by bands who toured with us on equal terms and with equal status.
Think what you wish about them, but we have come to know Type O Negative as a band of integrity and principles, far beyond the mere fact that both bands are mutual fans of each other's work. And not only do we owe Peter Steele, Josh Silver, Johnny Kelly, Kenny Hickey, their road manager Meg MacRae, and their crew a great deal of gratitude, we are also proud to now count them among our friends."
Wolf Cancels Dates With Celtic Frost and Kreator
Sweden's WOLF has issued the following statement:
"WOLF are sorry to anounce that [we] have to cancel the dates with CELTIC FROST and KREATOR March 31 - April 3. Niklas Stålvind has got an infection on the vocal chords and must keep quiet for at least a few weeks to avoid serious damage to his voice. The band are looking forward to do the U.K. tour with THE HAUNTED April 25 – May 7. We were VERY much looking forward to the dates with these heroes of ours but Niklas' voice got worse and we had to drop out. We apologize to all fans, bands, promoters etc. that are affected."
WOLF recently announced plans to release its latest album, "The Black Flame", on vinyl. The Swedish underground label Blackcave Records, under license from Century Media, is putting out a limited edition of 500 copies through the Blackcave mailorder. The LP is signed and numbered by the band.
Type O Negative Add Second New York City Show
TYPE O NEGATIVE have added a second New York City show with CELTIC FROST and BRAND NEW SIN. They’ll now be playing on May 7th and 8th at Irving Plaza. You can check out a current list of confirmed tour dates over at their official MySpace page.
Celtic Frost Comment On UK Concert Curfew
Celtic Frost have released the following statement in regards to an imposed curfew on their UK tour dates:
"While already on the road on the European leg of the "Monotheist" tour, we were informed of strict curfews to our co-headlining shows with Kreator in the UK. These curfews have been imposed locally and are not a stipulation by either Celtic Frost or Kreator. As a matter of fact, we oppose these curfews explicitly, and we have informed both our management and our concert agency accordingly. There is little we can do, however.
Celtic Frost and Kreator and the bands' representatives have spent months trying to assemble an appropriate and exciting touring package of four bands that cover a wide variety of contemporary metal. We loathe the fact that we are now finally back out on the road - in Celtic Frost's case, for the first time in some 17 years - and have to discover that the local booker and promoters in the UK impose curfews so unrealistically strict that it is impossible to put on the regular performances by all four bands on the bill as played everywhere else in Europe. Apparently, some of the UK venues book two events during certain nights, i.e., in this case our tour and another event. This will yield twice the profits for them in one night, but it also means that the first event, namely our tour, will have to clear the venue at an unreasonably early hour, as early as 9:30 or 10:00pm.
There appears to be no proper solution to this situation. Both headliners are categorically unwilling to cancel the performances of either our opening act or special guest, Watain and Legion Of The Damned, in order to play full headlining sets. Just like us, Watain and Legion of the Damned have travelled thousands of miles and gone through great expenses to play all of Europe. The local booker and promoters in the UK are equally unwilling to extend their ludicrous curfews, even for a mere 30 minutes. The alternative, so we are informed, would be a cancelled concert.
Having all four bands play at least a semblance of a set means that the duration of all sets will be severely restricted. In case of Celtic Frost and Kreator, this means sets of 60 minutes, in case of Watain and Legion of the Damned, sets of 20 minutes. This applies to the following shows: Glasgow, Bradford, Wolverhampton, Cardiff, and Nottingham. All bands involved believe that playing a set is better than cancelling any show. That we all are extremely frustrated, if not to say furious, about this situation is obvious."
The tour dates are as follows: More...
Celtic Frost To Play 'Special Guest Set' w/ Type O
Seminal avant-garde metal pioneers CELTIC FROST have revealed that they will play a "limited-duration special guest set of 45 minutes" on their upcoming North American tour with TYPE O NEGATIVE. "In spite of the limited playing time, the band believes that this presents an important opportunity to play for the U.S. audiences again and expand upon the foundation built in the course of last fall's successful 46-date tour of North America," CELTIC FROST writes in a press release.
Due to the preceding co-headliner tour with KREATOR in Europe which will conclude on April 5, 2007, in Hamburg, CELTIC FROST will not be able to play all dates with TYPE O NEGATIVE. Immediately after the final show of the European tour, however, the group will fly to the United States to join TYPE O NEGATIVE for the first time on April 9, 2007, in Chicago and remain with the tour until its conclusion on May 8, 2007, in Baltimore, MD.
UPDATE: Here are the latest tour dates: More...
Type O Negative Release More Tour Dates
More dates have bee released for TYPE O NEGATIVE’s upcoming tour with BRAND NEW SIN:
March 28 - Providence, RI @ Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
March 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
March 30 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
March 31 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
April 2 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
April 3 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
April 5 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
April 6 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
April 7 - Detroit, MI @ Harpo’s
with CELTIC FROST:
April 9 - Chicago, IL @ Metro
April 10 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
April 11 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
April 13 - Sauget, IL @ Pop’s
April 14 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
April 15 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
April 18 - San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
April 26 - Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheatre
April 28 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Naglfar Unveil 'Harvest' Album Artwork
Through trenchant seas, the seasoned crew on the ship NAGLFAR deliver their fifth and most accomplished slab of melodic black metal yet, Harvest. Perfectly fusing the raw energy of their earlier works with the inspired and cutting melodicism of 2005's Pariah, Harvest marks the raucous return of one of the genre?s most celebrated acts, and sees these five Swedes set their sights on sinister shores previously uncharted. The highly anticipated effort is set for a March 12th release.
Without sacrificing their trademark ferocity, NAGLFAR delve deeper into songwriting mode on Harvest, crafting nine brilliantly orchestrated tracks that stick harder than cement. Newest member Morgan Lie (bass) and Mattias Grahn (drums) provide the backdrop for the sharp, anguished screams of Kristoffer Olivius (vocals), who injects the release with an even more diverse array of vocal venom than that found on Pariah, his singing debut. NAGLFAR have created another masterpiece and find themselves the lone champion of all that is dark, technical, and unholy.
Official Harvest Track Listing: 01. Into The Black 02. Breathe Through Me 03. The Mirrors Of My Soul 04. Odium Generis Humani 05. The Darkest Road 06. Way Of The Rope 07. Plutonium Reveries 08. Feeding Moloch 09. Harvest
A limited edition of Harvest will also be available, which includes a bonus DVD with four professionally recorded live clips from the Party.San Festival 2006, a video for the Pariah track The Perpetual Horrors and an interview with Olivius. The cover artwork was handled by the acclaimed Travis Smith (Opeth, Nevermore) and can be viewed by clicking the link below. http://www.naglfar.net/enter_harvest.jpg
NAGLFAR will kick off the albums touring cycle in Japan this week with labelmates Celtic Frost and Satyricon. A video for the track The Darkest Road will be filmed by Roger Johansson (Arch Enemy, The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity) shortly after the band returns from Japan and an MP3 of the song will be posted online later this month.
Watain To Join Celtic Frost and Kreator On Tour
Watain have been chosen to join the European tour of metal legends CELTIC FROST and KREATOR. Dutch Legion of the Damned are also included in this tour-package, that will sweep through Europe in March and April.
These European dates will constitute the first ones on the FUCK THE WORLD TOUR, Watain's worldwide crusade to promote the new album "Sworn to the Dark". Tour dates - together with some other highly exceptional acts - are being scheduled for both North and South America as well
Here are the live dates: More...
UVTV Video Interview Of Celtic Frost Online
Celtic Frost guitarist and singer Tom Gabriel Fischer spoke with UVTV (Underground Video Television) in November on the band’s tour stop in Binghamton NY. The result is an in depth video interview feature “In Their Own Words” in which Tom expresses his feelings & views on a number of topics including the formation of Celtic Frost, how his childhood & upbringing has shaped his life, the reformation of Celtic Frost after they had disbanded, the intensity of their shows & fans, his feelings about the influence of Celtic Frost on both their fans and other artists, the making of their latest Century Media release “Monotheist”, and in a UVTV exclusive Tom reveals the possibility of Celtic Frost making 2 live DVD’s.
Tom spoke candidly and emotionally about his troubled childhood and upbringing and how that inspired him to create Celtic Frost and express himself through his music. “We were slaves from the society that we hated . . . slaves to the system . . . little kids that had no other outlet than our music” Tom explains. He goes on to say that “because of our radical backgrounds that is why our music became so radical as well”. Speaking on the making of “Monotheist” Tom states “We created everything - we hired a Producer, we did the artwork . . . we wanted to have full control”. Tom goes on later to give advice to young bands. Based on his experience he suggests “retain as much control as you can in everything on every level from the artwork to the music, the merchandising, who is going to be the producer, the studio . . . everything . . . that takes a lot of courage . . . you know what you sound like nobody else does . . . . don’t give up the control”.
Speaking on the influence Celtic Frost has had over the years Tom is humbled. “It’s a huge honor for us . . . it feels very strange for me that other big bands would quote us as an influence. It seems so incomprehensible.” He then goes on to talk about his childhood in great detail & how that shaped him, his ideals & goals as he matured into an adult seeking to express that upbringing in his music. “Celtic Frost was my escape from the society I hated killing animals, destroying the planet, polluting the air, fighting wars, lying to each other, everything I detest. Celtic Frost became my own little revolution, my own world, total extreme metal”.
While touching on a myriad of other topics during the video interview Tom also spoke about the Celtic Frost body of work thus far and revealed ambitious plans to make 2 live DVD’s. “This is a very ambitious band this is what Celtic Frost is all about. If we cease to be ambitious then we cease to have a reason to exist”. He continues, “If everything goes according to plan there will be 2 live DVD’s. There no guarantee that either will be realized . . . but if we can it will be 2 live DVD’s like nothing that exists right now. We want to do something special like our albums”. Tom declined to extrapolate further about the DVD project stating that “we are scared somebody will steal the ideas” and that “not even the director that we are talking to knows what it’s all about”.
The band will be touring Japan in early 2007 followed by a full European tour, some festivals, then plans to return to North America and perhaps South America. Tom added “All the while we’ll be working on the next album”.
The full 11-plus minute video interview feature “In Their Own Words” can be viewed at the UVTV (Underground Video Television) website.
Kreator, Celtic Frost Announce European Tour Dates
German thrash legends Kreator and the newly-reunited Celtic Frost will be teaming up with for a European tour beginning in March 2007.
Says Kreator in a statement: "At the moment the band is working on bringing out a stage production that will be more extreme than anything you've seen from Kreator before! The setlist will include tons of suprises! We´ll keep you updated with more details as soon as we get them in, so stay tuned!"
Confirmed dates on the trek are as follows: More...
Celtic Frost and Satyricon Japanese Tour
Celtic Frost and Satyricon are teaming up for a Japanese tour, which will run from January 16-18. The trek's being dubbed 'Extreme The Dojo', and is the first time that the Swiss legends have been to Japan.
Celtic Frost Frontman Gives Update On Tour
CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer has posted the following message on his official blog:
"Tonight is SAHG's last appearance on CELTIC FROST's 'Monotheist' tour in North America. It is incredibly hard to see them go. Not only do we consider them very good friends of ours, but it has been an honor and a true pleasure to be on the road with them.
"And tomorrow, in San Francisco, 1349 will play their scheduled last show as our special guests. It is difficult to imagine not seeing them every day anymore. The friendship between 1349 and CELTIC FROST is deep and very unique, and we will miss them much. If circumstances permit, we will invite Ravn, 1349's singer, to perform 'The Usurper' with us onstage to commemorate the occasion. We tried it today during the soundcheck, and it was fantastic.
"We all can't believe a third of this long tour has already passed. We crossed the North American continent together and entered Canada twice. And then some. But all three groups have worked together very well and very professionally, and that has made it possible to enjoy what really is an ambitious and often hard schedule."
Celtic Frost To Appear On HBB This Weekend
Swiss metal band CELTIC FROST will be appearing on MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball" on Saturday, September 30. The segment was taped when FROST played in New York City earlier this month. The show will also mark the "Headbanger's Ball" premier of the video for "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh", taken from their 2006 release "Monotheist".
"The tour and the audience's reactions have far exceeded all of our expectations," said bassist Martin Eric Ain, checking in from Calgary. "We have worked very hard to bring the FROST back, and the support of the people we have met so far during these shows has made it more than worthwhile. We are one-third into this tour, and we'd like to think there is much more to come and that we have much more to give."
Currently 14 shows into their 47-date North American tour, the band will perform Victoria, Canada Saturday night. On October 3, the band will be joined by SUNN O))) and GOATWHORE, replacing current supporting artists 1349 and SAHG.
1349, Sahg, Sunn O))), Goatwhore To Support CF
More tour dates have been announced in the US tour in which 1349, Sahg, sunnO))), Goatwhore To Open For Celtic Frost 1349 will support Celtic Frost on the 1st leg this autumn. Together with openers Sahg, the band is confirmed on the following dates. On October 4th, the Celtic Frost tour will change the openers to sunnO))) and Goatwhore.
Celtic Frost, 1349, Sahg
09/13 Springfield, VA - Jaxx
09/14 New York, NY - BB King's
09/15 New York, NY - BB King's
09/16 Montreal, QC - Le Medley
09/18 Toronto, ON - The Opera House
09/19 Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater
09/20 Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues
09/22 Detroit, MI - Harpo's
09/23 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
09/24 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09/25 Winnipeg, MB - Royal Albert Hotel
09/27 Calgary, AB - Warehouse
09/28 Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
09/30 Victoria, BC - Sugar Nightclub
10/01 Seattle, WA - El Corazon
10/02 Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
10/03 San Francisco, CA - Fillmore
1349
10/04 Hollywood, CA - Safari Sams
These gigs will feature the following line-up: Ravn - Vocals, Archaon - Guitars, Seidemann - Guitars, Tony Laureano (Nile, AngelCorpse, etc.) - Drums, Teloch (Nidingr/Orcustus) - Guitars.
Celtic Frost, sunnO))), Goatwhore
10/04 San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
10/06 Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues
10/07 West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues
10/08 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
10/09 Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
10/11 Englewood, CO - Gothic Theater
10/12 Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
Celtic Frost Release New Video
CELTIC FROST have captured their innovative and dark art in a new video clip for "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh," taken from their first album in 13 years, Monotheist. Filmed by up-and-coming Swiss director Jessie Fischer (no relation to Tom Gabriel Fischer), the fascinatingly gloomy clip was shot in Zurich, Switzerland in mid-August 2006 and can be viewed here. The video has been unveiled simultaneously on CELTIC FROST's Century Media Records artist page, here, as well as at the official band website, celticfrost.com.
CELTIC FROST are currently preparing for their 47-date North American tour after recently completing a string of successful headlining shows at various European metal festivals (Wacken Open Air, Sweden Rock, With Full Force), as well as a sold-out show at London's Mean Fiddler on August 19, 2006.
CELTIC FROST
with 1349 and Sahg More...
Celtic Frost To Use H.R. Giger Art On Merch
To celebrate their legendary collaboration and enduring friendship, renown Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger and Celtic Frost proudly announce the exclusive introduction of a line of specially created To Mega Therion album merchandise featuring H.R. Giger's acclaimed "Satan I" painting.
In late 1983, H.R. Giger offered Hellhammer’s Tom Gabriel Fischer and Martin Eric Ain the free use of "Satan I" (along with the painting "Victory III") for an album cover. Honored the young Swiss band agreed to Giger’s condition that the band would refrain from making any other commercial use of the paintings, particularly for merchandising. Fischer and Ain later expanded upon the concept of Hellhammer to form Celtic Frost (1984) and the paintings were eventually used for the cover of Celtic Frost's legendary 1985 release To Mega Therion, never breaking the oath they made to H.R. Giger.
In 2006, H.R. Giger granted Celtic Frost the use of "Satan I" as an oversize backdrop for the band's larger shows. To commemorate their long-standing collaboration and the band's strict compliance with H.R. Giger's wishes, H.R. Giger and Celtic Frost have decided to release, for the first time ever, an official line of "Satan I"/To Mega Therion t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeve t-shirts. This merchandise has been designed in accordance with H.R. Giger's comprehensive instructions and has been personally approved by the artist. This is the only official "Satan I"/To Mega Therion merchandise worldwide, and it is being manufactured to the highest possible standards. Any "Satan I"/To Mega Therion merchandise not purchased either through Celtic Frost's webstore or from the official merchandise booth at Celtic Frost's concerts is bootleg merchandise and neither legal nor licensed by H.R. Giger.
Concert Footage of Celtic Frost Air On British TV
CELTIC FROST's sold-out concert at the Mean Fiddler in London on August 19, 2006, was filmed for broadcast by Redemption TV. This show marked CELTIC FROST's return to England after 16 long years, and the audience had come to celebrate the occasion in uproarious style at the packed and blisteringly hot venue at the heart of London. The only source of mild discontent was the Mean Fiddler's strict early curfew, which forced CELTIC FROST to play an abbreviated set.
Said Tom Gabriel Fischer: "We are going to make up for this when we return for the proper European tour in early 2007."
Also filmed was CELTIC FROST's epic and universally acclaimed nightly headliner performance at the giant Wacken Open Air festival in Germany on August 4, 2006. This footage is scheduled to be broadcast as part of the legendary Rockpalast series on German TV. More...
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This Week In Metal - August 17th, 2006
A new top album ? Its true, this week Strapping Young Lad takes over the top spot from Shadows Fall. Both of these bands are very deserving, but we crown our second #1 in as many weeks. Last weeks top 7 managed to stay on the chart, but jump around a little bit. While we have 3 brand new albums debuting this week, with one going as high as #6 in Voivod's Katorz. This is quite possibly the best album these guys have released and they are finally getting the notority they deserve. Not far behind them in the new releases is Unearths' III: The Eyes Of Fire, which is amazing considering it hasnt been released in alot of areas yet but the pre-orders are astounding. I see a #1 in the future for these guys, but who can knock off the consistancy SYL is showing. All That Remains also leapfrogged The Shads into the #2 slot and the big jumper was Between The Buried And Me gaining three slots, which is hard to do considering the company they are in. Meanwhile, Cellador dropped from 8th to 11th. Acacia Strain from 9th to 14th and BYD to 12th. New albums already making a storm up the charts are Slayers "Christ Illusion" with pre-ordering alone landing it inside the top 20. Hatebreed's Supremecy is also showing strong and will reach the top 10 next week. Also in responding to the comments I am considering making this, and the singles list a top 15. If you think its a good idea please respond so, or if thats too much tell me to keep it at 10. \m/.
| Rank | L/W | Band | Album | Weeks | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | SYL | The New Black | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | All That Remains | The Fall of Ideas | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Shadows Fall | Fallout From The War | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 7 | BTBAM | The Anatomy Of | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | Dragonforce | Imhuman Rampage | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | - | Voivod | Katorz | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | - | Unearth | III: The Eyes of Fire | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | 6 | Stone Sour | Come What(ever) May | 2 | 6 |
| 9 | 5 | Cattle Decapitation | Karma.Bloody.Karma | 2 | 5 |
| 10 | - | Human Abstract | Nocturne | 1 | 10 |
Now for the singles, with a very familiar band to anyone who visits this site, taking over as #1. Lamb of God also stays strong moving up 1 to #2. Shadows Fall and Stone Sour round out the top 4 with a big jumper for the week Celtic Frost's Ground moving up to number 5. Threat Signal holds strong and then we get to three really strong debuts by 3 really strong bands. SYL's new ozzfest anthem boasts the #9 spot as a highlight of the new songs. Roudning out the top 10 is BLS with Concrete Jungle.
| Rank | L/W | Band | Song | Weeks | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Slayer | Cult | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 3 | Lamb of God | Redneck | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | Shadows Fall | Will To Rebuild | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Stone Sour | 30-30/150 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | 8 | Celtic Frost | Ground | 2 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | Threat Signal | Rational Eyes | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | * | Unearth | The Glorious Nightmare | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | * | Terror | Strike You Down | 1 | 8 |
| 9 | * | Strapping Young Lad | You Suck | 1 | 9 |
| 10 | 9 | Black Label Society | Concrete Jungle | 2 | 9 |