The Formative Years - Celtic Frost
Having evolved from what is considered as one the trailblazer bands that created the foundation for what was to become black and other more extreme forms of metal, the influence Celtic Frost has exerted on underground music at large with their first two albums cannot be overstated.
Listening to Celtic Frost’s debut Morbid Tales in 2022 and how they skillfully merged thrash metal elements with pages off the books of bands like Discharge, Venom and GBH, accentuated by a distinct yet subtle new wavey vibe in the vein of Christian Death and Bauhaus only solidifies what a perfect first effort it was.
The punchy riffing, grim atmosphere, nods to d-beat drumming, guttural vocals and refreshingly immediate aggression emanating from the fluid chord progressions result in a cohesive sonic weapon that was to become a template generations of metal, punk and hardcore bands would draw upon, ranging from Darkthrone via Sheer Terror to Mayhem.
Same goes for To Mega Therion which saw Celtic Frost taking things to the next level in terms of consistency, expertly executed tempo variations and thought through conceptualisation of their vision, with the outcome being an expertly calibrated idiosyncratic dark atmosphere culminating at times in what is the sonic equivalent of a hellish mess, which visually could not be better presented than through the H.G. Giger artwork that adorns the cover.
“Are you morbid?”
