Danse Macabre

Product Information

To Mega Therion’ was Celtic Frost’s next album, recorded in September ‘85. Due to personal difficulties, Martin was not in the band at that point, and so bass duties for the recording were carried out by session player Dominic Steiner. Martin’s absence also meant that Tom was responsible for the music and virtually all of the lyrics. But despite difficult circumstances, the resulting album, however, was a triumph. Replete with iconic cover art by HR Giger, ‘To Mega Therion’ imposes its dark majesty from the off with the orchestral bombast of ‘Innocence And Wrath’, before launching into the savagery of the hook-laden ‘The Usurper’. Daring, dark and superlatively heavy, ‘To Mega Therion’ is a sophisticated expression of Celtic Frost’s inherent drive to eschew genre limitations and, instead, define art on their own terms. It would of course been perfect with Cold Lake included. I could forgive them for the misleading photo if that was the case, but as we all know grumpy old Tom is having none of that! A very limited edition Glow In The Dark vinyl variant edition of the LP box set will be available via EMP and Nuclear Blast online. This is limited to 1000 units.

If there is a problem with Celtic Frost in this period it isn’t our problem but unfortunately theirs. They didn’t just identify one new area to move into but were constantly and simultaneously breaking new ground in many different ways, innovating but very rarely consolidating, minting sounds and styles as they zipped past, like it was no problem to them at all. Into The Pandemonium is one of those rare albums that entirely lives up to its name, a thing of such shifting and seismic beauty, it’s almost still impossible to get a true handle on it, marking Celtic Frost out as not just a band ahead of their time but also one ahead of their space. It also marks them out as a band who were using up all of their own potential roads in every single direction at an insane pace, creating maps for others who would follow, while getting little of the benefit themselves in the short term. All the more reason why we should hail them as brilliant modernists now.Morbid Tales announced the new band. But it was on To Mega Therion where the band’s wider vision properly came into focus. Becoming “even more fanatical” about what they were doing in their bunker, the music was staggering, despite Tom insisting their own skills were nothing special ("If we'd had musical training, we wouldn't have made the music we did. But that meant we could create things by getting it wrong"). When they got to the studio, they began adding in classical instruments. Having to explain such ideas made things difficult. Only having short opportunity to do it more so. And their label weren’t keen. “But we were so pumped on testosterone and youthful energy, we just staked everything on it,” says Tom. “We set up timpanis in the in the large freight elevator, because that would give it this metallic reverb.”

Convinced, Noise asked CELTIC FROST to record a mini-LP, even though that hadn't formed part of Warrior and Ain's concept document. Undeterred, and propelled by a burning urgency, CELTIC FROST set out to write and record a full-length LP in a matter of a few months. "Morbid Tales" was recorded with Horst Müller in Berlin and was unlike anything else. Intensely heavy, nuanced and experimental, the record was a radical musical statement of intent; a stunning synthesis of Warrior and Ain's disparate influences. From the furious opening riff of "Into The Crypts Of Rays" through to the avant-garde experimentation of "Danse Macabre", "Morbid Tales" heralded the arrival of CELTIC FROST as a profoundly unique and uncompromising band.Convinced, Noise asked Celtic Frost to record a mini-LP, even though that hadn’t formed part of Warrior and Ain’s concept document. Undeterred, and propelled by a burning urgency, Celtic Frost set out to write and record a full-length LP in a matter of a few months. ‘Morbid Tales’ was recorded with Horst Müller in Berlin and was unlike anything else. Intensely heavy, nuanced and experimental, the record was a radical musical statement of intent, a stunning synthesis of Warrior and Ain’s disparate influences. From the furious opening riff of ‘Into The Crypts Of Rays’ through to the avant-garde experimentation of ‘Danse Macabre’, ‘Morbid Tales’ heralded the arrival of Celtic Frost as a profoundly unique and uncompromising band. Now Celtic Frost are a band I am aware of but not familiar with. The closest I’ve come to them is seeing Triptykon live a few years ago, which is essentially seeing one member playing in a different band. They were still an active entity when I was in my formative metal years, but just one of the many bands I didn’t pursue. As such, this review is essentially my very first exposure to their music (aside from unwittingly hearing “Circle of the Tyrants” on Obituary’s Cause of Death and not knowing it was a cover). Not bad given that most of the material was released 35+ years ago. Morbid Tales (1984) They dealt with people like Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale, who were the sacred figures of the scene at the time. And then there were some underground bands who were just yelling – I could totally understand that they were alienated by bands like us initially. We could see where they came from, as blind as they were.” He was another outsider in Switzerland,” says Tom. “And of course, the Hollywood thing only came after years of struggle, where he too was pushed into the underground for a long time. Because he was doing dark art that one doesn’t do. I think the level on which he connected to us was because he discovered some parallels in the struggle and in the origin of what we were creating.

We hated these unwritten limitations in the metal scene,” he continues. “‘You cannot do this on an album, otherwise it's not metal…’ We thought, ‘Who writes these laws?’ Once we embarked on that path, Martin and I basically egged each other and continuously made each other more extreme in our endless discussions about these things. We just decided to abandon any restraint and not recognise any limits.”One of the first bands to follow in the rupturing aftermath of Venom’s first single and two albums, was Swiss metal group Celtic Frost. One of the reasons Celtic Frost came out of the traps so hard in 1984 was that Thomas Fischer and Martin Ain had already been part of a band where intent and passion far outstripped ability in the form of Hellhammer, a group hated so much by the international metal press that the aspirations of its main members were nearly crushed into inertia. Whether this was the fuel that propelled Celtic Frost or not (other potential power sources include an obvious emerging zeitgeist, geographical isolation from nearly all other metal groups and Fischer’s weird and unpleasant childhood), in three short years they would come to represent the best of the spirit of innovation in heavy metal during the mid-80s. Or they did to anyone paying attention at least. Over the course of little more than three years between 1984 and 1987, CELTIC FROST established themselves as one of the most important bands in extreme and experimental music of that era. Due on October 28 in Europe and November 25 in the U.S., “Danse Macabre” brings together the band’s recordings from those years, capturing their boundary-pushing ambition and creative zeal. The ambition exceeded the capabilities – by setting a goal that was almost unachievable, it forced us to go and achieve it,” he says now. “To work like maniacs to reach this. We had nothing else. We had nothing to lose. All bridges are burned, so all you have to do is go forward.” Certainly, especially with the non-traditional instruments, you get the feeling from this point that Celtic Frost were a band prepared to push a few boundaries. The only time offhand I can recall hearing anything similar in a non-themed album (such as Ex Deo’s releases) was on Soulfly’s Archangel. Into The Pandemonium" was the last recording made by this era of CELTIC FROST, bringing to an end a period of incredible creative and artistic growth over what was a remarkably brief period of time. That the teenagers who recorded "The Third Of The Storm" and "Triumph Of Death" for the HELLHAMMER EP would, despite constant turmoil, be recording the jaw-dropping "Rex Irae" just three years later is astonishing.

Over the course of little more than three years between 1984 and 1987, CELTIC FROST established themselves as one of the most important bands in extreme and experimental music of that era. Due on October 28 in Europe and November 25 in the U.S., "Danse Macabre" brings together the band's recordings from those years, capturing their boundary-pushing ambition and creative zeal. To Mega Therion’ was Celtic Frost’s next album, recorded in September ‘85. Due to personal difficulties, Martin was not in the band at that point, and so bass duties for the recording were carried out by session player Dominic Steiner. Martin’s absence also meant that Tom was responsible for the music and virtually all of the lyrics. But despite difficult circumstances, the resulting album, however, was a triumph. Replete with iconic cover art by HR Giger, ‘To Mega Therion’ imposes its dark majesty from the off with the orchestral bombast of ‘Innocence And Wrath’, before launching into the savagery of the hook laden ‘The Usurper’. Daring, dark and superlatively heavy, ‘To Mega Therion’ is a sophisticated expression of Celtic Frost’s inherent drive to eschew genre limitations and, instead, define art on their own terms. In his village, he shows what he means when he says that musicians aren’t particularly well respected in his locale when says he continues to be asked, “Are you still unemployed?” Sadly, Martin Ain may no longer be with us, having passed away in 2017, but time has proved that the pair’s instincts and visions were right. The albums in Danse Macabre represent metal at its most urgent, its most creative, its best. It is what happens when people with nothing to lose but their own self-respect and artistic integrity go for broke, even when everything seems against you. Because it’s all you have.

It almost seems churlish to regard Celtic Frost as one of the great extreme metal bands, because they were so much more than that. It’s better to hail them as among the finest extreme and experimental bands of the 1980s. Refusing ever to do what was expected or demanded, the band constantly changed musical direction, always brought in surprising influences, and kept people guessing as to where they might venture next. Their catalogue of albums is formidable and unmatched. Each is not only unique, but part of an entire tapestry that only now can be appreciated for being a remarkable part of music history. Despite, or maybe because of, constant turmoil on so many fronts, Celtic Frost achieved an artistic level few others would even have dared to dream of aspiring towards. They climbed high because they were never afraid to fall. Which is why the band are now rightly regarded as icons, and iconoclasts. Nevertheless, both despite and because of the circumstances of its creation – all the negativity simply made them dig their heels in further – Into The Pandemonium is incredible and important. From its opening cover of new wave outfit Wall Of Voodoo’s Mexican Radio (“Weirdly, until I started doing interviews for this box, nobody ever asked me about that”), to its grandiose sweeps, to its gothic overtones and limitless horizon, it is also a unique work, the art of people who “burned all our bridges so that we had only ourselves”. If it was easy to become an outsider in the eyes of the state, it was even easier to do it in the eyes of one’s neighbours. As the only divorced household in their village, reception to Tom and his mother after his parents separated aged six had been cold. Even this didn’t compare to the details of his living situation, where he would be left to fend for himself while his mother went away for extended periods as a smuggler. That band was Celtic Frost. Everything about this new outfit was to be different. Warrior and Ain wanted it to have the power and excitement of the thrash metal bands emerging in the US, but the ultimate intent was to not be constrained by metal’s self-imposed rules – an attitude shaped by the band’s geographical isolation from the mainstream metal scene. “It was a constant conflict, because we loved metal. At the same time, however, we were conflicted by feeling that metal is so limited, that there were albums with notes saying: ‘No keyboards on this album’, and so on, like it was something evil,” he recalls. “We felt, where are these unwritten laws that say you cannot combine a keyboard with metal, or you cannot combine classical music with metal? We didn’t want to accept this. We were anarchists.”