The Citizen Kane of Extreme Metal Albums – 96%
blackthrash84, July 26th, 2009
I’ll admit right away I’ve yet to see the film Citizen Kane, but every way in which I’ve heard it described, praised and criticized – as well as it’s historic significance – correlates perfectly to C.F.’s masterpiece full length. Long, boring, monotonous, excessive, innovative, original, unique, genre-defining, classic. These are all adjectives that come to mind when discussing either work. The only real difference lies in the scope of each piece’s influence. But is influencing the entire extreme metal world really that far from influencing the entire world of film? I like to think not.
With this album Tom G. and friends really refined the Celtic Frost sound. With these guys every album is like a new band, and I believe that’s how Tom wanted it. While Morbid Tales (which I consider more an album than an ep) showed more avant-garde tendencies and thrashing than their previous work in Hellhammer, the raw, youthful and evil energy remained. All that happened was their songs were intricately structured and their musicianship was greatly honed. On “To Mega Therion” they left their youthful energetics behind and concentrated on furthering their art, and hence that of every extreme metal band to follow.
The crisp, clear production on this record gives the music a cold and crushing effect. In the intro you instantly hear that every instrument has piles of reverb on it. The guitar tone is less dirty than on “Tales” but much thicker and damn sludgy.
The opening instrumental feels like a great weight being dropped on you, that of all the world’s pain and suffering. Once you’ve accepted this weight “The Usurper” knocks you flat on your back and begins dragging you on a tour through mankind’s downfalls.
“Jewel Throne” shows the sorrow that comes with decadence and the rapid road to destruction it leads us on. The “Dawn of Meggido” is the apocalypse and with heavy fucking doom riffs and atmosphere the Frost paints the barren landscape for our obliteration. Flawless. “Eternal Summer” reminds us of buried kingdoms, one of which we’ve become. Top notch thrashing is had in the after-world and Tom’s solo evokes the burning clouds he speaks of in the lyrics.
“Circle of Tyrants” kicks off side two by re-iterating that all is lost (in case the first five songs didn’t give you that message). However, humans go on, in total ignorance of the past and rape of the earth and each other. This song makes you wonder if this album wasn’t just Tom having a “heavy-ass song” writing competition with himself. “(Beyond) the North Winds” is a personal fave for that sweet opening riff and the, perhaps, more sublime lyrical content, with just enough nihilism on top. Did Tom even know what he was saying when he wrote “Fainted Eyes” (“the waters grow dumb”!)? It’s a good thing this song is heavy as fuck too.
“Tears in a Prophet’s Dream” keeps with the great tradition of freaky avant-garde ambient track right before the last song on the album. And what a song. I don’t know about everyone else but the one thing that excited me most about getting this album was hearing “Necromantical Screams”. I knew this had to contain riffs from “Buried and Forgotten”, that crazy Hellhammer song. And this one so out does it! This was surely one of the heaviest. darkest, doom-i-est songs of ’85. And just like everywhere else on the album, the use of female operatic vocals is wonderfully enhancing.
C.F. really took a more unique and direct tone on this album, dropping all occult imagery for their overwhelmingly bleak apocalyptic visions. Few albums have since captured these sentiments as poetically, if any.
The true beauty of Celtic Frost lay in their other-worldliness. It’s very hard to believe that this stuff wasn’t written/played by some grimacing sentient beings, like Lovecraft’s “Older Ones”. Or maybe just Lovecraft himself, although I highly doubt he could touch any riff Tom G. Warrior wrote.
Don’t come to this looking for “Morbid Tales II”, but DO NOT ignore this album. Thomas Gabriel Warrior was arguably the most important guitarist to extreme metal in his reign and this was his masterstroke. I’m certain that the Celts only got their Frost back on “Monotheist” from listening to their old records, this in particular. This album managed to write the rules for all black, death and doom metal to come without following any of them. Warrior saw heaviness as a momentous force in modern music and he never followed any trends because of this.
rafazardly 