Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales/Emperor's Return Review

Celtic Frost Morbid Tales/Emperor's Return

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Tracklist:
Morbid Tales

1. Into the Crypts of Rays (4:20)
2. Visions of Mortality (4:48)
3. Dethroned Emperor (4:38)
4. Morbid Tales (3:29)
Emperor's Return

5. Circle of the Tyrants (4:27)
6. Procreation (of the Wicked) (4:05)
7. Return to the Eve (4:08)
8. Danse Macabre (3:52)
9. Nocturnal Fear (3:38)
10. Suicidal Winds (4:36)
11. Visual Aggression (4:11)

Ranking: #8 for 1985

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4
excellent

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TheHarlotApparatus (3)
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5.0
classic

Countorus USER (7 Reviews)

2009-08-02 | 114 comments | 1,238 views

Summary: are you morbid?

6 of 6 thought this review was well written

Celtic Frost was an influential metal band from Zurich, Switzerland. The band started after the demise of the legendary influential metal band Hellhammer. Guitarist/vocalist Thomas G. Warrior went on yo form what is now known as Celtic Frost. The band had a huge role in influencing bands in the death and black metal genre, mostly because the bands sound which was at the time very extreme though heard today would be dismissed as anything but extreme. Officially formed in 1984 they were quick to release their debut Morbid Tales.

The album starts off with the haunting tortured screams of 'Human' leading into the explosive track 'Into Crypts of Rays'. The term 'speed metal' was thrown around a lot around this time, and Celtic Frost were among one of the bands who coined the term. Thinking of them as speed metal is pretty ridiculous but when hearing 'Into Crypts of Rays' you may think otherwise. Moving on other tracks such as'Visons of Mortality' and 'Deathroned Emperor' are the more doom influenced songs on the album, as the songs are sure to crush you with its powerful riffs throughout. More slower paced songs such as the title track and 'Procreation (Of The Wicked)' are basically there to showcase how painfully heavy the band is as they chug through riffs better than you could ever do on your Kerry King signature series guitar.

The album as whole is amazing; there isn't one single bad track on the album. But one song that sticks out like a sore thumb is 'Danse Macabre' as its basically a batch of different noises and sounds which could tie into their later works as they experimented avant-garde. The final product of the song is very chilling and disturbingly inspiring. Aside from avant-garde; the bands sound takes key ingredients from thrash metal, doom metal and black metal. Combinding all those you basically get Morbid Tales and all its holiness.

But most importantly what makes the album so great is without a doubt vocalist Thomas G. Warrior, as his vocals are so sinister and more metal then you could ever imagine. His signiture 'ughs' are present almost every song and are enough to punish your face. You could say as a guitarist that he is nothing special but the powerful riffs and shredding solos say otherwise. Also Bassist Martin Eric Ain's work is audible at all times and is definitely above average. Now what can be seen as a letdown for the album as whole is the production mostly because it is not very good. But thats what makes the album that much more awesome because the bad production value makes the guitar playing so much more intense. It makes the tone more crunchy and more loud and aggressive. Same can be said about the vocals. Overall this is a very important release from a very influential band. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys metal's beginning's and RIFFS

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