Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Part Two

Here is a continuation of Celtic Frost - v- Scott Walker from yesterday. The third / final part will be posted tomorrow.

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Formed in 1984 after the break up of Hellhammer (by key members Tom Gabriel and Steve Warrior), Celtic Frost practically founded a brand of metal that two decades later have helped hatch new genres like death, black, thrash, and extreme metal. They have built a beyond cult following (including Sonic Youth, Nirvana, and million metal band since) and lastly helped to solidify the now metal tradition of a spooky band logos and cover art that spells out exactly how terrifying it’s contents are going to be. In the world of music we call this band legendary.

Thirteen years after their last release Celtic Frost returns with Monotheist, a brand new studio album. CF may be credited as the founding fathers of aggressive music but by today’s standard, all 11 tracks sound disappointingly average. I respect this band’s role in the history of metal but these once upon a time leaders of a genre are now chasing their own devil tails. Trademark guitar parts, vocal growls (but not enough ARGHs if you ask me), and a love for Sisters of Mercy aside, you will mostly hear them covering the bands they influenced (in theory as they are not literally covers); the Emperors, Lair Of The Minotaurs, and Prongs …of the world mixed with something surprisingly rooted in Sabbath.

In fact the most menacing part of this entire record is a ringing and repeating singular tone which mimics a severe weather warning alert on TV. The ironic part is this: the nagging wail has nothing to do with the band and is in fact on the promo version to deter people from copying this record for others. Hell’s children are not only scared to break new ground but apparently fear file sharing equally

Oh true metal, I remember you well and in 2006 your “death to false metal” battle cry rings as real and as threatening as a fortune cookie proverb.