It took long 13 years that Thomas Gabriel Fischer (at that time called Warrior) and his lads have released their last longplayer with the best-of Parched With Thirst Am I And Dying, which at least contained two new tracks, a few re-recorded classics and rarities. In the earlier years these Swiss-mates, first operating under the name Hellhammer, established themselves as initiator of the Death and Black Metal boom, achieving an unbelievable cult status with the EPs Morbid Tales and Emperors Return as well as with the album To Mega Therion. Till this day these releases are essential for everyone getting in touch with heavy and dark music. Almost all of the tracks on these records own still a high recognition value and a specially striking, between wild aggressiveness and heavy darkness ranging atmosphere, many bands unsuccessfully tried to copy over the years. Despite of partly simple riffing CELTIC FROST always made it to advance and to integrate new aspects to their music. CELTIC FROST already experimented on To Mega Therion with classic elements (especially brasses) long before the combination of Heavy Metal and classic music got a wider access to the audience.
With the album Into The Pandemonium, released in 1986, the trio consisting of Tom G. Warrior, Martin Eric Ain and Reed St. Marc made even several steps forward and impressively proved that progressiveness, avant-garde and unusual structures get well along with heavy fare, if you just take enough care for the compositions, arrangements and production.
Unfortunately it followed a bad blooper with Cold Lake in 1988. While fathoming virgin soil musically, accompanied by a new line-up, Tom G. Warrior completely botched up and released a hairspray-soaked, compositionally trivial and experiment-less album that gambled away most of the credits they had.
After Eric Martin Ain re-joined the fold Vanity/Nemesis followed that expectedly made a backward roll stylistically. Songwriting was again heavier but straighter though, lacking of the progressiveness of the past. It was a good album but couldn’t reach the glory of earlier work and thus couldn’t retrieve the favor of the fans in its entirety. As a consequence CELTIC FROST disbanded, pursuing personal goals afterwards. Tom G. Warrior tried it with Apollyon Sun for a while and Martin Ain worked as a producer (he’s the one responsible for the great Sadness sophomore).
But it seemed it wasn’t what they felt in their hearts and so rumors started to spook there might be a real new album in the making, what got confirmed anytime later. Though, it took a very long time till a label wanted to risk the probably opulent amount of money for the production. Around one year ago CELTIC FROST’s first new track got published as a demo version. Ground was strangely un-heavy, sort of Industrial-like, and not bad but didn’t spread the typical FROST-feeling many fans were surely longing for.

Century Media is the label that knocked down and now I truly hold Monotheist in my hands. The packaging of the limited edition is really exclusive, with a dark and crazy, mainly in black&white nuances designed layout and a small poster inside. But I guess readers are more interested in the music, aren’t they?
Ok, what can I tell? CELTIC FROST have truly topped themselves and recorded a worthy follower of their legendary and genre-forming work. Monotheist is evil, dark, brutal, avant-garde, progressive but though of a perverse heaviness. Monotheist spreads the entire palette from total despair up to silent moments of light. Likewise important is: this album will again polarize, because Tom Gabriel Fischer, Martin Ain and the new ones Franco Sesa and Eric Unala (who was meant to leave again) don’t make any compromises and exhausted all trademarks till the extreme. Either one loves this sound or will hate it till the end of all days, but it won’t leave anyone indifferent. Anyway, I rarely listened to an album that builds up such abysmal atmosphere, keeping it over the entire playing time.
Already the first song Progeny presents the Swiss in top form: the typical, memorable singing, heavy guitar work with its characteristic riffing and the morbid atmosphere only one band on this planet can create. Also producer Peter Tägtgren has given everything to make this record perfect. The guitar sound is ultra deep and nasty, reminding of To Mega Therion, while the sound in its entirety is unbelievably complex and opens a wide array of musical levels that fatly get utilized.
The following Ground I almost wouldn’t have recognized so much it differs from the demo version. A weighty heavy crusher, darksome and brutal with a catchy refrain. With A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh one will sense an assumed break. This track kicks off extremely quiet, acoustical and with clean singing but grows with typical, viscously stretched FROST riffs to ultimately burst into a doomy and heavily mean headbanger that shouldn’t leave anyone untouched. Lava-like every single tune creeps out of the speakers, slow but with an elemental force no one can escape from.
Variety is provided: Drown In Ashes (very experimental and strange) and Obscured (hymn-like) more attend upon the gothic side of the band many other death/gothic rock bands could take a leaf out of the CELTIC FROST book. Bonus track Temple Of Depression plays with Industrial elements and sounds as harsh as Pitshifter at their Submit-times; Os Abysmi Vel Daath is pure sick doom and Domain Of Decay and partly Ain Elohim remind of the band’s old classics and offer fast thrash riffing, of course always ranging in the known CELTIC FROST frame. A special attention they obviously directed upon the arrangements of the singing passages, which couldn’t be more varied and please the listener with choirs, male and female clean singing, narrations, harsh grunts and distorted parts, everything one might get in mind. At all, with every new run one will discover new sounds, elements and aspects causing an almost obsessive fascination. Even the heavy feedback-orgies act always appropriate and song-beneficial.
But not only in this respect had the band saved the best for the last: the musical Tryptych raises the quality of Monotheist significantly. It begins with the electro-noisy Totengott, which only consists of spoken distorted vocals and appears really crazy. With Synagoga Satanae the probably best CELTIC FROST song of all times follows. With an unbelievable intenseness, brutality and beauty at the same time the band celebrates over more than 14 minutes an epos of first class, wallowing in a maximum of atmosphere and riffs made for eternity. Like on the rest of the album many heavy riffs have a doomier approach but it suits the over-all sound and the concept well. I’d almost like to compare with Neurosis, it’s in fact totally different music but regarding the charisma CELTIC FROST own a similar presence. Seamlessly this event leads over to the finish of the trilogy: the exclusively classic interpreted instrumental Winter, which is actually the last part of Rex Irae (Into The Pandemonium). With its solemn and drop-dead beautiful melodies it unfurls more than just worthy draperies over the entire work.
Besides one will find lyrics aside of common clichés, although these ones get broached as an issue. To every song one will find interesting liner notes and the list of the guest musicians is quite long. But effort and commitment was in any case worthwhile.

If someone didn’t notice: I’m completely thrilled by this record. Besides the new Enslaved album I didn’t listen to any better one this year. And I have the dim feeling that won’t change that fast. 10 points are more than deserved and I’m really looking forward how CELTIC FROST will realize Monotheist live on stage… to be witnessed next weekend at Rock Hard Festival…