Celtic Frost

小簡介
?Celtic Frost's impact on the evolution of European heavy metal cannot be overstated. Along with power metal kings Helloween (and to a lesser degree, the sometimes cartoonish Mercyful Fate), Frost's enduring influence on Europe's heavy metal landscape is arguably comparable to Metallica's standing in America. Labeled by critics as "avant-garde" for their radical fusion of violent black metal and elements of classical music, the band represented a distinctly European metal perspective. But their history was troubled, their output uneven to say the least, and their ignominious end hardly fitting of their important legacy.Thomas Gabriel Fischer was the product of a broken home and a less than financially secure upbringing — a rare predicament in his native Switzerland, but one that instilled in him the burning ambition and outcast mentality usually required in the formative years of a rock star. Fresh out of high school, the teenager was already enamored with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and particularly high-energy trios like black metal pioneers Venom and proto-thrashers Raven. Inspired by that movement's D.I.Y. credo, Fischer renamed himself Tom Warrior, and along with bassist Steve Warrior and drummer Bruce Day, formed his first band, Hellhammer, in the fall of 1982. Less than a year later, and though still raw beyond description, the band's demos — now featuring bassist Martin Eric Ain and drummer Stephen Priestly — had become surprisingly popular within the underground tape-trading community. In late 1983, start-up German label Noise Records signed them to a contract and included two of their tracks on its first release, a compilation of rising German metal bands appropriately called Death Metal. But Warrior and Ain felt that Hellhammer had already run its course and that the group's extreme nature was too limiting for their increasingly mature compositions. Thus, with their gothic, pseudo-satanic image already coming into focus, in May 1984 they evolved into Celtic Frost.By October, the trio was in Berlin recording its first album, Morbid Tales, which cemented the group's position as one of Europe's most promising metal acts thanks to its still relatively straightforward — but nevertheless excellent — thrash metal attack. The sudden departure of Priestly also proved to be a blessing in disguise, as his replacement, American drummer Reed St. Mark, brought a confidence and musicianship that the group sorely needed. Amazingly, Celtic Frost had yet to play their first concert, so after putting the finishing touches on the Emperor's Return EP, in April 1985 they performed a single warm-up show in their hometown of Zurich, then set out to tour across Germany and Austria.
Now growing from strength to strength, Warrior decided to replace the increasingly unmotivated Ain with bassist Dominic Steiner for their second album, To Mega Therion. But he soon had second thoughts, and Ain returned after the album's completion that fall. Its cover graced by original artwork from acclaimed Swiss artist H.R. Giger (of Alien fame), the album expanded Celtic Frost's songwriting palette, furthered their growing reputation, and was followed by their first North American performance at the World War Three metal festival in Montreal. After the release of the Tragic Serenades EP in the summer of 1986, the band embarked upon its most extensive tour yet — first through Europe (including their first visit to England) with Helloween and Grave Digger, then across America with Voivod and Running Wild. By the end of the year, Celtic Frost were poised to fulfill their seemingly destined promise with a groundbreaking third effort. On To Mega Therion, Warrior had begun experimenting with different musical styles (especially classical music and electronica), leading certain journalists to describe the band's direction as "avant-garde" metal. Released in 1987, Into the Pandemonium would substantiate these claims and then some, introducing an unconventional collision of death metal brutality and symphonic overtones on its way to becoming one of the classic extreme metal albums of all time. Frost's most defining and influential work, it paved the way for the evolution of European death metal as a full-fledged underground phenomenon over the next decade. American guitarist Ron Marks was brought in to flesh out Celtic Frost's live assault, and their subsequent U.K. tour was a resounding success on all fronts.
Now at the peak of their powers, Frost headed for America to undertake their biggest tour ever, but trouble was right around the corner. First the band's high spirits were quickly dampened by personality clashes with new member Marks and, secondly, the tour itself became mired in organizational and financial difficulties almost from day one. By the time it finally concluded in New York City (where the road crew was forced to hold the group's gear hostage in order to get paid by Noise Records), the band was on its last legs. Furious at their record company and completely burnt out from the long months of arduous roadwork, they had had enough: Celtic Frost effectively ceased to exist.Six months would pass before Warrior got over his disillusionment and was convinced to resurrect Celtic Frost by Swiss guitarist Oliver Amberg. After drafting bassist Curt Victor Bryant and bringing back founding drummer Stephen Priestly, the revamped unit entered Berlin's Sky Trak studios in the summer of 1988 with producer Tony Platt to begin sessions for the now infamous Cold Lake album. Warrior's lingering indifference and lack of commitment to the project allowed Amberg and Platt's commercial tendencies to run wild. In what has since been viewed as one of the most misguided changes in artistic direction in heavy metal history, the duo subverted Frost's ferocious extreme metal roar into a sugar-coated pop-metal whimper. If this weren't bad enough, the group then signed their own death sentence by adopting a glam rock image, complete with teased hair, makeup, and colorful outfits to match! The repercussions were instantaneous and devastating; press and consumers alike burned the band in effigy as an utter sellout, and what was expected to be a triumphant world tour turned into a protracted, embarrassing agony for all involved. Following this unmitigated disaster, Tom Gabriel Fischer (as he'd once again been calling himself after retiring his Warrior-like qualities) began backpedaling as fast as he could. Assuming control of the group once again, he fired Amberg and lured guitarist Ron Marks back to the fold for 1990's back-to-basics Vanity/Nemesis LP. Marks remained as unreliable as always, though, and would soon exit, forcing Bryant to switch from bass to guitar and opening the door for Martin Eric Ain's return. As for Vanity/Nemesis, it was a respectable semi-return to form that attempted to pick up where Into the Pandemonium had left off and make believe Cold Lake had never happened, but it ultimately couldn't undo the damage done to the band's reputation. After a troubled European tour, Frost planned to return to America for the first time in three years, but when a new recording deal with major label EMI (which had finally severed the band's long-troubled ties to Noise) fell through due to corporate restructuring, Celtic Frost found themselves dropped and, still in shock, decided to call it a day. Their final act was compiling a collection of hits and album leftovers for 1992's Parched with Thirst Am I and Dying — its bizarre title taken, in typically quirky Frost fashion, from a fourth century Roman poem. Fischer would avoid the spotlight completely for the next few years before resurfacing in the late '90s with a new band called Apollyon Sun, but when this too ground to a halt amid widespread public indifference, he once again connected with Martin Ain, and quietly set about planning Celtic Frost's resurrection. Working mostly in seclusion and avoiding all external intervention or financing, the duo — plus new drummer Franco Sesa — slowly recorded enough material for a comeback album to be titled Monotheist, which they eventually licensed to Century Media and released to much well-deserved fanfare in early 2006 — just over 20 years after their debut.
介紹 “更多的是情感的表達，而不僅僅是攻擊和毀滅?！薄狹artin Eric Ain，1987
“我們玩的是華麗搖滾或是地下硬核這都無關(guān)緊要，關(guān)鍵是理念的方向和發(fā)展?！薄猂eed St. Mark，1986
“我不在意我們是最重的，或者是最柔的，或者是最商業(yè)的，或者是最做作的樂隊。我們努力做到與眾不同，有所創(chuàng)新?！薄猅homas Gabriel Fischer，1986
“我們在錄制Bleach專輯之前，總是把一盤磁帶翻來覆去地聽，那盤磁帶是轉(zhuǎn)錄的，一面是SMITHEREENS，一面是CELTIC FROST，我想那還是頗有一些影響的?！薄狵urt Cobain（RIP）
創(chuàng)新，先鋒，勇敢，粗暴，奇異，刺激，獨特。這不過是CELTIC FROST在其8年的歷史中憑借其強大而富有挑戰(zhàn)性的音樂所得到的眾多贊美中的一小部分。
成立于瑞士蘇黎士的CELTIC FROST最初是由吉他手Thomas Gabriel Warrior（原姓Fisher），貝司手Martin Eric Ain和鼓手Steven Priestly組成。在成立C.F.之前，樂隊的名字叫做HELLHAMMER，并曾以這個名字發(fā)行了幾盤樣帶，這幾盤盤樣帶的意義或許大于日后 C.F.的所有專輯，樂隊在這些樣帶中所體現(xiàn)出來的粗暴美學(xué)無疑得益于BLACK SABBATH、VENOM和70年代的前衛(wèi)搖滾樂隊，如ROXY MUSIC，ELP等等，這盤樣帶影響了很多后來的極端金屬樂手。MAYHEM樂隊的鼓手把自己叫做Hellhammer，這多半也來自80年代初的 HELLHAMMER樂隊。請記住這些樣帶的名字：Death Fiend，Triumph Of Death，Satanic Rites和一張正式的EP，Apocalyptic Raids。 版權(quán)所有：偏執(zhí)狂金屬網(wǎng)
Thomas G. Warrior試圖嘗試更具有藝術(shù)搖滾的音樂形式，于是他解散了HELLHAMMER并組建了CELTIC FROST。新組建的樂隊在音樂上雖然沒有HELLHAMMER極端，但其音樂性無疑有了長足的進步。 版權(quán)所有：偏執(zhí)狂金屬網(wǎng)
1984年，樂隊出版了首張專輯Morbid Tales，這張誕生于第一波Thrash Metal浪潮的專輯有時會被人誤解成一張類似于METALLICA、MEGADETH或者SLAYER的Thrash Metal專輯，甚至當(dāng)時的媒體都把CELTIC FROST列為歐洲Thrash Metal的希望之星，似乎他們足以和美國樂隊相抗衡。對此，Tom回憶道：“我們那時候很謙遜，也許因為我們來自瑞士，而且并不處于當(dāng)時的潮流之中。我 們覺得還有很多地方需要改進，但是媒體卻讓我們感到和那些美國樂隊處于同一高度?，F(xiàn)在很難描述那時的感受，不過80年代中期對于音樂來說真的是一個極端和 變革的年代，我們想做的就是繼續(xù)擴大金屬樂的范疇?！?
Morbid Tales實際上已經(jīng)突破了美國樂隊定義的Thrash Metal的范疇，它的速度比任何美國樂隊的專輯都要慢，音色也沒那么重，但音樂本身卻比美國樂隊更極端。Morbid Tales中的riff更具有扭曲感和毀滅感，充滿了邪惡與黑暗的力量，這種力量來自古老的BLACK SABBATH，并將延續(xù)到SEPULTURA、PARADISE LOST、MAYHEM的精神之中。
1985年 初，CELTIC FROST更換了新的鼓手Reed St Mark，可能是為了檢測新陣容，他們迅速推出了一張三首歌的EP，取名為Emperor's Return，這個具有維京風(fēng)格名稱的EP雖然音質(zhì)不佳，但仍然是極端金屬迷心目中的瑰寶。 版權(quán)所有：偏執(zhí)狂金屬網(wǎng)
樂隊的下一張專輯是鼎鼎 大名的To Mega Therion，專輯的名字來自于著名的神秘主義先鋒Aleister Crowley的著作（記得Ozzy的一首歌Mr. Crowley么？就是這個Crowley），樂隊的貝司手Ain正是一位Crowley的狂熱崇拜者和一位虔誠的異端教徒。專輯的封面是瑞士著名視覺藝 術(shù)家H.R. Giger的作品，這位以設(shè)計電影《異形》而聞名于世的藝術(shù)家在To Mega Therion的封面上將耶酥變成了撒旦的彈弓架，具有強烈的諷刺效果。
To Mega Therion在音樂和視覺上的造詣無疑達到了樂隊的巔峰，專輯中有著象The Usurper、Dawn Of Meggido這樣的經(jīng)典曲目，專輯中怪異的和弦與管弦樂隊的宏大氣勢構(gòu)成了當(dāng)時最為前衛(wèi)的金屬音樂。這種音樂對后來很多以前衛(wèi)和古典著稱的極端金屬樂隊 都有著很大的影響，其中最直接的無疑就是那支取名為THERION的樂隊。
C.F.勇于革新的天性使他們的下一張專 輯被 Kerrang!雜志描述為“空前絕后最先鋒的金屬專輯”（這里“先鋒”特意用到了“avant-garde”這個詞）。這張專輯指的就是發(fā)行于1987 年的Into The Pandemonium，專輯中容納了多種音樂元素，從而極大地闊寬了金屬樂的范疇。在這張專輯中，你可以聽到詩朗誦（Tristesses de la Lune），說唱（One In Their Pride），環(huán)境音樂（Mexican Radio），甚至還有一段Tom計劃在自己的葬禮上播放的死亡進行曲（Rex Irae）！
Tom自己這樣解釋這張經(jīng)典專輯：“我在這張專輯之前和之后都沒有為哪張專輯投入過如此之多的精力。它是難以用語言來描述的，不過專輯的名字本身就很能表達這種感覺了。這是我做過的最為復(fù)雜的唱片，如此極端，我為它感到驕傲?！?
專輯中，Tom對美國吉他手Ron Mark表達了致意，他的加入使樂隊成功的世界巡演成為可能。由于Mark加入的時候，專輯的制作已經(jīng)接近尾聲，所以在這張專輯中并沒有把他列為正式成 員?？上У氖?，這次規(guī)模浩大的巡演讓樂隊成員感到厭倦，除了Tom外，其他三個人都離開了樂隊。原先的鼓手Steven Priestly又重新加入了樂隊，另外又找來了貝司手Curt Victor Bryant和吉他手Oliver Amberg。
C.F.的下一張專輯是1988年的Cold Lake，不知道是不是樂隊新成員的問題，這張專輯居然變得非常主流，完全是當(dāng)時美國主流金屬的翻版，甚至連Thrash Metal都算不上了。Tom自己也承認這張專輯是一個重大失敗，在99年的C.F.的再版專輯中，這張專輯并不包括在內(nèi)。
幸好C.F.走得并不太遠，1990年的 Vanity/Nemesis又重新回到了樂隊擅長的前衛(wèi)風(fēng)格。專輯的制作人是樂隊心儀已久的Roli Mosimann，而且更為重要的是在這張專輯中，原先的貝司手Ain和鼓手Marks又返回了樂隊，而Bryant則由貝司手改成了吉他手。專輯中包括 了兩首翻唱曲目，David Bowie的Heroes和ROXY MUSIC的This Island Earth，這些藝術(shù)搖滾的影響使C.F.的這張新專輯向金屬的最邊緣又邁進了一步。
1992年的回顧專輯本來并沒 有想到會是樂隊的最終作品，但后來事情終于發(fā)展到了這一步。在名為Parched With Thirst Am I，And Dying的精選專輯之后，本來他們雄心勃勃地試圖錄制一套龐大的雙張專輯，而且名字都已經(jīng)取好了，就是Under Apollyon's Sun，但這個計劃最終卻導(dǎo)致了樂隊的解體。
Tom回憶道：“要想作出那樣一張龐大的專輯，每個人都必須狀態(tài)良好。 最終我們失敗了，我們要么完全以自己的方式去完成它，要么乾脆就不做。但當(dāng)時的情形讓我們感到無法控制，不管你把它叫做自信或者是驕傲，反正去它媽的吧。 ”就這樣，1993年春天，這支輝煌和獨特的樂隊解散了。他們的經(jīng)歷被Kerrang!雜志形容為“噪音藝術(shù)的凱旋”。
近日，Tom宣稱他將召集C.F.的老隊員再次錄制一張全新的CELTIC FROST專輯?！拔夷芡嘎兜氖沁@將是一張極端的專輯”，Tom笑著說道。是啊，難道還能是別的么？這張暫定為Probe的新專輯正在錄制過程中，原本計 劃在2003年發(fā)行的新專輯一延再延，由于樂隊認為唱片公司對唱片的投入不夠并拒絕草率的制作，所以寧愿一直拖下去?？磥磉@張歌迷們期待已久的專輯必將是 另一張精品。
另外，Tom G. Warrior與CORONER成員組建的APOLLYON SUN樂隊在2000年底推出了首張完整專輯Sub，反響非常不錯。
“Frost的精神依然存活于許許多多勇敢的新樂隊之中”——在Dwell公司發(fā)行的向C.F.致敬的專輯中我們可以看到這樣的名字：EMPEROR、MAYHEM、ENSLAVED、GRAVE、OPETH......