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Monotheist (album)

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Monotheist
Studio album by
Celtic Frost
Released29 May 2006
Recorded2002–2005
Studio
Various
  • Horus Sound Studio, Hanover, Germany
  • Oakland Recording, Winterthur, Switzerland
  • Celtic Frost Bunker, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Apollyon Sun Bunker, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Department of Noize, Kilchberg, Switzerland
  • FSK-18, Winterthur, Switzerland
  • Transmutation, Thalwil, Switzerland
Genre
Length68:16
LabelCentury Media
Producer
Celtic Frost chronology
Parched with Thirst Am I and Dying
(1992) 		Monotheist
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Blabbermouth8/10[1]
Sputnikmusic[5]
Metal Storm90%[6]
Metal Underground[7]
Scene Point Blank9/10[8]
Metal Crypt[9]
The Art of Blasphemy98%[10]
Sea of Tranquillity[11]
Storm Bringer (GER)[12]
Metal Temple8/10[13]
Metalfan (NL)80%[14]
Metal1 (GER)10/10[15]
Power Metal (GER)8.6/10[16]
El Portal del Metal[17]
Chronicles of Chaos8/10[18]
Ox Fazine (GER)10/10[19]
Metal.de (GER)9/10[20]
Media Assault[21]
Metal Music Archives[22]
Truemetal (IT)93%[23]
Metal Reviews66%[24]
Aux Portes du Metal64%[25]
Metalitalia (IT)6.5/10[26]

Monotheist is the sixth and final studio album by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. The album was released in May 2006 and was the first new recording released by the band in 16 years. Upon its release, the album was met with universal acclaim by music critics.

Development

[edit]

Preparation and development work for the project had been ongoing since 2000. The first recording sessions for the album started in late October 2002. The band consisted of founding members Martin Eric Ain (bass/vocals) and Tom Gabriel Fischer (voice/guitars/keyboards), along with guitarist/producer Erol Unala, Fischer's long-time songwriting partner. Unala became an increasingly significant part of Celtic Frost during the songwriting.[27] Working titles for the album included Probe and Dark Matter Manifest.[28][29]

"Obscured" comes from the demo track "November" from the 2002 demo album "Prototype".

"Drown in Ashes" uses lyrics from the demo track "The Dying I".

Music

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Celtic Frost's earlier work melded elements of thrash metal and black metal. The sound of Monotheist has been described as difficult to reduce to specifics, as the songs vary from doom metal to "blackened thrash" to gothic metal to symphonic metal.[4] The result is a wide-ranging but very dark heavy metal experience.[30][31] Don Kaye of Blabbermouth called it "a monstrously heavy and oppressive slab of metal" which goes "into even heavier, blacker territory" than previous albums.[1] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters said that the album was nearly a masterpiece of "brutally heavy" metal, "completely devoid of light".[30] Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic noted more subtle touches such as the "instantaneously infectious melody" of "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh", and the "haunting female voices" heard in duet with bandleader Tom Warrior on "Drown in Ashes".[4]

According to Fischer,[32] some of the lyrics were influenced by the writings of the English occultist Aleister Crowley.[32] This influence manifests itself in tracks such as "Os Abysmi Vel Daath", which is the partial name of one of Crowley's books.[30][31][33]

Release

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Monotheist was released on CD and LP. A limited edition digipak featured the bonus track "Temple of Depression". Both the vinyl LP version and the Japanese CD release of Monotheist feature the bonus track "Incantation Against You".

A video was made for the song "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh".

The album was ranked number 2 on Terrorizer's list of the best albums of the decade.[34]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Progeny"FischerAin, Fischer, Sesa5:01
2."Ground"FischerFischer, Unala3:55
3."A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh"AinAin, Fischer, Unala5:39
4."Drown in Ashes"FischerFischer4:23
5."Os Abysmi Vel Daath"Ain, FischerAin, Fischer, Sesa, Unala6:41
6."Temple of Depression" (limited edition digipak bonus track)FischerAin, Fischer, Unala4:59
7."Obscured"Ain, Fischer, UnalaAin, Fischer, Unala7:04
8."Incantation Against You" (Japanese version and vinyl LP bonus track)AinAin, Vollenweider5:06
9."Domain of Decay"FischerAin, Fischer, Unala4:38
10."Ain Elohim"AinAin, Fischer, Sesa, Unala7:33
11."Triptych: I. Totengott"AinFischer4:27
12."Triptych: II. Synagoga Satanae"AinAin, Fischer, Sesa14:24
13."Triptych: III. Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale)"(instrumental)Fischer4:32

Credits

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  • Thomas Gabriel Fischer – vocals, guitars, arrangements, programming
  • Martin Eric Ain – bass, vocals (most vocals on "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh", all vocals on "Triptych I: Totengott", and spoken parts on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae"), and executive producer of album
  • Erol Unala – guitars, engineer, additional programming on "Temple of Depression"
  • Franco Sesa – drums

Session musicians

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  • Lisa Middelhauve (Xandria): guest vocals on "Drown in Ashes"
  • Ravn (1349): backing vocals in final chorus of "Temple of Depression"
  • Simone Vollenweider: guest backing vocals on "Temple of Depression", additional vocals on "Obscured", and lead vocals on "Incantation Against You"
  • Sigurd Wongraven (Satyricon): brief segment of lead vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae"
  • Peter Tägtgren: backing vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae" and co-producer of album
  • Walter J.W. Schmid: engineering, mixing, mastering
  • Phillip Schweidler: engineering, mixing

Charts

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Chart (2006) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[35] 194
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 67
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[37] 41

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kaye, Don (29 May 2006). "CELTIC FROST "Monotheist"". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  2. ^ Gendron, Bob (22 September 2006). "Sharpness and sarcasm fuel heat of Thermals". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  3. ^ Begrand, Adrien (21 May 2014). "The Long Shadow Of Tom Warrior, Metal's Dark Innovator". NPR. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Eduardo Rivadavia: Monotheist. AllMusic
  5. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist (album review ) | Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist review". Metalstorm.net.
  7. ^ "Celtic Frost - 'Monotheist' CD Review". Metalunderground.com.
  8. ^ "Album review: Celtic Frost – Monotheist". Scenepointblank.com.
  9. ^ "The Metal Crypt - Review of Celtic Frost - Monotheist". Metalcrypt.com.
  10. ^ "Celtic Frost – Monotheist (2006) Album Review". Theartofblasphemy.wordpress.com. 16 February 2012.
  11. ^ "Review: "Celtic Frost: Monotheist" - Sea of Tranquility - The Web Destination for Progressive Music!". Seaoftranquility.org. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  12. ^ "CELTIC FROST - Monotheist". Stormbringer.at.
  13. ^ Beast, The. "Metal-Temple.com :: Celtic Frost - Monotheist (CD) (CD Review)". Metal-temple.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist | Metalfan.nl Review". Metalfan.nl. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist • Review". metal1.info.
  16. ^ "Review | CELTIC FROST - Monotheist". Powermetal.de.
  17. ^ "Crítica: Celtic Frost - Monotheist | El Portal del METAL". Elportaldelmetal.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  18. ^ "CoC : Celtic Frost - Monotheist : Review". Chronicleofchaos.com.
  19. ^ "Review". Ox-fanzine.de.
  20. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist Review". Metal.de. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Media-Assault.com - Celtic Frost: Monotheist Review". Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  22. ^ "CELTIC FROST - Monotheist". MetalMusicArchives.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Recensione Monotheist - truemetal.it". Truemetal.it. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  24. ^ "Celtic Frost - Monotheist". Metalreviews.com.
  25. ^ "Chronique d'album metal Celtic Frost - Monotheist". Auxportesdumetal.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  26. ^ "CELTIC FROST - Monotheist". Metalitalia.com. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  27. ^ "How Monotheist Saved Celtic Frost's Legacy". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  28. ^ "News for 2002 - CELTIC FROST RE-ENVISIONED". triptykon.net.
  29. ^ "PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THE EMPEROR RETURNS". triptykon.net.
  30. ^ a b c Adrien Begrand: The Great Beast Resurrected.
  31. ^ a b Lord of the Wasteland: Celtic Frost. Monotheist.
  32. ^ a b Mattörhead: Celtic Frost (Tom Gabriel Fischer) Archived 9 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  33. ^ Guy Van Campenhout: Celtic Frost - Monotheist - CD-bespreking.
  34. ^ "Happy Birthday Tom G. Warrior! (Part 1)". terrorizer.com.
  35. ^ "Lescharts.com – Celtic Frost – Monotheist". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Celtic Frost – Monotheist" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  37. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Celtic Frost – Monotheist". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
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