Celtic Frost "Monotheist" (Century Media)
By Ari Joffe
Wednesday. May 31, 2:31 AM
Continuing the experimental, goth vibe of their later work.

The last few years have seen more and more metal bands from the ‘80s trying to make comeback albums that capitalize on the growing interest in their older material. A few of them have been pretty damn good (Sepultura and Overkill’s latest releases come to mind), but most of them fall way short of their past glories.

Celtic Frost’s new one, Monotheist, falls somewhere in between. I think it’s safe to say that, when most fans talk about the greatness of Celtic Frost, they’re referring to the band’s early proto-death metal work like Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion. But after those two albums, they started branching out and leaving that fast, hard, sludgy sound behind. So, I suppose it shouldn’t be a shock that, upon returning from their hiatus, they didn’t see fit to go back to the thrash. Instead, the new album continues the experimental, goth vibe of their late ‘80s work, mixing in some straight up doom metal riffs occasionally.

Some of it works, some of it’s boring. On the plus side, the production is super heavy and they mix things up well: no two songs really sound alike. But none of it has that kick that their classic tunes like “Usurper” or “Circle Of Tyrants” had.

If you don’t know Celtic Frost, go hunt down the early albums. If you’re a huge fanatic, I suppose this is worth borrowing from a buddy. I myself wouldn’t pay hard earned dollars to hear it.
www.celticfrost.com
www.centurymedia.com

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Ari Joffe

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