Monotheist (album)

Monotheist is the fifth 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 critical acclaim.

Monotheist
Studio album by
Celtic Frost
Released29 May 2006
Recorded2002–2005
Studio
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[3]
Blabbermouth8/10[4]
Metal Archives86%[5]
Sputnik Music[6]
Metal Storm90%[7]
Metal Underground[8]
Scene Point Blank9/10[9]
Metal Crypt[10]
The Art of Blasphemy98%[11]
Sea of Tranquillity[12]
Storm Bringer (GER)[13]
Metal Temple8/10[14]
Metalfan (NL)80%[15]
Metal1 (GER)10/10[16]
Power Metal (GER)8.6/10[17]
El Portal del Metal[18]
Chronicles of Chaos8/10[19]
Ox Fazine (GER)10/10[20]
Metal.de (GER)9/10[21]
Media Assault[22]
Metal Music Archives[23]
Truemetal (IT)93%[24]
Metal Reviews66%[25]
Aux Portes du Metal64%[26]
Metalitalia (IT)6.5/10[27]

Development

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.[28] Working titles for the album included Probe and Dark Matter Manifest.[29][30]

"Obscured" comes from the demo track "November" from the 2002 demo album "Prototype".[31]

"Drown in Ashes" uses lyrics from the demo track "The Dying I".[31]

Music

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.[3] The result is a wide-ranging but very dark heavy metal experience.[32][33] Don Kaye of Blabbermouth called it "a monstrously heavy and oppressive slab of metal" which goes "into even heavier, blacker territory" than previous albums.[34] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters said that the album was nearly a masterpiece of "brutally heavy" metal, "completely devoid of light."[32] 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".[3]

According to Fischer,[35] some of the lyrics were influenced by the writings of the English occultist Aleister Crowley.[35] This influence manifests itself in tracks such as "Os Abysmi Vel Daath", which is the partial name of one of Crowley's books.[32][33][36]

Release

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.[37]

Track listing
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
  • 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
  • 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

References
  1. "Celtic Frost - Monotheist". metalstorm.net.
  2. "Monotheist". nuclearblast.de.
  3. Eduardo Rivadavia: Monotheist.
  4. http://www.blabbermouth.net/cdreviews/monotheist/
  5. https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Celtic_Frost/Monotheist/104518
  6. https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/73018/Celtic-Frost-Monotheist/
  7. http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=2837&page=&message_id=
  8. http://www.metalunderground.com/reviews/details.cfm?releaseid=216
  9. https://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews/celtic-frost/monotheist/
  10. http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=2752
  11. https://theartofblasphemy.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/celtic-frost-monotheist-2006-album-review/
  12. http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=3611
  13. https://www.stormbringer.at/reviews/412/celtic-frost-monotheist.html
  14. http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/c_2/celtic_frost_2.htm
  15. http://www.metalfan.nl/reviews.php?id=2687
  16. https://www.metal1.info/metal-reviews/celtic-frost-monotheist/
  17. http://powermetal.de/review/review-Celtic_Frost/Monotheist,7570.html
  18. http://www.elportaldelmetal.com/critica/celtic-frost-monotheist
  19. http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles.aspx?id=2-4198
  20. http://www.ox-fanzine.de/web/rev/52981/reviews.207.html
  21. http://www.metal.de/reviews/celtic-frost-monotheist-6426/
  22. http://www.media-assault.com/musicreviews/monotheistreview.shtml
  23. http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/album/celtic-frost/monotheist
  24. http://www.truemetal.it/recensioni/monotheist-55653
  25. https://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/album/3283
  26. http://auxportesdumetal.com/reviews/CelticFrost/monotheist.html
  27. https://metalitalia.com/album/celtic-frost-monotheist/
  28. "How Monotheist Saved Celtic Frost's Legacy". Kerrang!. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  29. "News for 2002 - CELTIC FROST RE-ENVISIONED". triptykon.net.
  30. "PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THE EMPEROR RETURNS". triptykon.net.
  31. "Celtic Frost - Prototype - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". www.metal-archives.com. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  32. Adrien Begrand: The Great Beast Resurrected.
  33. Lord of the Wasteland: Celtic Frost. Monotheist.
  34. Kaye, Don. "CELTIC FROST "Monotheist" (Century Media)". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  35. Mattörhead: Celtic Frost (Tom Gabriel Fischer) Archived 9 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  36. Guy Van Campenhout: Celtic Frost - Monotheist - CD-bespreking.
  37. "Happy Birthday Tom G. Warrior! (Part 1)". terrorizer.com.
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