''Monotheist'' is the fifth and final studio album by the Swiss

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

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.

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 Martin Eric Ain (born Martin Erich Stricker; July 18, 1967 – October 21, 2017) was a musician best known as the bassist of the influential extreme metal bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. He used the stage name Martin Eric Ain throughout. ...

(bass/vocals) and

Tom Gabriel Fischer Thomas Gabriel Fischer (born 19 July 1963), also known by his stage names of Tom G. Warrior and Satanic Slaughter, is a Swiss metal musician. He led the groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and today is the frontman of the band Triptykon. Care ...

(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. Working titles for the album included ''Probe'' and ''Dark Matter Manifest''. "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

Celtic Frost's earlier work melded elements of

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

and

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

. The sound of ''Monotheist'' has been described as difficult to reduce to specifics, as the songs vary from

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

to "

blackened thrash Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an empha ...

" to

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

. The result is a wide-ranging but very dark heavy metal experience. Don Kaye of Blabbermouth called it "a monstrously heavy and oppressive slab of metal" which goes "into even heavier, blacker territory" than previous albums. Adrien Begrand of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

said that the album was nearly a masterpiece of "brutally heavy" metal, "completely devoid of light". Eduardo Rivadavia of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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". According to Fischer,Mattörhead
''Celtic Frost (Tom Gabriel Fischer)''
. some of the lyrics were influenced by the writings of the English

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...

. This influence manifests itself in tracks such as "Os Abysmi Vel Daath", which is the partial name of one of Crowley's books.Adrien Begrand
''The Great Beast Resurrected''
Lord of the Wasteland
''Celtic Frost''. ''Monotheist''

Release

''Monotheist'' was released on CD and LP. A limited edition

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

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 Terrorizer is an American grindcore band formed in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. After disbanding, its members gained recognition by playing in influential extreme metal bands, such as Morbid Angel ( David Vincent, Pete Sandoval), Napalm ...

''s list of the best albums of the decade.

Track listing

Credits

Thomas Gabriel Fischer Thomas Gabriel Fischer (born 19 July 1963), also known by his stage names of Tom G. Warrior and Satanic Slaughter, is a Swiss metal musician. He led the groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and today is the frontman of the band Triptykon. Caree ...

– vocals, guitars, arrangements, programming *

– 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 Erol Uenala, also known as Erol Unala, is a Swiss industrial and metal musician. He was a member of the industrial metal band Apollyon Sun and the thrash metal band Celtic Frost. Career Uenala and his brother Kurt grew up in Aadorf, Switzerland. ...

– guitars, engineer, additional programming on "Temple of Depression" * Franco Sesa – drums

Session musicians

Lisa Middelhauve Elisabeth Rodermund, known as Lisa Middelhauve (born Elisabeth Schaphaus on 28 November 1980) is a German musician, better known as the former lead vocalist and pianist (on the earliest works) of German symphonic metal band Xandria from early 2 ...

(

Xandria Xandria is a German symphonic metal band founded by Marco Heubaum in 1994. Originally a project, Heubaum later restarted the project as a band in 1999, and has gone through various lineup changes. The German vocalist Lisa Middelhauve joined fo ...

): 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 Sigurd Wongraven (born 28 November 1975), also known as Satyr, is a Norwegian musician who is the vocalist, guitarist, bassist and keyboardist for the black metal band Satyricon. Musical career Wongraven was a founding member of Satyricon ( ...

(

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petr ...

): brief segment of lead vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae" *

Peter Tägtgren Alf Peter Tägtgren (born 3 June 1970) is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pa ...

: backing vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae" and co-producer of album * Walter J.W. Schmid: engineering, mixing, mastering * Phillip Schweidler: engineering, mixing

Charts

References

External links

"The Great Beast Resurrected"
– article in ''

'' covering the band's comeback and an early review of the album {{Authority control Celtic Frost albums 2006 albums Century Media Records albums Albums produced by Peter Tägtgren