May 21, 2008

The manager of former PHANTOM BLUE guitarist Michelle Meldrum – who has spent the past few years as the leader of her own band called MELDRUM – has told Blabbermouth.net that Meldrum is currently in a coma in a Los Angeles hospital and hasn’t been officially declared dead yet despite earlier reports to the contrary. According to Dawn Robinson of Dark Moon Entertainment, Michelle is in critical condition and is undergoing a number of tests which her family is hoping will result in a miracle that will allow her to "pull through." An official update regarding her status is expected sometime within the next 24 hours. Michelle Meldrum started her career in music by forming the Thrash Metal band WARGOD with drummer Gene Hoglan (DARK ANGEL, DEATH, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD). She also used to be part of New Renaissance Records’ artists POST MORTEM for a short time.

Blabbermouth just posted the following news: Former CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer has announced the formation of his new band, TRIPTYKON. Check out the group’s logo at this location. The first audio sample, a track called ‘Cucifixus’, can be heard on TRIPTYKON’s official MySpace page. Commented Fischer: "TRIPTYKON will sound as close to CELTIC FROST as is humanly possible, and the album I am working on will feature all the material I envisioned for the successor to [CELTIC FROST’s] "Monotheist". I desire the album to be a darker, heavier, and slightly more experimental development of "Monotheist". ‘Cucifixus’ is but one of many compositions to that end. TRIPTYKON is not defined by just this one song, however, just like CELTIC FROST was not defined by ‘Totengott’ alone." Fischer announced his departure from CELTIC FROST last month, citing "the irresolvable, severe erosion of the personal basis so urgently required to collaborate within a band so unique, volatile, and ambitious." "I have always seen the "Monotheist" album as a mere beginning, and a tame one at that," he explained. "My mind and spirit are full of energy, creativity, and ideas. CELTIC FROST had become the unreserved focus of my life for the second time. I was looking forward immeasurably to working on the next CELTIC FROST album. To me, it needed to be darker, heavier, and more experimental than "Monotheist". And yet, CELTIC FROST consisted of three individuals, and I was only one of them. In the end I had to concede to myself that there was no other option." Fischer added, "Artistically, I did not want to leave CELTIC FROST at all; I have never been happier with the music and creativity in the band. I saw "Monotheist" as only the first of hopefully several distinctive albums by this group. I thus plan on continuing exactly in the artistic vein of CELTIC FROST. I had very a distinct vision of what the next two CELTIC FROST albums might consist of, and I intend to eventually fulfill this vision and complete these albums with a new group. I would also like to continue touring and perform the music I have written in CELTIC FROST over the years for audiences all across the globe." It was reported earlier in the year that CELTIC FROST was putting together an album tentatively titled "Monotheist Companion" that will feature unreleased songs from 2006’s "Monotheist" sessions and rearrangements of tracks from the album. The disc is tentatively due in the summer.