CELTIC FROST
Morbid Tales
(Noise Records / BMG)
49:34min

"Morbid Tales" is arguably one of the most important records of all times, regardless of the genre. This nasty little beast – a monstrous quantum leap after the end of HELLHAMMER – has opened doors that hardly anyone dared to look beyond before. I could fill volumes with anecdotes and personal stories about how important it has been for my own life, but I assume that every reader has similar stories, and Tom G. Warrior has that territory covered with his books anyway. "Morbid Tales" is a clear 12 out of 10 points (if there was a score), but this re-release is a 4, if even that. Let me explain: it is common knowledge by now that the Noise Records of 2017 is as far away from the Noise Records of 1984 as I am from straight edge. Owned by a major label and operated like a major corporation, they do everything wrong. This re-release here is a shining example. What was supposed to be an "ultimate" version is merely a shadow of what it could have been. First things first, the visual aggression… erm, the visual side I mean: thankfully, they went for the classic original design and not for the 1999/2000 design abomination. Uhhh, as Tom Warrior would say. The original intro, that was an integral part of ‘Into The Crypts Of Rays’, is now a separate track called ‘Human’. Buddies, I am sorry, but this is not as it was and just a bad idea. But the real capitalist ugliness unfolds in the liner notes. Tom G. Warrior has provided in-depth notes about his music and his work and the story of his band, but Noise censored and altered the living fuck out of it all, only to replace it with something nicer, something more marketable. But I don’t want to be nothing more than a naysayer (even though this seems to be encoded in my DNA), so hey, there are good things about this re-release as well. Four good things, to be precise – four rehearsal tracks from 1984, and they should be reason enough for every true fanboy and -girl to drool. As shitty as they sound, this is how it’s supposed to be. Ugly, filthy, noisy, with nothing but sheer hatred and aggression creeping out of the speakers. Still, I hope that someone is going to bootleg the shit of of these tracks (actually I am sure that it will happen anyway, haha!) in a respectful way. This is where my money would go, not towards some flimsy half-assed major label piece of turd. www.celticfrost.com is the band website, www.noiserecords.net is what you should avoid, and fischerisdead.blogspot.com is where the whole story can be read.

Thomas Reitmayer

Thomas Reitmayer

Related reviews / interviews:
CELTIC FROST - To Mega Therion (Thomas Meyer)
CELTIC FROST - Into The Pandemonium (Michael Tak)
CELTIC FROST - Vanity / Nemesis (Julián “Nemesis” Núñez)
CELTIC FROST - Monotheist (Mario Cubero)
CELTIC FROST - Interview (Steven Willems)
CELTIC FROST - Interview (Frank Stöver)

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