Morbid Tales Explained

Morbid Tales
Type:EP
Longtype:and studio album
Artist:Celtic Frost
Cover:Morbid Tales - Celtic Frost.jpg
Released:November 1984
Recorded:8–15 October 1984
Studio:Caet Studio in Berlin, Germany
Length:24:51 (Mini-LP)
32:09 (LP)
50:02 (album version)
Label:Noise (Europe)
Enigma/Metal Blade (US)
Producer:Horst Müller, Tom Warrior, Martin Ain, Karl Walterbach
Next Title:Emperor's Return
Next Year:1985

Morbid Tales is the debut album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in November 1984. It was originally released in Europe on Noise Records as a mini-LP with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma/Metal Blade added two tracks, bringing it to the length of a regular studio LP. The band retrospectively refers to the LP release as the band's debut studio album.[1] [2]

In 1999 a remastered edition of Morbid Tales was released on CD by Noise Records, which also contained the tracks from their 1985 EP Emperor's Return as well as a 2017 remastered edition released by the same label on CD and vinyl formats.

Legacy

The thrash metal intensity of Morbid Tales had a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres. It included elements that were adopted by the pioneers of both styles.[3] The band's bleak and dead serious fashion style was also influential, including their corpse paint face makeup. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Morbid Tales as 28th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'[4] Decibel placed Morbid Tales at #14 in their "Decibel Thrash Top 50". Contributor Jeff Wagner wrote about how the LP was "Hellhammer refined, but no less demented", and that it "remains as pure and primal as Celtic Frost would ever be."[5]

In the commentary for Darkthrone's album Panzerfaust, Fenriz cites this album along with Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark and Vader's Necrolust as key riff inspirations.[6]

"Danse Macabre" was later sampled in the demo track "Totgetanzt" from their 2002 demo album Prototype.[7]

Track listings

All music by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, all lyrics by Thomas Gabriel Fischer and Martin Ain, except where noted.

2017 remastered edition bonus tracks

Personnel

Credits adapted from the original editions.[8] [9]

Celtic Frost
Additional musicians
Production

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: RIVADAVIA . EDUARDO . INFLUENTIAL CELTIC FROST DEBUT ALBUM 'MORBID TALES' TURNS 30 YEARS OLD . . 24 June 2014 . 18 August 2019.
  2. Web site: Warrior. Tom. Rolling Stone Magazine's "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time" Delineation II. ...it is of course a significant honour to find Celtic Frost's debut album Morbid Tales of 1984 featured as number 28 of Rolling Stone magazine's 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time'.. 7 June 2023.
  3. Influential Celtic Frost Debut Album 'Morbid Tales' Turns 30 Years Old . Rivadavia . Eduardo . . 24 June 2014 . 3 February 2017 .
  4. Web site: Rolling Stone Share Their Choices for 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'. 21 June 2017.
  5. Wagner 2011, p. 10.
  6. Darkthrone - Panzerfaust . Bennett . J. . . 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101109090636/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/record-rules/darkthrone-panzerfaust/ . 9 November 2010 . 29 January 2017.
  7. Encyclopedia: Celtic Frost - Prototype. Encyclopaedia Metallum. 22 June 2016.
  8. Morbid Tales . . 1984. LP sleeve . . N 0017 . Berlin, Germany.
  9. Morbid Tales . . 1999. CD booklet . . N 0325-2 . Berlin, Germany.

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