Monotheist (Monotheist - Celtic Frost)

Member Name: Frankingsteins

Product:	Monotheist - Celtic Frost
Date:	15/05/08 (15 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Heavy, committed and varied.

Disadvantages: Overlong, repetitive and difficult to get into.

Over ten years after their break-up, Swiss metal legends Celtic Frost reformed with the high-profile comeback release 'Monotheist,' an album that successfully recaptures much of what made them great in the first place, without feeling like a step backwards for a band that was constantly reinventing itself.

This is a difficult album to approach, even for those inducted into the world of extreme metal. It's predominantly slow, ominous and crushingly heavy, interjected with old-school thrash metal reminiscent of the 'Morbid Tales' and 'To Mega Therion' releases, and it's almost always overlong. The hammering production values make for a loud and excruciating listening experience at times that will greatly please those who enjoy their metal head-crushingly violent, but this also means that it sounds clinical and less atmospheric than those sludgy early releases, even if the riffs are just as talented and enjoyable.

This isn't an album I could listen to very often, as although I admire it, the persistence of the slow tempo and gothic style do become exhausting, and the central section of the album in particular feels like a long wait for something exciting to come along, something that isn't aided by the presence of overlong interludes bookending the fifteen-minute centrepiece of the 'Triptych' suite. Thomas Gabriel Fischer's vocals are better and more varied than ever, and the whole band is on top form, but this isn't necessarily going to please the old-school fans by sounding predictable and accessible. Just as well, otherwise it wouldn't really be a Celtic Frost album.

1. Progeny
2. Ground
3. A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh
4. Drown in Ashes
5. Os Abysmi vel Daath
6. Obscured
7. Domain of Decay
8. Ain Elohim
9. Triptych: Totengott
10. Triptych: Synagoga Satanae
11. Triptych: Winter

Summary: Celtic Frost's fifth studio album (2006).