Someone Explain Celtic Frost To Me

I'm pretty sure Celtic Frost was never a glam band... and yet look at the photo below. Was this just a marketing ploy to get more album sales for an extreme metal band? Or not? What am I missing here? Is there a treasure trove of Celtic Frost glam left for me to explore?

Celtic Frost 1988 – Cold Lake era pic.twitter.com/9YTvFcskP8

— BraveWords (@BraveWords666) February 28, 2018

Comments

[Bond]

It was just a one off album for Celtic Frost. All their other material was definitely not glam.

[Bob]

cold Lake was one of those unfortunate missteps that a number of bands took in the late 80s to try to capitalize on the commercial potential of glam metal. It was a very band idea, and thank goodness they came to their senses after that. Celtic Frost was a great band in the slower, slightly doomier side of extreme metal, but they had no business trying to play in the glam sandbox.

[Jeff]

Best track on that CD is Cherry Orchards. Used to bast that back in the day.

[Him]

Yup, Cold Lake was a misfire for sure.

But Thomas Gabriel Fischer is one talented, dare I say underrated, musician.The new music he is making with Triptykon is quite good, esp. if you enjoyed Celtic Frost albums like _To Mega Therion_ and even the more acquired sounds of his earlier work in Hellhammer (basically, CF without the production--such as it was--value).

And lest we forget (or you didn't know): CF's cover of "Mexican Radio" remains one of the most aggressively funny and straight-faced songs on the face of the Earth!!!

All that said, the album on which "Mexican Radio" appeared--_Into the Pandemonium_--hinted at changes in the style/direction of the band. But surely not that _Cold Lake_ would be the next album. I suspect that had something to do with Fischer's frustration with the band, esp. considering it was a new set of musicians that he assembled for CL.

[Kenny Ozz]

Yeah. They did one glam record that was a horrible failure.

[Bob]

Him, thanks for the expanded insights. Very cool stuff. Did you ever catch them in concert? I saw them in 1987 at the Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY. It was a triple bill along with Exodus and Anthrhax. Pretty amazing show.

[Metalboy!]

Man, what’s with all the hate?

“Cold Lake” is an awesome album!

Does the band pic on the back look a little hokey? Yeah, but if you shut your eyes and had no idea of who it is or the controversy behind the album, I’m willing to bet you’d like it! ANC it sure as hell doesn’t sound like Glam Metal.

Also, I own an original press of the CD as well as the LP and Cassette versions (Hey, they don’t call me Metslboy! for nuthin’!).

The CD now averages around $80+ on eBay.

[Him]

I bow to you, Bob. Unfortunately, I never got to see them in any of their incarnations. But I've always admired Fischer's forward-thinking approach to melding different sounds. Some of the orchestral work on _To Mega Therion_ still gets me to this day.

And, man, seeing Exodus back then? I bet those are great memories, Bob.

I also agree with you too, Metalboy!. While the look was certainly Glam, the sound on _Cold Lake_ was far different. I still think it was a misfire though. It reflected the tumultuous times that the band was experiencing, no less the issues they were having with the label.

[Bob]

Him, that night was insane. I was in college, and I went to that show with two friends of mine. Another friend of ours dropped us off, and was supposed to come back to get us.

The pit was absolutely sick that night, and somehow my shirt got torn off, so I did the rest of the night shirtless. So, the show ended, and we waited outside in 10 degree weather for our friend to come back. I was wearing a winter coat, but no shirt underneath. Our ride never showed up, so we had to walk about three miles back to the college in the freezing cold after sweating in a steaming hot mosh pit all night.

Naturally, I got really sick a couple days later, and couldn't get out of bed for about a week. But, what an incredible experience.

Celtic Frost began the night with some of their slower stuff, then gradually picked up the tempo. it was a perfect way to set up the evening. then, exodus, with Steve Souza on vocals, just ripped the place apart for at least an hour. I am not the biggest Anthrax fan, but they really were amazing that night. This was after "Among the Living" came out, so they were in their speed thrash phase. they brought it hard without any of the clowning around they became famous for later.

Even though I got really sick because of that concert, it is one of the truly memorable nights of my life.

[Him]

Nothing you said, Bob, make me any less envious. Did you ever see Exodus with Paul Baloff?

Either way, one of those after-the-fact Bucket List type stories. Thanks for sharing!

[Metalboy!]

Bob! INSANE story! Thanks for sharing! Like HIM, I am COMPLETELY envious, despite the second Celtic Frost you experienced AFTER the show!

[Bob]

Metalboy!, nice pun sir! Him, I wasn't fortunate enough to catch Exodus with Baloff. Guys, you know what I was thinking?...So many of us on this site have so many amazing stories from back in the day. Wouldn't it be cool to somehow compile them all in one place?

[Him]

I agree, Bob. A lot of great stories. If only one of the niche publishers that specializes in things like metal would create an anthology of our war stories. In the meantime, though, we can at least share them here with each other.