THEY WERE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
“The first album I got was Into the Pandemonium. A friend brought it over when I was in sixth grade. At first I just thought it was wild and different, but when I heard Inner Sanctum and Babylon Fell, I really fell in love with it. That was their most experimental album. It was all over the place, but that’s the beauty of it. I dug how it was such a strange, dark sound. With that being my first Celtic Frost album, everything from there was great. I quickly got all the rest of them.”
EVEN THEIR MISTAKES ARE COOL
“I consider them a black metal band pushing the limits. It’s very intelligent and complex. The only record they did to fit in with other people was Cold Lake, where they changed their look and went a bit commercial. Luckily, I was young enough when it came out that it didn’t turn me away from them. I loved them no matter what. I still played it a thousand times to search for what I liked on it. After all, it’s still the same members that I’d already enjoyed when they work together creatively, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. They came back stronger with Monotheist. I was the happiest person ever when that came out!”
THEY ARE CHARISMATIC GENTLEMEN
“Martin Ain [CF bassist] is a very nice guy – I know him and Tom G. Warrior [vocalist/guitarist] didn’t get along very well, but they’ve both been really nice to me. They’d heard that I’d said so many times that they were my favourite band that they knew exactly who I was and they were very polite and thankful. I’ve seen Tom a couple of times. He came out to one of our shows when we went through Sweden. Tom is a very serious, unique person. The character he portrays in his music is almost exactly how he is. He told me that when he worked as H.R. Giger’s assistant, Giger would offer him paintings and he didn’t want to accept them. He doesn’t believe in material things in this world. It’s a cool way to look at things, but if Giger offered me a painting, I’d be happy with that!”
THEY TRULY INSPIRE HERO WORSHIP
“I have only seen them play live one time and it was one of my favourite nights ever. I caught them in 2008 in Orlando in a small club. I took some of my friends along but they stood at the back of the room because they didn’t know them. I was right up front on the rails going crazy, singing along to every word. I felt like I was the only one in that room that knew every second of every song. I got to meet the guys after the show, and there’s nothing that can top that night. With bands that tour so much, you always have a chance to see them, but with Celtic Frost it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
THEY MADE METAL EXTRA-CREEPY
“They’ve definitely got a good thing going visually. Their videos are amazing. I love Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh – it’s so dark. It doesn’t get much creepier than that! I’m always looking for dark twists in my own songs and that comes from my love of Celtic Frost. I try to be as moody as possible but I haven’t even scratched the surface. It’d be hard for me to ever match Tom’s vocals. He’s a master, I’m a novice!”
THEIR LEGEND WILL NEVER, EVER DIE
“Any time Celtic Frost want to reunite, I’m up for that! I’d drive hours and hours to see them. A lot of 80s bands don’t sound like they did then, but they’d sound exactly the same. I don’t think they’ve lost it at all. I love Triptykon [Tom G. Warrior’s current band] so I hope they live on as well, but I’m doing two bands right now… If I can do it then so can they!”
