Tom G. Warrior has announced his desire to get former Celtic Frost members back together for tribute concerts to late bassist Martin Eric Ain.
Warrior, real name Thomas Gabriel Fischer, led Celtic Frost during their two stints from 1984 to ’93 and 2001 to ’08. Ain was his longest serving bandmate in the Swiss extreme metal pioneers and died in October 2017 following a heart attack.
Talking to the Scars And Guitars podcast, Warrior mentions the notion of the Ain tribute shows when asked if he has any intention to again perform with Celtic Frost’s classic drummer, Reed St Mark.
“You know what? It's something I think about every single day,” Warrior answers (per Blabbermouth). “Reed is still one of my closest friends, and we are still in contact. And we have talked about it.”
Warrior later adds: “I frequently talk with Reed about him flying to Zurich. He still lives in North America. I talk to him about flying to Zurich and us doing a session to see where we stand musically with our capabilities, to see if it’s possible to do maybe a Martin Ain tribute show or two somewhere.”
Warrior emphasises he isn’t keen to reform Celtic Frost properly, calling it “impossible”, but elaborates on his hopes for former members to play together at the tribute gigs.
“[I want] to ask other ex-Celtic Frost members to come and put together a lineup of people who all were in Celtic Frost and play Celtic Frost songs in honour of Martin, maybe for two shows or something like that,” says Warrior. “We have talked about this, and I’m sure we’re gonna try to do it.”
Warrior admits that he “can’t really comment on Reed’s playing proficiency” due to the drummer not frequently performing live, but finishes, “If he can do it, I’m sure it’s gonna happen.”
Warrior is currently performing sets of Celtic Frost songs with Triptykon, the band he formed after Celtic Frost’s second split in 2008.
Triptykon will next perform at Prophecy Fest in Balve, Germany, from September 5 to 7. They also have dates scheduled at Hell’s Balls in Kortrijk, Belgium, from November 9 to 10 and Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, Maryland, from May 22 to 25.