Monotheist is the sixth and final studio album by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. Released in May 2006, it was the band's first new recording in 16 years. It received largely positive reviews.
Development Preparation and development for the project began in 2000. The first recording sessions for the album commenced in late October 2002. The band comprised founding members Martin Eric Ain (bass/vocals) and Tom Gabriel Fischer (vocals/guitars/keyboards), alongside guitarist and producer Erol Unala, who was Fischer's long-time songwriting partner. Unala became an increasingly significant contributor to Celtic Frost during the songwriting process. Working titles for the album included Probe and Dark Matter Manifest.
"Obscured" is derived from the demo track "November," which appeared on the 2002 demo album "Prototype."
"Drown in Ashes" features lyrics from the demo track "The Dying I."
Music Celtic Frost's earlier work blended elements of thrash metal and black metal. The sound of Monotheist has been characterized as challenging to define, as the songs range from doom metal to "blackened thrash" to gothic metal to symphonic metal. The result is a diverse yet consistently dark heavy metal experience. Don Kaye of Blabbermouth described it as "a monstrously heavy and oppressive slab of metal," venturing "into even heavier, blacker territory" than previous albums. Adrien Begrand of PopMatters remarked that the album approaches a masterpiece of "brutally heavy" metal, "completely devoid of light." Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic highlighted more nuanced elements, such as the "instantaneously infectious melody" of "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh" and the "haunting female voices" that duet with bandleader Tom Warrior on "Drown in Ashes."
According to Fischer, some of the lyrics were influenced by the writings of the English occultist Aleister Crowley. This influence is evident in tracks such as "Os Abysmi Vel Daath," which is part of the title of one of Crowley's books.Adrien Begrand: The Great Beast Resurrected .Lord of the Wasteland: Celtic Frost. Monotheist.Guy Van Campenhout: Celtic Frost - Monotheist - CD-bespreking .
Release Monotheist was released on CD and LP. A limited edition digipak included the bonus track "Temple of Depression." Both the vinyl LP version and the Japanese CD release included the bonus track "Incantation Against You."
A music video was created for the song "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh."
Reception
The album received positive reviews and is regarded as a successful comeback for the band. Blabbermouth awarded the record an 8/10, and its reviewer Don Kaye wrote:
The album was ranked number 2 on Terrorizers list of the best albums of the decade.
Track listing
Credits Thomas Gabriel Fischer – vocals, guitars, arrangements, programming Martin Eric Ain – bass, vocals (most vocals on "A Dying God Coming into Human Flesh", all vocals on "Triptych I: Totengott", and spoken parts on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae"), executive producer of the album Erol Uenala – guitars, engineer, additional programming on "Temple of Depression" Franco Sesa – drums
Session musicians Lisa Middelhauve (Xandria): guest vocals on "Drown in Ashes" Ravn (1349): backing vocals in the final chorus of "Temple of Depression" Simone Vollenweider – guest backing vocals on "Temple of Depression", additional vocals on "Obscured", and lead vocals on "Incantation Against You" Sigurd Wongraven (Satyricon): brief segment of lead vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae" Peter Tägtgren – backing vocals on "Triptych II: Synagoga Satanae" and co-producer of the album Walter J.W. Schmid – engineering, mixing, mastering Phillip Schweidler – engineering, mixing
Charts Chart (2006) Peakposition
References
External links "The Great Beast Resurrected" – article in PopMatters covering the band's comeback and an early review of the album