Morbid Tales
Morbid Tales is the debut record by the Swiss extreme metal band, Celtic Frost, released in November 1984. It was originally released in Europe on Noise Records as a mini-LP with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma/Metal Blade added two tracks, bringing it to the length of a regular studio LP. The band retrospectively refers to the LP release as the band's debut studio album.[3][4]
| Morbid Tales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP and studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1984 | |||
| Recorded | 8–15 October 1984 | |||
| Studio | Caet Studio in Berlin, Germany | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 24:51 (Mini-LP) 32:09 (LP) 50:02 (album version) | |||
| Label | Noise (Europe) Enigma/Metal Blade (US) | |||
| Producer | Horst Müller, Tom Warrior, Martin Ain, Karl Walterbach | |||
| Celtic Frost chronology | ||||
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| 1999 remastered edition cover | ||||
 | ||||
In 1999 a remastered edition of Morbid Tales was released on CD by Noise Records, which also contained the tracks from their 1985 EP Emperor's Return as well as a 2017 remastered edition released by the same label on CD and vinyl formats.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 5/10[5] |
Legacy
The thrash metal intensity of Morbid Tales had a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres. It included elements that were adopted by the pioneers of both styles.[6] The band's bleak and dead serious fashion style was also influential, including their corpse paint face makeup.[2][1] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Morbid Tales as 28th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'[7]
In the commentary for Darkthrone's album Panzerfaust, Fenriz cites this album along with Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark and Vader's Necrolust as key riff inspirations.[8]
"Danse Macabre" was later sampled in the demo track "Totgetanzt" from their 2002 demo album Prototype.[9]
Track listings
All music by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, all lyrics by Thomas Gabriel Fischer and Martin Ain, except where noted.
Original Mini-LP version
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Into the Crypts of Rays" (Fischer) | 4:46 |
| 2. | "Visions of Mortality" | 4:49 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 3. | "Procreation (Of the Wicked)" | 4:02 |
| 4. | "Return to the Eve" | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Danse Macabre" | 3:51 |
| 6. | "Nocturnal Fear" | 3:35 |
Full-LP American version
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Into the Crypts of Rays" (Fischer) | 3:39 |
| 2. | "Visions of Mortality" | 4:49 |
| 3. | "Dethroned Emperor" (Fischer) | 4:37 |
| 4. | "Morbid Tales" | 3:29 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Procreation (Of the Wicked)" | 4:04 |
| 6. | "Return to the Eve" | 4:07 |
| 7. | "Danse Macabre" | 3:52 |
| 8. | "Nocturnal Fear" | 3:36 |
1999 CD remastered edition
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Human (Intro)" (intro to "Into the Crypts of Rays"; originally joined as one track, CD reissue split this into two tracks) | 0:41 |
| 2. | "Into the Crypts of Rays" | 3:39 |
| 3. | "Visions of Mortality" | 4:49 |
| 4. | "Dethroned Emperor" | 4:37 |
| 5. | "Morbid Tales" | 3:29 |
| 6. | "Procreation (Of the Wicked)" | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Return to the Eve" | 4:07 |
| 8. | "Danse Macabre" | 3:51 |
| 9. | "Nocturnal Fear" | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Circle of the Tyrants" | 4:27 |
| 11. | "Visual Aggression" | 4:10 |
| 12. | "Suicidal Winds" | 4:36 |
| Total length: | 50:02 | |
2017 remastered edition bonus tracks
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Morbid Tales (1984 Rehearsal)" | 3:41 |
| 11. | "Messiah (1984 Rehearsal)" | 4:45 |
| 12. | "Procreation (Of the Wicked) (1984 Rehearsal)" | 4:14 |
| 13. | "Nocturnal Fear (1984 Rehearsal)" | 3:54 |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the original editions.[10][11]
- Celtic Frost
- Tom Warrior – guitars, lead vocals, co-producer
- Martin Ain – bass, bass effects, vocals, co-producer
- Reed St. Mark – drums on tracks 10–12 (remastered edition)
- Additional musicians
- Stephen Priestly – session drums
- Horst Müller – additional vocals (tracks 3, 5 & 7)
- Hertha Ohling – additional vocals (track 6)
- Oswald Spengler – violin (tracks 7 & 8)
- Production
- Horst Müller – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering
- Karl Walterbach – executive producer
References
- Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales review". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 May 2003.
With its highly focused thrash metal intensity and peculiar mix of satanic and esoteric lyrics, the album would sow the seeds of Frost's overwhelming influence in years to come.
- Strachan, Guy (February 2005). "Black Metal Foundations Top 20: Celtic Frost, Morbid Tales". Terrorizer. No. 128. p. 42.
- RIVADAVIA, EDUARDO. "INFLUENTIAL CELTIC FROST DEBUT ALBUM 'MORBID TALES' TURNS 30 YEARS OLD". Loudwire. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
- Warrior, Tom. "Rolling Stone Magazine's "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time" Delineation II". Retrieved 7 June 2023.
...it is of course a significant honour to find Celtic Frost's debut album Morbid Tales of 1984 featured as number 28 of Rolling Stone magazine's 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time'.
- Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 67–68. ISBN 978-1894959315.
- Rivadavia, Eduardo (24 June 2014). "Influential Celtic Frost Debut Album 'Morbid Tales' Turns 30 Years Old". Loudwire. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- "Rolling Stone Share Their Choices for 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'". 21 June 2017.
- Bennett, J. (2010). "Darkthrone - Panzerfaust". Decibel. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- "Celtic Frost - Prototype". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- Morbid Tales (LP sleeve). Celtic Frost. Berlin, Germany: Noise Records. 1984. N 0017.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - Morbid Tales (CD booklet). Celtic Frost. Berlin, Germany: Noise Records. 1999. N 0325-2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)