Celtic Frost Live in Charlotte, NC (10/31/06)

[My Man Mahmoud]

Halloween night was a real treat for me. It isn’t often that living legends grace the buckle of the Bible Belt with their presence, so when my girlfriend and I heard that Celtic Frost would be appearing Samhain night at Charlotte’s Tremont Music Hall, we fell over ourselves in our rush to snap up a couple of tickets.

The first band was scheduled to hit the stage at 8, but as this band was Intethod - Pantera clone, retarded, black bassist, Mk I – I arranged for a fashionably late arrival. We entered the club a couple of songs into national opener Goatwhore’s set, but this timing would prove to be something of a disappointment. If only I had lingered over dinner a little longer, I could have spared myself the irritation of listening to this band altogether. Goatwhore’s fans and press releases tout them as a black/death metal hybrid made ‘unique’ by the incorporation of ‘sludge’ influences. In actuality, their music comes across as an average of a thousand other bands playing similarly styled paint-by-the-numbers hardcore dressed up as extreme metal. Not surprisingly, the tepid music was met with a tepid response from the crowd. Apparently unaware that they were an opening act, Goatwhore’s singer and bassist bitched about the lack of crowd response. Mercifully, the set ended relatively quickly.

Celtic Frost’s entrance was eagerly anticipated. The band took the stage with fog and a light show, accompanied by the recorded strains of “Totengott” from the new album Monotheist (at least I THINK it was “Totengott”, it was hard to tell due to the drunk indie-fag in a Johnny Cash shirt yelling for “Mexican Radio”). The band paused on stage, hands raised as if in invocation to the darkness. It was a dramatic gesture, one that in the hands of a lesser band might have come across as cheap theater, but here, it fit the moment. The band then launched into a punishingly downtuned rendition of “Procreation of the Wicked.”

This set the tone for the set, which consisted almost entirely of tracks taken from Morbid Tales, Emperor’s Return and To Mega Therion (with only one song, “Mesmerized”, coming from Into the Pandemonium and three from Monotheist), all played with an updated, dense sound that added a fresh intensity to old classics. The band exuded a commanding presence, demonstrating an absolute mastery of their art and of the space without needing to resort to flailing gestures or irritating banter. Thomas Fischer, in particular, is an electric performer in brilliantly understated and sinister way (his corpse paint, which looked somewhat goofy in press pictures, was distinctly unsettling in the dim lighting of the club).

While the set was jammed with classics (including a stellar performance of “Necromantical Screams), the absolute highlight of the show was the show closer, “Synagoga Satanae” which was also the best track on the band’s latest release. When I first listened Monotheist, this song immediate jumped out as something special, a sequel of sorts to “Triumph of Death”. Still, I wasn’t prepared for the live experience, which was nothing short of magical. The brooding, esoteric, ritual power of “Synagoga Satanae” alone was worth the price of admission.

Set list:

Tottengott
Procreation (of the Wicked)
Visions of Mortality
Circle of the Tyrants
The Usurper
Jewel Throne
Ain Elohim
Necromantical Screams
Dawn of Megiddo
Mesmerized
Ground
Return to the Eve
Dethroned Emperor
Into the Crypts of Rays
Synogoga Satanae

 

[BenMech]

nice review. Glad you included a setlist too.

Btw, Goatwhore's only links to usefullness come from Sammy Duet's previous band Acid Bath (yay), and Ben Falgoust (the vocalist)'s other unlucky band Soilent Green

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

I don't particularly care about their past. They suck in the present and appear to suffer under the illusion that they are entitled to fan support on tour they aren't headlining.

 

[Jim LotFP]

nice review. Glad you included a setlist too.

Btw, Goatwhore's only links to usefullness come from Sammy Duet's previous band Acid Bath (yay)

Acid Bath. heh. Saw them opening the Cannibal Corpse/Samael/Grave tour in 94. Halloween! Only memories were one of the guitar players having strap problems so having to play with his guitar basically leaning on the floor, and the vocalist who took his hand out of his pocket to sing, and putting it back in to scream, basically making it seem like he had to grab his nuts or something to get some aggression going. Not good.

 

[DBB]

as this band was Intethod - Pantera clone, retarded, black bassist, Mk I

Am I to assume that it is because he is black that he is retarded? No one would ever say "retarded, white bassist," and given that you made a conscious effort to not see the band and provide no evidence to prove that the bassist is retarded (or the band for that matter)--this is the impression I'm left with regardless of your past history. It does not matter if the bassist is black, white or wearing a coat of many colors in this case, and it appears to me that you are mentioning it for no other purpose than to associate the word "black" with "retard."

Apparently unaware that they were an opening act, Goatwhore’s singer and bassist bitched about the lack of crowd response. Mercifully, the set ended relatively quickly.

It is silly when bands do this. Being the opening band for an act which is going to draw in a crowd which may very well be older than the average audience and may not be up to speed on each and every permutation of metal, Goatwhore should have expected a look-and-see-and-ponder response as opposed to everyone losing their shit. I've seen bands berate crowds for not being active enough before and is counterproductive and uncalled for. People in the crowd who may be on the fence can be alienated by such an attitude of entitlement articulated in way that is hostile and insulting.

at least I THINK it was “Totengott”, it was hard to tell due to the drunk indie-fag in a Johnny Cash shirt yelling for “Mexican Radio”

Yelling for songs at shows is something that really grates on my nerves. At an entombed show I saw someone yell continually for "Premature Autopsy." I imagine that the individual above was doing this in a half-serious/half-joking state of mind. Calling for songs is an odd thing...most of the time it is merely somebody puffing out their chest feathers to trumpet their arcane and obscure knowledge of the band. Let alone the fact that it hardly and rarely ever works.

I am no PC shriking violet when it comes to these matters, but calling someone a "fag" in the midst of a review is not a good thing to do. It stands out like a sore thumb here and lowers the tone and tenor of the review when another word or none at all would suffice.

Thomas Fischer, in particular, is an electric performer in brilliantly understated and sinister way (his corpse paint, which looked somewhat goofy in press pictures, was distinctly unsettling in the dim lighting of the club).

The run up in the press and PR channels was goofy as all get out.

Tom G. Foolery abounded.

You had the disappearing and reappearing logo:

This photograph was digitally altered (at some point by someone somewhere). In Terrorizer #136 there is a short item on page 5 about Celtic Frost and the same exact picture is reproduced above the text, but the word "mesh" appears on the front of Fisher's sock cap.

Some press junket shennaigens:

There's a sign outside the old church in Berlin saying "Today: CELTIC FROST listening session." I would call that dark humor, no question about that. Inside the God's temple, there's whole bunch of European metal journalists waiting to hear the long-awaited new effort by CELTIC FROST.
Some minutes later, CELTIC FROST's Tom Gabriel Fischer and Martin Eric Ain enter this devoted place of God. With the dark make-up around his eyes, Tom looks calm and mysterious. He decides to stay in the shadows by the side when bearded Martin rises on the shrine and start talking. The next few minutes, he tells us about the process of making the new album and lyrical concept (there's a fascination with death, for sure!). Suddenly, the bass player is gone and the first track "Progeny" starts pounding from the PA after we have been given hymn-book (with CELTIC FROST's new lyrics on the pages of it). Over hour later, the album expires with "Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale)".

And Warrior's tortured missives that I will not go into. At the time, it all combined to make me a bit weary of it all...but nothing to rant and rave about (the photograph alterations are, but I'm not in the mood)...just a bit "goofy" given the counter currents the band was trying to create--but I am sure Warrior had some grand scheme associated with it all.

Not a bad review...almost makes me think about giving the new album a chance after I decided to not even fool around with it after being inundated with hype about it, hearing a song that did not have an immediate impact on me, and reading the denunciations from some hardliners.

Almost...but we'll see.

 

[My Man Mahmoud]

Am I to assume that it is because he is black that he is retarded? No one would ever say "retarded, white bassist," and given that you made a conscious effort to not see the band and provide no evidence to prove that the bassist is retarded (or the band for that matter)--this is the impression I'm left with regardless of your past history. It does not matter if the bassist is black, white or wearing a coat of many colors in this case, and it appears to me that you are mentioning it for no other purpose than to associate the word "black" with "retard."

Note the structure of the sentence, Dave. I'm listing off the characteristics of a certain type of dime a dozen band :

1. Pantera Clone

2. Retarded

3. Black Bassist

There are a million of these bands out there, and it seems like half of them have a black member - just never a black member with creative input (i.e. never a vocalist or a guitarist).

I am no PC shriking violet when it comes to these matters, but calling someone a "fag" in the midst of a review is not a good thing to do. It stands out like a sore thumb here and lowers the tone and tenor of the review when another word or none at all would suffice.

I'm not really after a 'high' tone - I'm after emotional honesty - and I'm fucking sick of having every metal show made less enjoyable by sexually ambiguous hipsters with no fucking concept of concert etiquette. The same goes for the hardcore kiddies who show up at every show to mosh. Get out, you dorks.

 

[T_man357]