Morbid Tales
Morbid Tales is the debut album by 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.
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. In 2017, a remastered edition was released by the same label on CD and vinyl formats.
Music
The album's guitars are tuned to E standard.Legacy
The thrash metal intensity of Morbid Tales had a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres, along with Under the Sign of [the Black Mark] by Bathory and Seven Churches by Possessed. It included elements that were adopted by the pioneers of both styles. The band's bleak and dead serious fashion style was also influential, including their corpse paint face makeup.In 2014, J. Andrew of Metal Injection wrote: "In a way, Celtic Frost could really go on any essential listening list for extreme metal. They've been so influential to thrash, death, and black metal that they transcend any tight, genre-specific limitations. And though To Mega Therion is often considered their signature musical achievement, Morbid Tales offers a glimpse into the raw beginnings of what many of us fans now take for granted. Morbid Tales marks an important moment in the mid-1980s where signs of what was to come with extreme music began to emerge."
In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Morbid Tales as 28th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' Decibel placed Morbid Tales at #14 in their "Decibel Thrash Top 50". Contributor Jeff Wagner wrote about how the LP was "Hellhammer refined, but no less demented", and that it "remains as pure and primal as Celtic Frost would ever be."
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.
"Danse Macabre" was later sampled in the demo track "Totgetanzt" from their 2002 demo album Prototype.
Track listings
All music by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, all lyrics by Thomas Gabriel Fischer and Martin Ain, except where noted.Original Mini-LP version
Full-LP American version
1999 CD remastered edition
2017 remastered edition bonus tracks
Personnel
Credits adapted from the original editions.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
- Stephen Priestly – session drums
- Horst Müller – additional vocals
- Hertha Ohling – additional vocals
- Oswald Spengler – violin
- Horst Müller – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering
- Karl Walterbach – executive producer