Celtic Frost – Mean Fiddler 2006

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And so finally the London date of Celtic Frost’s first tour in sixteen years comes around. After a lengthy absence it was no surprise that they had no trouble at all filling the small Mean Fiddler club to capacity. Slightly disappointing that they didn’t quite make it to the Astoria, where the view, atmosphere and sound is much better, but everything starts somewhere and they’ll undoubtedly be there next time.

Following the abysmal support line-up of Gorerotted, She Says Destroy and Cryptopsy, who are all on a tour of their own and when their London date clashed with Celtic Frost, the two were merged, they made short work of the process of getting the crowd on their side, and the extreme metal pioneers proceeded to pile-drive their way through some of their most classic songs alongside just a couple of cuts from the brand new Monotheist album. Original members Thomas Gabriel Fischer (vocals/guitar) and Martin Eric Ain (bass) are now joined by the fantastic underground drummer Franco Sesa and touring guitarist Anders Odden and this line-up had no problem packing in an abbreviated set (due to Mean Fiddler’s insanely early curfew) in front of Redemption TV’s cameras.

Although Monotheist, and its key tracks like Ain Elohim, are widely recognised as the darkest and heaviest of the band’s career, the way they sound at the moment makes the older material sound much darker and heavier than before, meaning the newer songs blend almost seamlessly with the old. A lack of a single song from the excellent Vanity/Nemesis album was disappointing, but the band have promised to make up for the short set when they return on their full European tour in 2007, which hopefully means the inclusion of more songs from Monotheist and some from Vanity/Nemesis (assuming Cold Lake will be understandably ignored, the album being widely regarded, even by Fischer, as the band’s one mistake).

For their short time (it’s still hard to believe the show ended at 9:30pm) Celtic Frost were immense, and it was easy to see why they’ve been receiving such rave reviews for their European Festival shows. The invitations to headline so many festivals may have come as a big surprise to Thomas and the rest of the band, but on the strength of the performances and the new material, it shouldn’t have done in hindsight. Having turned down numerous lucrative invitations to play greatest hits sets at festivals during the years spent making Monotheist the band feel incredibly enthusiastic about their new music, and about getting back out on tour again after so long.

Celtic Frost left a sizeable hole in extreme metal music when they disbanded the first time, and in their return they’ve filled it again. The full tour next year should be unstoppable, and will hopefully see them pack a slightly larger venue and play for a decent length of time. They’ve proved they deserve it.

“ much darker and heavier than before ”

Setlist: Procreation (Of The Wicked) / Dethroned Emperor / The Usurper / Ain Elohim / Necromantical Screams / Dawn of Meggido / Mesmerized / Sorrows of The Moon / Visions of Mortality / Into The Crypts of Rays / Inner Sanctum / Circle of Tyrants / Synagoga Satanae

Photo: Chiaki Nozu | www.chiakinozu.com

Written by Andy Lye
More: Black Metal, Gigs, Celtic Frost