Celtic Frost with 1349 and SAHG - Sept. 18th, 2006, The Opera House, Toronto, Canada

A very wet, cool and damp day in Toronto last Monday night (Sept. 18th) set the stage perfectly for the return of extreme metal pioneers Celtic Frost. They are in the middle of their first North American tour in over 17 years and judging by the results of this show and others before and after, it has been a rousing success. This legendary 80's band along with others like Venom, Tank and Hellhammer (which eventually became Celtic Frost) set the tone for many of the forms of extreme metal that exist nowadays. The late 80's saw the band succumbing to label pressures to release much more commercial material, which led to the departure of long-time member and bassist Martin Eric Ain and eventually in the early 90’s, the band folded. Several years ago, guitarist/vocalist Tom Gabriel Fischer patched up his differences with Martin Eric Ain and the two discussed the possibility of resurrecting the classic formula of the band that recorded such classic albums as Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion. After several years of writing together, they entered the studio and recorded their newest album Monotheist which was released earlier this year. Several festival appearances as well as an extensive European tour really whipped the band into prime shape for their North American tour that kicked off just a week earlier in New York City. Joining original Celtic Frost members Tom Gabriel Fischer and Martin Eric Ain are drummer Franco Sesa and second guitarist Anders Odden who has previously worked with Satyricon and Mayhem.

The first band up was SAHG, a band that I've heard lots about. Unfortunately, I was bit late getting to the venue and only caught the last couple of songs of their set. With a mix of doomy Black Sabbath riffs, a great groove and classic hard rock/heavy metal vocals, they were a hit with the Toronto crowd. Up next was Norwegian black metal act 1349. I'm not a big fan of black metal but they put on a solid show. With a metal style that's heavy on trebly hypnotic riffing patterns, very little bottom end, strange drum and cymbal tones and shrieking vocals, there's a definite style to this sort of metal and by the very active mosh pit at the front, the crowd was really getting into it. The show was running right on time and finally it was time for the return of Celtic Frost. Using the track Totengott from Monotheist, with it's eerie tones and spoken word as the opening theme music, it set the stage perfectly for the band to rip into Procreation Of The Wicked from Morbid Tales. The sound was awesome and they were very, very tight. I was especially surprised at just how close the guitar tones were to the sounds on the Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion albums. Bassist Martin Eric Ain was all over the stage with hair flying everywhere and drummer Franco Sesa provided the kind of killer double bass punch and power that gave even their older material a whole new life of it's own. Offering very little communication with the audience, they delivered the goods with classic tracks like Jewel Throne, Necromantical Screams, The Usurper and Dawn of Meggido from their To Mega Therion album with Circle Of The Tyrants really getting the pit going as the third song of their set. Besides the set opener Procreation Of The Wicked, tracks from Morbid Tales also included Visions Of Mortality, Dethroned Emperor and Into The Crypts Of Rays. Rounding out the set included Mesmerized and Sorrows Of The Moon from Into The Pandemonium and their new album Monotheist was represented with the tracks Ground, Ain Elohim and the lengthy Synagoga Satanae which closed out the set.

All of the band members seemed to be enjoying themselves and I was quite surprised at just how tight the band was. The time spent away from Celtic Frost has not affected these musicians in any shape or form. It's great to see a band that was such a heavy metal pioneer getting the respect they so rightfully deserve. Black metal and death metal would not exist today if it hadn't been for bands like Celtic Frost who dared to do something in the 80's that was so much more "out there" and extreme than what everyone else was doing. The new album shows that there is also renewed desire on behalf of Tom and Martin to continue where they left off. A classic band, Celtic Frost has been given new life and resurrected for those who were too young to see the band in it's prime and for those of us who appreciated them for what they were but never got the chance to see them live. If this show comes to an area near you, check it out for sure!!