MONOTHEIST

It's probably been about 19 years since I was this excited about a new Celtic Frost album. We've followed the public gestation of 'monotheist' for the last five years. So. Useless initial reactions. Listening on headphones. It's a sunny spring morning so I'll do my best to block out the pleasantness.

CELTIC FROST
MONOTHEIST

Progeny - holy fuck, it's the return of Hellhammer. Nice tempo drop there.

Ground - there's already been two demo versions kicking around, so I kinda know this one. Somewhat. This version is more brutal & straightforward. The demo has double-bass throughout. Not so here. And the guitar solo is far more ethereal. It was already pretty ghouly.

A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh - detuned clean guitar intro & high clean vocals sounds like Justin Broadrick's Jesu or Godflesh. The vibe continues when the spare drums & distorted bass kick in. Doom.

Drowning in Ashes - Pretty female vocals, distorted synth bass, ghouly guitar scratchings. Drums. Slow. Tom sings a monotone. Sounds like a corpulent duet.

Os Abysmi Vel Daath - Dark ambient feedback swells. Into another slow brutal chugger. A hua & the patented morbid Warrior voice. Sweet. Sounds like he's saying "and piss me off". Which is fine too.

Obscured - Slow, tribal drums & more Broadrick-ish guitar feedback strains. Then distorted bass & harmonized guitar join the drums. This is probably the bit that reminds people of Bauhaus. The drums kick in quietly & give it a bit of Godflesh too. Ah, & more female harmony vocals. The chorus sounds like My Dying Bride, sort of. Which is ass-backwards, I know. That's like saying Led Zeppelin sounds like Kingdom Come. Whatever. It's a gorgeous gothic doom ballad that builds & builds in scope until there's tympani & a smothering symphony.

My Domain Of Decay - Starts off with a slow chugging riff in swing time. & keeps going with it. I hate to keep beating on the Broadrick thing, but...

Ain Elohim - This'll be the uptempo thrasher then. Mostly.

Incantation Against - gregorian chanty vox with warbly female voice on top. Beautiful.

Synoagoga Satanae - Epic. Dark moodiness builds to a slow symphonic pace. Ooh, that doom break in the middle reminds me of Cathedral.

Winter (Requiem) - Pure symphonic darkness. Great way to end the album.