''Morbid Tales'' is the debut album by Swiss

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

, released in November 1984. It was originally released in Europe on

Noise Records Noise Records is a German heavy metal record label founded in 1983 by German music industry personality Karl-Ulrich Walterbach as an expansion of his company Modern Music Records. It was sold to the Sanctuary Records Group in 2001 and ceased an ...

as a

mini-LP A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma/

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

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

, which also contained the tracks from their 1985 EP '' Emperor's Return'' as well as a 2017 remastered edition released by the same label on CD and vinyl formats.

Legacy

The

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

intensity of ''Morbid Tales'' had a major influence on the then-developing

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

and

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

genres. 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 Corpse paint is a style of body painting, used mainly by black metal bands for concerts and band photos. The body painting is used to make the musicians appear inhuman, corpse-like, or demonic, and is perhaps "the most identifiable aspect of the ...

face makeup. In 2017, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked ''Morbid Tales'' as 28th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...

'' placed ''Morbid Tales'' at #14 in their "Decibel Thrash Top 50". Contributor Jeff Wagner wrote about how the LP was "

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss extreme metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are ...

refined, but no less demented", and that it "remains as pure and primal as Celtic Frost would ever be."Wagner 2011, p. 10. In the commentary for

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band hailing from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991, Darkthrone transitioned to a black metal style influenced by Bathory (band), Bathory and Celtic Frost and ...

's album ''

Panzerfaust The (, or , plural: ) was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable laun ...

'',

Fenriz Gylve Fenris Nagell (born Leif Nagell; 28 November 1971), known professionally as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host (with the show "Radio Fenriz")

cites this album along with Bathory's ''

Under the Sign of the Black Mark ''Under the Sign of the Black Mark'' is the third studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was recorded in September 1986 and released on 11 May 1987 through New Renaissance Records and Under One Flag. It was a key album in the d ...

'' 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 (remastered edition) ;Additional musicians *Stephen Priestly – session drums *Horst Müller – additional vocals (tracks 3, 5 & 7) *Hertha Ohling – additional vocals (track 6) *Oswald Spengler – violin (tracks 7 & 8) ;Production *Horst Müller – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering *Karl Walterbach – executive producer

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Celtic Frost albums Noise Records EPs 1984 debut EPs Cthulhu Mythos music Enigma Records EPs Metal Blade Records EPs