Morbid Tales is the debut EP and album by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. Its original European release in November 1984 through Noise Records was a mini-LP with six tracks. The following year, an American edition on LP and cassette—released through Enigma and Metal Blade Records, respectively—added two tracks, which brought it to the length of a regular studio album. The band retrospectively regards the extended 1985 version of Morbid Tales as their debut album—a place in their discography otherwise held by To Mega Therion (1985), which was always a full-length album from its original release.
In 1999, Noise Records remastered and reissued Morbid Tales as an extended CD that also included 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.
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 2011, Invisible Oranges ranked Morbid Tales as #2 in the list of top 10 albums recorded with guitars tuned to E standard.
In 2014, J. Andrew of Metal Injection wrote: "In a way, Celtic Frost (along with Hellhammer) 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."Wagner 2011, p. 10.
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 (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