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Are You Morbid?
This book is Celtic Frost's official history written by the front-man, Thomas Gabriel Fischer, who describes his story as full of facts and anecdotes, some unflattering, many trashy, some embarassing, many senselessly funny but all putting right the band's reported notoriety.
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
330 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 20, 2016
In the entire state library system there was only a single copy of this book that I could find. The cheapest copy I've found online costs $50 used. Now having read the book, I'm glad I didn't make a hasty purchase.
The tone of the book whips back and forth between apologetic to embarrassed, extremely defensive to overly self-denigrating, self-dismissive to arrogant. Are You Morbid? mainly relates tales of Celtic Frost band member sexcapades, the band's business struggles with their labels, and the technical details of trying to produce their albums. The members of Celtic Frost's sex lives are just about the last thing I'm interested in, and while the behind the scenes politics of the music business is somewhat interesting it doesn't take long for that to become as tedious as all the technical details of fights over liner material and cover art. In contrast to that there is precious little said about the songs themselves. We're given so little about the soul of the music.
I found the book to be more than a little dull and depressing for long stretches. Fischer is quite brutal in trashing Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost, and he's very eager to defend Celtic Frost's post "Cold Lake" efforts. As a fan of early Frost, for me this was kind of like when I learned that Sir Alec Guiness detested the original Star Wars movies.
What is clear is that Fischer desperately wants his readers to regard him as both a "professional" and "mature" musical artist. To this end he spends much time detailing every obstacle and disadvantage his band faced, exposes every humiliation and failure, and generally pisses all over the work of his early band and self.
It's Fischer's band, history, and book to write, but Hellhammer/early Frost was the thing that put him on the musical map in the first place. As much as Fischer would like to distance himself from the early years of his band, and as much as he seems eager to put the extreme metal community behind him, it was those earliest years that made his claim to fame. And the fan base that still celebrates his band's early music is really the only audience where his music continues to retain any lasting, significant credibility.
Maybe now over a decade later after this book was published those facts are starting to dawn on him...
The tone of the book whips back and forth between apologetic to embarrassed, extremely defensive to overly self-denigrating, self-dismissive to arrogant. Are You Morbid? mainly relates tales of Celtic Frost band member sexcapades, the band's business struggles with their labels, and the technical details of trying to produce their albums. The members of Celtic Frost's sex lives are just about the last thing I'm interested in, and while the behind the scenes politics of the music business is somewhat interesting it doesn't take long for that to become as tedious as all the technical details of fights over liner material and cover art. In contrast to that there is precious little said about the songs themselves. We're given so little about the soul of the music.
I found the book to be more than a little dull and depressing for long stretches. Fischer is quite brutal in trashing Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost, and he's very eager to defend Celtic Frost's post "Cold Lake" efforts. As a fan of early Frost, for me this was kind of like when I learned that Sir Alec Guiness detested the original Star Wars movies.
What is clear is that Fischer desperately wants his readers to regard him as both a "professional" and "mature" musical artist. To this end he spends much time detailing every obstacle and disadvantage his band faced, exposes every humiliation and failure, and generally pisses all over the work of his early band and self.
It's Fischer's band, history, and book to write, but Hellhammer/early Frost was the thing that put him on the musical map in the first place. As much as Fischer would like to distance himself from the early years of his band, and as much as he seems eager to put the extreme metal community behind him, it was those earliest years that made his claim to fame. And the fan base that still celebrates his band's early music is really the only audience where his music continues to retain any lasting, significant credibility.
Maybe now over a decade later after this book was published those facts are starting to dawn on him...
June 21, 2012
A captivating retrospective of the rise and fall of Celtic Frost - engaging and brilliant!
June 11, 2007
good god yes! this is the Hellhammer/Celtic Frost story as told by its principle protagonist, Tom Warrior. puts you right into the 80s extreme metal scene, all the funniest, metallest and most humiliating moments are there. definitely recommended for all metal fans.
the only downfall is warrior's strange attitude towards his days in Hellhammer, seeing them as childish and foolish. does he realize how influential his "childish" music was in terms of spawning the black metal and death metal genres??? UFF!
the only downfall is warrior's strange attitude towards his days in Hellhammer, seeing them as childish and foolish. does he realize how influential his "childish" music was in terms of spawning the black metal and death metal genres??? UFF!
November 23, 2013
What makes this book great is that it's an important figure from the foundations of a genre telling the situation as he saw it. What makes it bad is that he is apologetic, neurotic and somewhat morose about the situation, and there apparently was no editor who felt secure enough in reining in what is in essence duplicative information and encouraging the subject to reveal more of the details readers want in lieu of this redundant and neurotic stuff. About 60% of this book is great and should be retained; the remainder is confusion, regret and disorganization and should be excised.
June 15, 2007
Get a blow-by-blow, behind the scenes lowdown on one of the most important bands in metal.
The book would be appreciated by metalheads that listened to HH/CF as they were coming out in the 80's. You also get a picture of the metal underground during the 80's as extreme metal was being birthed.
The book would be appreciated by metalheads that listened to HH/CF as they were coming out in the 80's. You also get a picture of the metal underground during the 80's as extreme metal was being birthed.
July 28, 2007
Um. God-damned Tom G. Warrior!
August 23, 2011
best metal biography out there. this guy let it all hang out and made me very curious about genre of death / black metal. sister sharita saw the title and said "what on earth are you reading"?
February 4, 2015
So good. Knew a little about Celtic Frost before, but this book turned me onto them in a big way.
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November 8, 2017d
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews