I really cannot express how much I love the band Celtic Frost. Let’s just get that out of the way. Along with England’s Motorhead and Venom, and Sweden’s Bathory, Celtic Frost is one of my “meat and potato” bands with the bulk of their discography in constant spin wherever I am, very often. Of the four bands I mentioned though, Switzerland’s Celtic Frost has always stuck out. Celtic Frost has always, to me, encapsulated a certain true darkness that while I have never been able to explain it has been the reason I have been a repeat customer of this band (together or broken-up) for three decades now. They introduced me to the works of H.R. Giger, they opened my mind to other music. But, most important, I never have had a band's music truly scare the hell out of me like the darkest works of the mighty Celtic Frost.
Directed by Adrian Winkler, Celtic Frost: A Dying God follows CELTIC FROST through their final 'Monotheist' Tour, in 2006 and 2007 and documents the turmoil within the band as the tour progresses ultimately leading to their second (and final?) breakup. Any fan of Celtic Frost knows of Tom Warrior’s melodramatic nature. On the other hand, I have never observed an artist who takes his craft more serious than Tom Warrior. Celtic Frost: A Dying God focuses on the fact that Celtic Frost and his expression as a part of the band is something he NEVER wanted to experience. Tom Warrior wants to play music, but his expression as an artist in Celtic Frost is comprised of things he never wished he went through.
Celtic Frost: A Dying God does not just focus on Tom Warrior though. We also get a lot of face time with the ever outspoken Martin Eric Ain. Through these interviews with both the key members in Celtic Frost (Tom and Martin), we get an all important history lesson of the band (including the Hellhammer days) and we get to see how the band's past is always haunting their present and future to live up to their legendary status.
Though a brief outing (clocking in just over an hour), Celtic Frost: A Dying God really encapsulates the same mood as Celtic Frost greatest output as musicians. It is a sad testament to an immortal band whose influence on heavy music is pretty much unmatched. I just wish these guys could just get it together again without everything blowing apart at the seams.
“Only Death Is Real”
Scott W. Lambert