Great Metal Albums of 1988: Celtic Frost- Cold Lake

When I announced that my next post was going to be “Cold Lake” from Swiss metal band, Celtic Frost, I was warned that there was a lot of controversy surrounding the album. Reading the behind the scenes part of the making of the album, I am not surprised. Celtic Frost had actually disbanded following the disheartening end to their previous tour. However, at the request of the guitarist, Oliver Amberg, and producer, Tony Platt, lead singer’/guitarist, Tom Gabriel Warrior recruited new musicians and the album was made.

“Cold Lake” veers away from the thrash metal sounds of albums like “To Mega Therion” and the band’s early EPs and goes down a more traditional metal path. To be honest, it took me a couple of listens to get into it. Being used to the pounding thrash metal from those earlier albums, the slower, less aggressive sound took some getting used to. In fact, the band sound like they want to go back to their thrash roots on a lot of the songs but hold themselves back. A prime example of this is the track, “(Once) They Were Eagles.” The song sounds like it should be played at double the speed and the backing vocals sound less aggressive than what I was used to with Celtic Frost. Still, the musicianship on the song is top notch which is why I still like the song and the album.

The track where they finally hit their groove is “Cherry Orchards.” It’s reminiscent of some of the slower parts of Suicidal Tendencies’ “Join the Army” album and it sounds really good, possibly the best song on the album. Oliver Amberg rips a good guitar solo on this one. “Juice is Like Wine” is similar to it, although they speed it up a little. However, I will take “Cherry Orchards” over it.

Celtic Frost from the earlier albums

Another point of interest is that Tom used the new lineup to change the image of the band. On their earlier albums, the band had a more gothic, scary look but on this album, they go total glam metal. Some would argue that the music from the album doesn’t fit the image of the band but for me, who cares? I never really cared about physical appearance of any band, it’s what they put down on record is the only interest for me and “Cold Lake” has grown on me. I won’t put it in any of my top album lists but it’s still a good listen. It would have been even better if they left out the opening track. What were they doing there? Trying to rap or something?

Track Listing:

1. Human II (Intro)
2. Seduce Me Tonight
3. Petty Obsession
4. (Once) They Were Eagles
5. Cherry Orchards
6. Juice Like Wine
7. Little Velvet
8. Blood on Kisses
9. Downtown Hanoi
10. Dance Sleazy
11. Roses Without Thorns
12. Tease Me
13. Mexican Radio

Note: The last two tracks were only available on the CD version.

Celtic Frost in 1988

Tom Gabriel Warrior- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, effects

Oliver Amberg- lead guitar, backing vocals, effects

Curt Victor Bryant- bass, effects, backing vocals, lead guitar on track 11

Steven Priestly- drums, backing vocals

Additional Musicians:

Michelle Villanueva- backing vocals on track 5

Brian Hewitt- rap on track 1, backing vocals on track 2

Xavier Russell- backing vocals on tracks 1 and 11

Right after the album was released, Oliver Amberg was fired from the band, the reason isn’t revealed to me. I have read that many Celtic Frost fans call “Cold Lake” an underrated album. I wouldn’t disagree. It just took some getting used to after the material they had put out on earlier albums.

Next post: David Lee Roth- Skyscraper

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