Celtic Frost "Morbid Tales (1999 Reissue, Remastered, Germany, Noise Records, N 0325-2)"

Morbid Tales is the debut album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in November 1984. It was originally released in Europe on Noise Records as a mini-LP with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma/Metal Blade 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 Noise Records, 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.

The album's guitars are tuned to E standard.

The thrash metal intensity of Morbid Tales had a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres, along with In 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 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."

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.

Tracklist:

1. Human 00:41  
2. Into the Crypts of Rays 03:39  
3. Visions of Mortality 04:48   
4. Dethroned Emperor 04:38   
5. Morbid Tales 03:29   
6. Procreation (of the Wicked) 04:05
7. Return to the Eve 04:08  
8. Danse Macabre 03:52
9. Nocturnal Fear 03:38
10. Circle of the Tyrants 04:27
11. Visual Aggression 04:11  
12. Suicidal Winds 04:36   

Time:  46:12  

- Bonus tracks 4-5 taken from the album's North American pressing.

- Bonus tracks 10-12 taken from the 1985 Emperor's Return ep.

- Track 1 was originally the unnamed intro to "Into the Crypts of Rays". Here it is identified as a separate named track.

- The duration of some tracks differ quite a bit from what is printed on the release.

Recording information:

Horst Müller – producer, engineer, mixing, mastering

Karl Walterbach – executive producer

Tracks 1-9:

- Recorded and mixed Oct. 8-15, 1984 at Caet Studio, Berlin, Germany.

Tracks 10-12:

- Recorded, mixed & mastered April 8-12, 1985 at Line In Recording Studio, Zurich, Switzerland.

Tracks 1-12:

- Remastered at Oakland Recording, Winterhur, Switzerland.