Morbid Tales

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.^[3][4]

Morbid Tales
EP and studio album by Celtic Frost
Released	November 1984
Recorded	8–15 October 1984
Studio	Caet Studio in Berlin, Germany
Genre	Thrash metal[1] black metal[2]
Length	24:51 (Mini-LP) 32:09 (LP) 50:02 (album version)
Label	Noise (Europe) Enigma/Metal Blade (US)
Producer	Horst Müller, Tom Warrior, Martin Ain, Karl Walterbach
Celtic Frost chronology
Morbid Tales (1984) Emperor's Return (1985)
1999 remastered edition cover

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.

Music

The album's guitars are tuned to E standard.^[5]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	5/10[6]

Legacy

The thrash metal intensity of Morbid Tales had a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres. It included elements that were adopted by the pioneers of both styles.^[7] The band's bleak and dead serious fashion style was also influential, including their corpse paint face makeup.^[2][1] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Morbid Tales as 28th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'^[8] 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."^[9]

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.^[10]

"Danse Macabre" was later sampled in the demo track "Totgetanzt" from their 2002 demo album Prototype.^[11]

Track listings

All music by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, all lyrics by Thomas Gabriel Fischer and Martin Ain, except where noted.

Original Mini-LP version

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Into the Crypts of Rays" (Fischer)	4:46
2.	"Visions of Mortality"	4:49

Side two

No.	Title	Length
3.	"Procreation (Of the Wicked)"	4:02
4.	"Return to the Eve"	4:05
5.	"Danse Macabre"	3:51
6.	"Nocturnal Fear"	3:35
Total length:		24:51

Full-LP American version

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Into the Crypts of Rays" (Fischer)	3:39
2.	"Visions of Mortality"	4:49
3.	"Dethroned Emperor" (Fischer)	4:37
4.	"Morbid Tales"	3:29

Side two

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Procreation (Of the Wicked)"	4:04
6.	"Return to the Eve"	4:07
7.	"Danse Macabre"	3:52
8.	"Nocturnal Fear"	3:36
Total length:		32:09

1999 CD remastered edition

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Human (Intro)" (intro to "Into the Crypts of Rays"; originally joined as one track, CD reissue split this into two tracks)	0:41
2.	"Into the Crypts of Rays"	3:39
3.	"Visions of Mortality"	4:49
4.	"Dethroned Emperor"	4:37
5.	"Morbid Tales"	3:29
6.	"Procreation (Of the Wicked)"	4:04
7.	"Return to the Eve"	4:07
8.	"Danse Macabre"	3:51
9.	"Nocturnal Fear"	3:36
10.	"Circle of the Tyrants"	4:27
11.	"Visual Aggression"	4:10
12.	"Suicidal Winds"	4:36
Total length:		50:02

2017 remastered edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Morbid Tales (1984 Rehearsal)"	3:41
11.	"Messiah (1984 Rehearsal)"	4:45
12.	"Procreation (Of the Wicked) (1984 Rehearsal)"	4:14
13.	"Nocturnal Fear (1984 Rehearsal)"	3:54

Personnel

Credits adapted from the original editions.^[12][13]

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