Celtic Frost /ˈkɛltɪk frɒst/ was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their heavy influence on extreme metal genres. The group was first active from 1984 to 1993, and re-formed in 2001. Following Tom Gabriel Fischer's departure in 2008, Celtic Frost disbanded. The band was inspired by heavy metal groups such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Venom, but also by gothic rock acts like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Christian Death, and by the hardcore punk group Discharge.
Their exact genre has been a topic of debate. Their earlier music was sometimes classified as thrash metal, black metal, and even death metal and their later work as doom metal and gothic metal. The level of experimentation on albums such as Into the Pandemonium led certain journalists to describe the band's direction as avant-garde metal.
Celtic Frost's former frontman, guitarist and singer Tom Gabriel Fischer, adopted the alias Tom Warrior. With Steve Warrior on bass, he formed one of the earliest extreme metal bands, Hellhammer, in 1981. Steve Warrior was later replaced by Martin Eric Ain – also a pseudonym. The band attracted a small international fan-base, got signed to Noise Records in Germany and recorded their debut EP Apocalyptic Raids in March 1984, now a rare finding on eBay or second hand record stores around the world.
Heaven and shores
Beneath the death of the sun
Suffering at will
Slaves in the cavity of doom
Wastelands without winds
Cries cut through the lies
The heat of the deserts
Heart closes to my throat
Will death cleanse me of this nemesis
I taste the blood and all the pain
In darkened depths
A vision of fear becomes as real
Nursing the dead
No love, life is grief
Dare to escape
The claws of sleep of death
No good, no cold
Salvation we are praying for
Days full of fear The silent eyes perceive
Will death cleanse me of this nemesis