CELTIC FROST Working On 'A Number Of DVD Projects'

PyroMusic.net recently conducted an interview with CELTIC FROST frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

PyroMusic.net: I hear a lot of rumors, including that you had been rehearsing HELLHAMMER songs and I just want to clear one thing up. Have you ever considered reforming HELLHAMMER or perhaps covering some HELLHAMMER songs in CELTIC FROST sets?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: HELLHAMMER will never be reformed. I don't think HELLHAMMER can be reformed and I don't think HELLHAMMER could be reformed. I think it would be a sacrilege. If I were to reform HELLHAMMER it would be an act. It would be because of commercial reasons and I don't think HELLHAMMER should be reformed like that. HELLHAMMER was a project that existed and sounded a certain way because it existed at a certain point in time, it carried a certain philosophy, it was a bunch of teenagers and that time simply can't be recreated. It was a unique time and I don't think I should do HELLHAMMER as an act. It would be ridiculous.

PyroMusic.net: Are you proud of what you did actually achieve with HELLHAMMER?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: Very proud. Me saying that now is a result of a very long process. Martin and myself weren't always very fond of what we did in HELLHAMMER. It was very tough to live with the legacy of HELLHAMMER for a while but at this point we realise that HELLHAMMER has shaped our lives forever and we wouldn't be what we are without our work in HELLHAMMER.

PyroMusic.net: Do you find that any more recent bands influence your music now?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: No, not really. I think we've really grown to be CELTIC FROST and we don't need influence from other bands. I know fairly well what CELTIC FROST sounds like, and I know fairly well what's inside of me. I am very interested in current music, but I don't really let it influence me. I think I have so much music inside me that I don't really need an influence.

PyroMusic.net: The latest CELTIC FROST album sounds very different to your older material but there was a 16-year gap between releases so that's understandable. Have you been pleased with the reaction from fans and the press?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: Yes I am pleased. It's by far the most successful CELTIC FROST album, but on the other hand, this may sound arrogant, but that doesn't really matter. Martin and myself did this album first and foremost for ourselves. It was really important for us to do a CELTIC FROST album — a TRUE CELTIC FROST album. We both felt that some of the older albums we had done didn't live up to the name CELTIC FROST, namely the last two.

PyroMusic.net: I'm not going to argue with that point.

Tom Gabriel Fischer: Yeah. We felt we needed to do an album that could stand along the first three CELTIC FROST album, the classic CELTIC FROST stuff. So we did this album first and foremost for ourselves, and we worked on it for four and a half years to make it a true CELTIC FROST album. That was the most important thing for us. What anyone else might think and what the perception might be was secondary.

PyroMusic.net: Well, I guess the next thing to ask is if you're started a new album, and if so, how it's progressing?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: I have written music for another CELTIC FROST album, but I don't know whether... I mean, it's a difficult band to be in on a personal level. I have plenty of music and I'm fairly sure that if we do a new album it's gonna surpass "Monotheist". I think the band musically, and artistically speaking has only just woken up. I just don't know if we can get it together on a personal level.

PyroMusic.net: So, a new CELTIC FROST album is still somewhat up in the air at the moment?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: Yeah. I'm working in parallel. I'm working on a solo album too, so either way the music I'm writing is going to be released, but if it's a CELTIC FROST album it's going to be much bigger in artistic scope.

PyroMusic.net: Do you think we will ever see a CELTIC FROST DVD release?

Tom Gabriel Fischer: We are working on a number of DVD projects. There's a documentary in the making on CELTIC FROST. We've had a documentary team following us around. We're also working on a concert film — a very ambitious concert film but I don't know if we will get that done. It is very ambitious and very expensive. There's also another idea for a DVD. All of these things will take some time but there will be CELTIC FROST video material at the end of it.

Read the entire interview at PyroMusic.net.