Celtic Frost - Monotheist

I'm listening to this album for the 5th time. I've been told it takes upwards of 10 listens to comprehend or enjoy, but my 
issue at this point in time is - is it worth the effort? After spinning the album 4 times, I was barely able to finish the
album, but I easily got through my 5th listen fairly easily - am I begining to enjoy the album? Or am I just growing immune
to it's mediocrity? I'll endeavour to navigate this "fork in the road" throughout my review.

The sound is very authentic Celtic Frost.  When you hear Monotheist, there is no question in mind - it IS Celtic Frost. I
suppose that's a plus.  Any band that can retain an authentic sound for almost 30 years without just rehashing work should
truly be appreciated.  Thick, downtuned riffs, heavy bass lines and fateful drumming accompanied by a mixture of the gritty, 
ugly vocals and clean inharmonious vocals produce Celtic Frost's very eclectic sound. 

However, in contrast to the Celtic Frost you will remember from "To Mega Therion", a very remorseful and reflective ambience
is created largely as a result of the mid-paced tempo of each song and the very patient execution of vocals. As such, moving 
away from the old thrashing black metal of old, the album is more akin to the doom genre. From here, the album is a real mark
of the creative abilities of Celtic Frost, who are in no way showing signs of an intention to blatantly rehash one of their 
previous releases.

As for the execution of this album; musicianship is spot on. It is not a piece of technical brilliance and I never expected 
it to be such, but nonetheless, timing, composition and production is all spot on. However, the underlying song writing is
where the problems lie. There are parts of songs which are strong and entirely enjoyable, but Monotheist doesn't appear to be
able to string any of these bits and pieces together.  Whether it is the strong lyrics (see "A Dying God Coming Into Human
Flesh"), hypnotising atmospheres (see "Drown in Ashes"), killer riffs (scattered throughout) or any other aspect of the 
music, this album just oozes inconsistency and as a result flails in the winds of mediocrity.

I've read a number of reviews of Monotheist - and it is clearly a love/hate album. The odd thing about the reviews though, is 
that I can see everyone's (well most people's) point. However, to me, songs drag on, go nowhere, are sluggish, seem endlessly
repetitive and really don't inspire me to even want to listen to the album. A few songs are very old Celtic Frost (such as 
"My Domain Of Decay") and are quite enjoyable, but they are few and far between and the album appears to be mainly 
atmospheric filler. So the answer for me is that Monotheist just isn't worth it. For what is essentially a form of extreme 
doom, there are many better peers to listen to and next time I want to listen to Celtic Frost, I assure you, I'll be 
back a cold beer and putting on "To Mega Therion".


61%

01. Progeny
02. Ground
03. A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh
04. Drown In Ashes
05. Os Abysmi Vel Daath
06. Temple Of Depression (bonus track)
07. Obscured
08. Domain of Decay
09. Ain Elohim
10. Totengott
11. Synagoga Satanae
12. Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three)