Tom G. Fischer leaves CELTIC FROST

TOM G. FISCHER (TOM WARRIOR) has quit legendary black metal warriors CELTIC FROST after the bands 2005-2007 re-union.

CELTIC FROST unleashed "Monotheist" 5/29/2006 via CENTURY MEDIA.

FROM TOM G. FISCHER:
"I am devastated beyond description, and I am infinitely disappointed. As the one member of CELTIC FROST who is exposed most dramatically to the feedback by our audiences and the media, I feel troubled and humiliated about being unable to honor the enormous goodwill extended to CELTIC FROST during the past few years and meet the justified expectations of our fans.

"I have always seen the 'Monotheist' album as a mere beginning, and a tame one at that. My mind and spirit are full of energy, creativity, and ideas. CELTIC FROST had become the unreserved focus of my life for the second time.I was looking forward immeasurably to working on the next CELTIC FROST album. To me, it needed to be darker, heavier, and more experimental than 'Monotheist'.

"And yet, CELTIC FROST consisted of three individuals, and I was only one of them. In the end I had to concede to myself that there was no other option.

"My friendship with and respect for Martin Eric Ain [bass] remain unaffected. Moreover, I am in the process of assessing my options to eventually complete, record, and release some of the ideas I originally created for CELTIC FROST and the planned next album in the course of the past few years, and to take our distinctive music out on the road again.

"There is no way back."

"It was not my departure from CELTIC FROST which caused the group's inexorable demise. It was the group's inexorable demise which caused my departure.

"CELTIC FROST's approach was unlike any other I have encountered in my many years in the music industry.Regardless of whether one revered or detested CELTIC FROST, this was a deeply unique group.And while there were unquestionably some who did detest CELTIC FROST, it seemed impossible for them to manifest any criticism beyond petty personal attacks or preposterous conjecture typically rooted in their own distorted perception rather than in the group's actual reality. In fact, this might also be true for some of us within the group itself.

"In its second incarnation, CELTIC FROST was far more unassailable than in its first. It could only be destroyed from within. And this, we accomplished to perfection.

"Leaving the project which was the focus of most of my existence, the group that was the content of my life, was not a decision I took hastily or lightly. On the contrary, it was, and still is, extremely difficult and almost unbearably painful.My departure was a consequence of the personal environment prevailing within the group for some five years, and particularly since CELTIC FROST stepped back into the limelight in May 2006. I would not have taken this step if there had been a glimpse of another option. But there wasn't; the damage incurred had finally become irreversible.

"For the past seven and a half years, CELTIC FROST was for the second time synonymous with my life, my energy, my passion, my vision, and my creativity. So much so, that I was frequently berated by those around me for the intensity of my identification with the band.But CELTIC FROST was, of course, not just art and creativity — it was also an assemblage of very distinctive and extremely volatile human characters. This was the group's very propellant and, ultimately, its ruin. The thought that this great, extraordinary band no longer exists, that it had to disintegrate due to what in effect constituted human complacency, is utterly insufferable.

"It is also completely unbefitting the unique legacy of CELTIC FROST.

"It has become simply impossible to reply to the uncounted phone calls and mails I have received since the news of my departure broke.To learn that CELTIC FROST has come to mean so much to so many is extremely moving. At the same time, it is also dreadful to know how disappointed all those are who loved the band. This also includes our friends and mentors, some of whom tried to intervene together with me until the last minute (and, in some cases, past it) to prevent the worst from happening.Carmen and HR Giger, for example, Ravn of 1349, or the group's brilliant manager, Antje Lange.

"Moreover, it is nearly impossible to justify the course of events in the face of those who worked so hard to enable the disinterment and second rise of CELTIC FROST: our live guitarists V Santura and Anders Odden, our webmasters, our crew, and the staff of our concert agency, Twisted Talent, and of our record company partners, Century Media.

"I am attempting to collect my thoughts right now, which is still incredibly difficult.Artistically, I did not want to leave CELTIC FROST at all; I have never been happier with the music and creativity in the band. I saw 'Monotheist' as only the first of hopefully several distinctive albums by this group.I thus plan on continuing exactly in the artistic vein of CELTIC FROST.I had very a distinct vision of what the next two CELTIC FROST albums might consist of, and I intend to eventually fulfill this vision and complete these albums with a new group.I would also like to continue touring and perform the music I have written in CELTIC FROST over the years for audiences all across the globe.

"In closing, at long last, I am also deeply indebted to my friend Wrath of AVERSE SEFIRA for his forceful epitaph in honor of CELTIC FROST, which stands representatively for the many comments I have received." 

FROM CELTIC FROST:
"CELTIC FROST singer and guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer has left CELTIC FROST due to the irresolvable, severe erosion of the personal basis so urgently required to collaborate within a band so unique, volatile, and ambitious."

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal- \m/ -l-