MARTIN AIN To Sing On New CELTIC FROST Album

CELTIC FROST bassist Martin Ain will handle lead vocal duties on at least two songs on the band's upcoming studio effort, which is currently being recorded for a 2003 release.

The band's frontman, Tom Gabriel Fischer, has posted the following update on the recording sessions for the upcoming CD, tentatively titled "Probe":

"The vocals to about ten songs have been completed, with a further six to eight still to follow until spring.

"The vocal styles used so far are very wide-ranging, more so than ever before on any CELTIC FROST album. I have not yet used the exact same 'tragic' vocals as on 'Into the Pandemonium', but I would like to do that very much. I have always liked them a lot. We have experimented with such vocals on a couple of songs, but later found that other vocals fit these particular songs better. There are some lead vocals, however, which are rather closely related to the 'tragic' style.

"The songs so far completed feature vocals which range from extremely heavy to utterly fragile and intimate. There are a lot of parallels to the original first three CELTIC FROST albums, but also a few more modern ideas. For example, we have explored the vocal style used for the back-up vocals in 'The Inevitable Factor' from the 'Into the Pandemonium' album and have used it for lead vocals. And so on.

"There are also quite a few female vocal tracks, one of them a duet between our now regular female singer Simone Vollenweider and myself. We didn't really plan on using so much 'female color,' it simply happened as the songs grew over the past couple of years. We also decided that we should be able to use female vocals regardless of everyone else doing it, too, since we were among the first to incorporate such vocals into heavier music.

"Simone is not an opera singer, although I'm sure she has the capability to do that, too. Her vocals as used by CELTIC FROST are very melodic and extremely feminine. She has sung harmonies and back-ups for us, along with the above mentioned duet with me on one new song. We first worked with her during the recording sessions of APOLLYON SUN demos in 1999/2000.

"Simone will do further work with CELTIC FROST in the future, and it is very likely she will accompany CELTIC FROST onstage as well.

"One of the biggest new things for us all is the fact that Martin has so far sung the lead vocals for two songs, and that he shares lead vox with me on one further song ('Human Dirt'). More might follow. His vocal style is very heavy and sick.

"There are no 'Cold Lake'-type vocals, though... -)

"As of this past weekend, a very small, select group of music industry contacts have now heard select pre-production recordings from the new CELTIC FROST album here in London - the very first time anybody outside of the band has been given access to the new material.

"At this point, everything is still financed from within the band, to the point of complete financial ruin for me personally, and we have not yet put our signatures under a contract (although a negotiated recording deal is ready and on the table). But the reactions to the new music have so far been overwhelming and extremely enthusiastic, and we are very happy.

"Still, it will be the CELTIC FROST fans who are going to make the final decision."