CELTIC FROST Bassist: 'Christ Was A Symbol Of Utter Failure And Absolute Totalitarian Control'

October 18, 2006

Florida's Broward New Times recently conducted an interview with CELTIC FROST bassist Martin Eric Ain. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Broward New Times: You grew up in a very Catholic household.

Martin Eric Ain: My mother was a Catholic religion teacher. She taught the catechism. Most probably, the reason for me joining up with the arch rebel — Satan himself! — was because that was the most powerful force to oppose my mother. I remember that traumatic experience being in a church, and there was this life-sized cross with this tormented human figure nailed, its limbs twisted and turned. I must have been about 5 or 6. That was really bizarre, having all those people around me being solemn in a way, but then, on the other hand, really getting joyous toward the end of that ritual about this person dying. And then going to the front of the church and coming back having devoured part of the body of that person. As a child, you take something like that quite literally, you know? And it was never really explained to me in a way that seemed really logical. I had nightmares. For me, religion didn't have a redemptive quality. It didn't help me to have a more positive outlook on life. It was a negative, oppressive kind of thing. Christ was a symbol of utter failure and absolute totalitarian control.

Broward New Times: Clearly, CELTIC FROST uses devil imagery with aesthetic depth. But when metal bands say "it's just a symbol," it starts to wear a little thin.

Martin Eric Ain: Symbols don't wear thin. The symbol is the most powerful expression of basic emotions, needs that we as human beings have — be it the cross, the horns of the devil, or the figure of the snake — that go way, way, way back to the beginning of the culturalization of humanity. If one realizes that, one has the chance of creating meaning, putting one's personal definition into that symbol. This is very Jungian — you know, Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist?

Broward New Times: Yes.

Martin Eric Ain: He also came from Zurich.

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