Customer Reviews

Vanity/Nemesis

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Vanity/Nemesis was the first Celtic Frost album I bought a few years back. It's still one of my favorite metal albums. The songs are well written and the album has a good production. Not as experimental as their previous albums, but it still carries its load with songs like the manic Third from the Sun (Wine in my Hand) and the song Nemesis. The Frost got a lot of flak for their previous album Cold Lake, but I think most fans that didn't like that should like this. It's a return to form with heavier songs than Cold Lake. Tom G. Warrior is a great metal vocalist and his guttural sounds are classic. Recommended.

Its not the death sloppy thrash of the early albums -- Which I love by the way.
Its certainly not the glam crap of Cold Lake.

Its a very polished thrash album with a Celtic twist.

This should have made them big stars but like most things Celtic it just never quite broke thru and thats what really makes it special to us hard core Tom G Warrior fans. I was glad to get it on CD-ROM ... The 2 cassettes of it wore out --- It's that good.

While this is no `Into The Pandemonium', it's no `Cold Lake' either. The old, old school Death Metal sound may have mellowed a little, but `Vanity/Nemesis' is full of sharp ideas, combining Metal and Rock in a forward looking combination.

And there in lies the problem. It probably seemed too far ahead for the time, leaving many an old school Thrasher scratching his mullet and thinking "???"

Tom G. Warrior had gone back to his God-given Fischer surname, which might well have been a clue, and had finally let his Rock roots loose. Devouring big bites of the '60s and '70s, there are big Beatles-influenced melodies, nods to the old-style Glam Rock sounds (and image) of David Bowie, and stripped back, basic Metal and Rock. Fischer had let his legendary voice ripen a little, sounding more like a gravel throated Blues shouter than a blood curdling Death growler. Unfortunately, Fischer struggles to hold a tune, and some of the songs, "Wings Of Solitude" in particular, really suffer.

The music throbs in a slightly subdued manner. For a band which once produced total Death/Thrash blurs, the controlled aggression of songs like "The Heart Beneath" and "Wine In My Hand (Third From The Sun)" would have been unimaginable five years earlier. It's all pretty solid, and grabs the attention, but doesn't hold it, like past masterpieces such as "Into The Crypts Of Rays" or "Circle Of The Tyrants". The whole album plays more as background music than a lead piece. Still, it's quite a good hangover album.

The newfound maturity was perhaps a bridge too far for Celtic Frost. Fischer seemed to lose interest in the genres of Metal he'd been so influential on, and from the apathetic reception this album received upon release, it seemed his audience had lost interest in him.

I have a somewhat unique experience with Celtic Frost. My first exposure to them was when I bought this album waaaay back when I was in high school. I had not heard a single song from the album -- I just bought it on a whim. It's one of the best musical decisions I have ever made. I love this CD. It is great from start to finish. So many great songs, but "The Heart Beneath" and "Wings Of Solitude" have always been the standouts in my mind.

Going back in time to listen to their older stuff, I always found I was more partial to this disc, which seems to be the opposite reaction from most CF fans.

I don't know how to classify this CD or this band. They were truly unique. I guess I would just label this disc a great heavy metal album with great songwriting and catchy hooks, but just enough raw energy and production to give it a "dirty" feel. It's not a polished metal masterpiece, but it is infinitely listenable. Just an all-around kick ass rock 'n' roll record.

Forget 'Cold Lake', the Frost is back grunting and groaning, with heavy and catchy tunes. The heart beneath and the wings of solitude are standouts but the whole album is good-get it!

Vanity/Nemesis is a solid album from Celtic Frost. The music is in a straight-ahead metal direction. I've never been a big fan of most metal music, but Celtic Frost is an exception. They have done some interesting things on their albums. Into the Pandemonium is an earlier album from them that is very impressive and avant-garde. Vanity/Nemesis is cool and energetic. The guitar playing is very infectious and heavy. I really like Thomas Gabriel Warrior's vocals. He has always been my favorite metal vocalist. His singing is unique. The album's musicianship, songwriting, and production are tight. There are plenty of explosive, heavy guitar riffs throughout. The guitar solos are also cool. All of the songs are listenable. My favorite ones are "Wine in My Hand (Third from the Sun)," "The Heart Beneath," and "Nemesis." "Wine in My Hand (Third from the Sun)" is a fast and metallic scorcher. I think that it was also the first song that I ever heard from Celtic Frost. The fast tempo and drive of the song is totally energizing. "Phallic Tantrum" is another heavy one that I like. The album's lyrics are also interesting. I used to listen to this album constantly. I still enjoy listening to it from time to time. It's not as experimental as Into the Pandemonium, but it still is a good album. Vanity/Nemesis also has a cool album cover. Worth a listen.

While "Vanity/Nemesis" may be far from being Celtic Frost's best effort, it is surprisingly good, considering the fact that it followed the infamous "Cold Lake" album. There is some faster thrash-style material on this album, as well as the more groove-oriented stuff Celtic Frost was occasionally known for (think "Procreation of the Wicked" and "Babylon Fell"). The songs are strong overall, with more emphasis on melody than the earlier albums. Unfortunately, Tom's vocals are not quite as strong on this one, and it brings the album down a bit. Overall, this album is really for the Celtic Frost completist, who already owns the classic earlier material, and wishes to complete his/her collection. Buy the old stuff first, and then give this hidden treasure a try!

I'll keep it short. So many have avoided this simply because it came after the misfire of "Cold Lake". Don't be like them. This is only a hair beneath the first three releases in terms of overall quality. The crunching angular riffs are deeply satisfying and the odd tunings are put to excellent use. Once you give it a chance you won't want to take it out of your player for some time.

You know that this is a post-Cold Lake comeback record when Tom G. Warrior's first utterance is a death grunt. After the disappointments of Into The Pandemonium and Cold Lake, I was ready to give up on Celtic Frost when I purchased Vanity/Nemesis in 1990. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that they had restored much of the heaviness to their sound while introducing some new elements that illustrated their maturation as musicians and songwriters. It is not a complete return to the all-out sonic nuclear assault that was To Mega Therion, but a band can only be expected to produce that kind of a masterpiece just once.

Vanity/Nemesis is front-loaded, starting off with possibly the four strongest tracks on the record. On "The Heart Beneath" and "Wine In My Hand", Warrior's familiar raspy growl is back, the guitars are fast and heavy, and the underappreciated Stephen Priestly shows off some of the drum chops that were missing from Cold Lake. In fact, I think this is the closest Frost ever came to thrash metal. "Wings Of Solitude" slows things down and introduces acoustic guitars and female vocals, elements that are used tastefully throughout the record. "This Island Earth", a Bryan Ferry cover, is a weak track that sounds very out of place and should not have been included on the album.

"The Restless Seas", "Phallic Tantrum", and "A Kiss Or A Whisper" are fast and thrashy, full of great riffs and distorted guitar solos. "Vanity" is unremarkable but "Nemesis" is the highlight of the second half of the record, beginning with some beautiful guitar work and followed by a crunchy riff and a soaring, melodic solo. Although Warrior has since disassociated himself from him, Ron Marks plays most of the leads on this record and his solos truly help to define much of the record. Things should have stopped here but instead we end with "Heroes", another cover and another clunker that should have been omitted. It is a straightforward, uninspired thrash interpretation of the original and is the least interesting song on the record. It also exposes Warrior's limitations as a singer as his vocals lack any of the emotion or depth of Bowie's version.

I would have given Vanity/Nemesis 5 stars if not for the two cover songs. It is full of great riffs and hooks, the songs are very well paced, and the use of acoustic guitars and melody really embellish the music and help to distinguish this from Celtic Frost's other work. This is a must have for any serious Celtic Frost fan but even the casual fan or neophyte will find this to be their most accessible record and a good listen.

First of all the bad points : worthless cover-art, and not very good cover of David Bowie at the end.

Now for the heart of the album. Well, I have listen to and loved a lot of trash metal albums. So let's be clear here : this is something slighly different. This is much more groovy and likeable than your standard trash/death album, and much more than the previous Celtic Frost albums -assume that Cold lake is erased from anybody's memory-. There are a full of very good production ideas, like the use of a nice female vocal joining the lead singer growl, like the small sample from their very first album, some cinematic solos and almost classical musical parts very reminiscent of Coroner, another great Swiss group.

This is full of riffs which put a grin on your face. And because it has been utterly forgotten by more or less everyone, listening to it now feels fresh and sharp.

For me a lot of the pleasure in listening to trash metal is the interlacing of the guitar work and the vocals, both being so distorded that they become new kind of instruments. Make no mistake : there are not a lot of trash albums in which this vocal / guitar harmony of so high quality that it will make you smile ; Kill them All is one, Rust in Peace is another one, and Vanity Nemesis is for me on par with these two albums.