{"id":253218,"date":"2025-10-26T19:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/253218\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T19:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T19:11:10","slug":"why-alter-bridges-mark-tremonti-loves-celtic-frost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/253218\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Alter Bridge\u2019s Mark Tremonti loves Celtic Frost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creed and Alter Bridge<\/a> guitarist Mark Tremonti<\/a> may be the king of modern arena rock, but underneath the roof-raising riffs and massive choruses beats an 80s thrash heart. The man who helped serve up such monster hits as With Arms Wide Open, My Sacrifice, Rise Today and Blackbird has made no secret of his love of bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Kreator and even Bay Area b-listers Forbidden (oh, and Frank Sinatra, but we\u2019ll gloss over that).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But his tastes go even further. Speaking to Metal Hammer in 2018, Tremonti revealed his deep love of Swiss visionaries Celtic Frost<\/a>, and specifically the impact their 1984 debut mini-album Morbid Tales and the following year\u2019s Emperor\u2019s Return EP had on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up and becoming a metal fan, Celtic Frost was right behind Metallica as one of my favourite metal bands, and Morbid Tales\/Emperor\u2019s Return [reissued on a single CD] was my favourite record,\u201d he told us. \u201cIt was a staple of my collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Tremonti first heard Celtic Frost when he was growing up in Detroit. Metallica\u2019s Master Of Puppets<\/a> had been his gateway into metal, but he was soon hunting further afield for new music.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom then on I was into finding the heaviest moodiest darkest music I could find,\u201d he revealed. \u201cI still remember my friend John introducing me to Celtic Frost with [1987\u2019s] Into The Pandemonium, which I fell in love with right away. So as I used to do, I then went and picked up every record I could by the band, and Morbid Tales\/Emperors Return became my-go to favourite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI often see Celtic Frost referred to as one of the most influential, if not the most influential, black metal<\/a> bands in the world. There\u2019s no other band that from that scene that drew me in like them. It was the mood and atmosphere they create with this record \u2013 and the aggression as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celtic Frost rose from the ashes of Swiss trio Hellhammer, whose primitive noise was widely ridiculed at the time but who have subsequently been acclaimed as one of the foundation stones for black metal<\/a>. When that band split, frontman Thomas Gabriel Fischer \u2013 aka Tom G Warrior \u2013 and bassist Martin Eric Ain went on to form Celtic Frost.<\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic Frost was right behind Metallica as one of my favourite metal bands, and Morbid Tales\/Emperor\u2019s Return was my favourite record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Tremonti<\/p>\n

Between Morbid Tales and Into The Pandemonium<\/a>, their sound evolved from guttural brutality into a groundbreaking and unique form avant garde metal that touched on symphonic music, goth, US alt-rock and even industrial music. According to Tremonti, the band caught him just at the right moment \u2013 he was just starting on his own musical journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point I was just a beginner guitarist and songwriter and still developing,\u201d he said. \u201cBut once I started writing there\u2019s no doubt it influenced me and still does to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The influence of Celtic Frost\u2019s early records was never matched by their sales. Issues with their record label Noise were only compounded by 1998\u2019s disastrously received, glam-influenced Cold Lake album. 1990\u2019s intriguing Vanity\/Nemesis wasn\u2019t enough to restore their credibility, and the band split a few years later.<\/p>\n

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Tremonti had been too young to see Celtic Frost first time around, but he finally got his change when Fischer reunited the band in 2000, releasing a brand new album, Monotheist, six years later. That\u2019s when the Tremonti finally got to meet his hero.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard they were coming to play Orlando as part of their comeback in 2006, I hit the show with a couple of friends,\u201d he saus. \u201cI pushed my way in to the rail, hands on stage, and stood there the whole show, singing every lyric of every single song they played. It felt like I was the only guy in the room that knew every lyric and change to every song, in a room full of people that at some level agreed with me. I was so excited to finally see a band I loved from my childhood as a fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cTom Fischer mentioned that he had read an interview or two with me where I had given them props and he really appreciated that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Tremonti<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the show I went around to the back of the club and the guys were standing by the tour bus. I walked up and introduced myself and the guys were super cool. Tom mentioned that he had read an interview or two with me where I had given them props and he really appreciated that. He was glad to meet me as well. I left there happier than I had been to meet one of my heroes I\u2019ve had since I was a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second encounter came a few years later when Fischer attended an Alter Bridge show in Sweden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hung out a bit backstage and he talked to me a lot about Giger [Swiss artist H.R. Giger, whose artwork featured on Celtic Frost albums], and how he was helping him out with his daily needs at the time,\u2019 says Tremonti. \u201cWhich was crazy because Giger is this iconic artist. It struck me because I feel the same way about Tom. He\u2019s an icon.\u201d<\/p>\n

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