Vanity/Nemesis

Vanity/Nemesis
Studio album by
Celtic Frost
Released11 April 1990
Recorded1989
StudioSky Track Studio and Hansa Studios, Berlin, Germany
Genre
Length45:38
LabelEMI/Noise
Noise/RCA (USA)
Producer
Celtic Frost chronology
Cold Lake
(1988) 		Vanity/Nemesis
(1990) 		Parched with Thirst Am I and Dying
(1992)
Singles from Vanity/Nemesis
  1. "Wine in My Hand (Third from the Sun)"
    Released: 1990
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[2]

Vanity/Nemesis is the fifth studio album by Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost, released on 11 April 1990 through Noise Records.

Modern reviews see this album as a return to form compared to the band's previous album, Cold Lake, but contemporary critics panned it.[1][2] The band continued experimenting and evolving their music, this time fusing elements of traditional heavy metal, thrash metal and gothic rock.[1] It has a different sound from the black/thrash metal of the first two albums, or the avant-garde metal of Into the Pandemonium, although Vanity/Nemesis retains lyrical and musical elements from those releases.[1][2]

Vanity/Nemesis would be Celtic Frost's last studio album before the dissolution of the band in 1993 and until their return album in 2006 Monotheist. Vanity/Nemesis was re-released in 1999 with additional tracks. The album also includes a cover of David Bowie's 1977 hit "Heroes".

The track "The Heart Beneath" was used on the Manga Entertainment compilation trailers on the UK, Dutch, Spanish and Australian released video tapes.

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."The Heart Beneath"Thomas Gabriel WarriorCurt Victor Bryant, Stephen Priestly, Warrior3:49
2."Wine in My Hand (Third from the Sun)"WarriorBryant, Priestly, Warrior3:26
3."Wings of Solitude"WarriorWarrior4:35
4."The Name of My Bride"Martin Eric AinBryant4:30
5."This Island Earth" (Bryan Ferry cover)FerryFerry5:49
6."The Restless Seas"WarriorBryant, Ron Marks, Warrior4:40
7."Phallic Tantrum"Ain, WarriorBryant, Warrior3:31
8."A Kiss or a Whisper"Ain, WarriorBryant, Warrior3:04
9."Vanity"Ain, WarriorBryant, Priestly, Warrior4:24
10."Nemesis"Ain, WarriorBryant, Marks, Warrior7:46
Total length:45:38
CD edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
11."Heroes" (David Bowie cover)BowieBowie, Brian Eno3:45
1999 remastered edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
12."A Descent to Babylon (Babylon Asleep)"Ain, WarriorMarks, Warrior4:26

Personnel

Celtic Frost
  • Thomas Gabriel Warrior – lead vocals, rhythm guitars (except tracks 3, 7), bass (track 7), backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 6, 7, 8)
  • Curt Victor Bryant – bass (except tracks 1, 7), lead and rhythm guitars (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12), backing vocals (tracks 1, 2)
  • Martin Eric Ain – bass (track 1), backing vocals (tracks 1, 7, 10)
  • Stephen Priestly – drums, backing vocals (track 2)
Additional musicians
  • Ron Marks – lead and rhythm guitars (except tracks 2, 7), acoustic guitars (track 10)
  • Michelle Fischer – additional vocals (track 1)
  • Roli Mosimann – additional vocals (track 1), sampling keyboards (track 10)
  • Michele Amar – additional vocals (tracks 3, 11)
  • Uta Gunther – backing vocals (tracks 3, 6, 9, 10, 12)
Production
  • Roli Mosimann – producer, additional arrangements
  • Brian Martin – engineer, mixing
  • Voco Fauxpas – engineer
  • Alex Leser, Michele Amar, Andreas Gerhardt, Michael Herzog, Tom Re – assistant engineers
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
  • Karl-U. Walterbach – executive producer

References

  1. ^ a b c d Torreano, Bradley. "Celtic Frost - Vanity/Nemesis review". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.