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Thomas Gabriel Fischer | |
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 Fischer on stage with Triptykon in 2014 | |
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| Born | 19 July 1963 |
| Origin | Switzerland |
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| Member of | Triptykon |
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Thomas Gabriel Fischer (born 19 July 1963), also known by the stage names Tom Warrior and Satanic Slaughter, is a Swiss musician. He led the extreme metal groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and today is the frontman of the band Triptykon.
Fischer (as "Tom Warrior"), along with Urs Sprenger (as "Steve Warrior") on bass and Pete Stratton (real name Peter Ebneter) on drums, formed the metal band Hammerhead in early 1982. Stratton was soon replaced by Bruce "Denial Fiend" Day (real name Jörg Neubart) and the band changed its name to Hellhammer the same year. In late 1983, bassist and songwriter Martin Eric Ain joined Hellhammer and the lineup of Fischer, Ain and Day recorded an EP, Apocalyptic Raids , as well as a series of demos for the German label Noise Records before disbanding in May 1984. Fischer and Ain joined forces once again and formed Celtic Frost, an influential avant-garde and extreme metal trio, in June 1984.
In 1985, Fischer was asked to co-produce and sing on the first demo, titled Death Cult, by fellow Swiss group Coroner. Fischer also wrote the lyrics for the recorded songs. Two of the members of Coroner formed part of Celtic Frost's road crew until 1986. In 1987, many conflicts within Celtic Frost led to a dissolution of the band.
Several months later, Fischer reformed the band with a completely new lineup. The band's 1988 release, Cold Lake , established a drastic change in Celtic Frost's music, switching from their classic thrash/death/black metal sound to a traditional heavy metal/glam metal sound, but greatly disappointed most fans. Fischer has stated many times that he takes the blame for the negative direction of Celtic Frost's music during this period, since he was too distracted with a personal relationship and let the other band members do what they wanted. Celtic Frost eventually disbanded in 1993.
A year after Celtic Frost was laid to rest, Fischer formed the EBM/industrial rock project Apollyon Sun.
In 2000, Fischer's book Are You Morbid?: Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost [1] received many favorable reviews, including this from Record Collector: "Intelligent, humble, questioning, insightful – the cultured side of extreme metal".
Sometime in 2001, Fischer and Martin Eric Ain met each other again and began writing music, with the aim of creating a new, dark and heavy Celtic Frost album in the vein of their work on To Mega Therion and Into the Pandemonium . The album, titled Monotheist , was eventually released in 2006.
Fischer also performed in Probot, Dave Grohl's collaborative project with various metal artists, on the song "Big Sky" in 2003.
In 2005, Fischer produced vocal (performed by Martin Eric Ain) and guitar tracks (Erol Uenala) for a "gothicized" version of Slayer's classic "Black Magic" recorded by Los Angeles–based gothic rock band Hatesex. The track appeared on their debut album Unwant.
Due to the internal conflict within Celtic Frost, Fischer left the band on 2 April 2008 and launched a new band named Triptykon. [2]
In 2008, he played guitars and bass for the cover song "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" from the 1349 (a Norwegian black metal band) album Revelations of the Black Flame and also co-mixed the album. In 2009, he co-produced their album Demonoir .
In 2010, Fischer was awarded in the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards for Inspiration. [3] Fischer was ranked No. 32 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World . [4]
He currently plays an Ibanez H. R. Giger series Iceman guitar. He also uses an Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedal.
Fischer is a vegan. [5] He also states that he does not drink, smoke, or take drugs. [6]
Fischer was the personal assistant to H. R. Giger from 2007 until Giger's death. [7] He was a close friend of Giger and his wife Carmen, and continues to be active for the Giger estate, in the Fondation H.R. Giger, and as the co-director of the Museum HR Giger. [8]
Celtic Frost was a Swiss heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several varieties of extreme metal and for their avant-garde approach to music more generally.
Hellhammer was a Swiss extreme metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often regarded as a key influence on black metal. In June 1984, Hellhammer disbanded but two of its members soon formed the influential extreme metal band Celtic Frost.
Into the Pandemonium is the third studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in 1987. The album marks the return of bassist and backing vocalist Martin Eric Ain, who appeared on 1984's Morbid Tales, but not the band's previous album.
To Mega Therion is the first full-length studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in October 1985 by Noise Records. The cover artwork is a painting by H. R. Giger entitled Satan I. The album was a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres.
Apocalyptic Raids is an EP by the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. It was recorded and released in March 1984, and was the band's only commercial release.
Martin Eric Ain was an American musician best known as the bassist of the influential extreme metal bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. He used the stage name Martin Eric Ain throughout.
Morbid Tales is the debut record by the Swiss extreme metal band, Celtic Frost, released in November 1984. It was originally released in Europe on Noise Records as a mini-LP with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma/Metal Blade added two tracks, bringing it to the length of a regular studio LP. The band retrospectively refers to the LP release as the band's debut studio album.
Cold Lake is the fourth studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released on 1 September 1988 by Noise Records. It features a new lineup, reformed by bandleader Tom Warrior with newly joined musicians Oliver Amberg, Curt Victor Bryant and a returning Stephen Priestly, who had previously played with the band in 1984 on the Morbid Tales EP. Despite it being marketed to exploit the mass appeal of glam metal, the album has more of a traditional heavy metal sound.
Vanity/Nemesis is the fifth studio album by Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost, released on 11 April 1990 through Noise Records.
Monotheist is the sixth and final studio album by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. The album was released in May 2006 and was the first new recording released by the band in 16 years. Upon its release, the album was met with universal acclaim by music critics.
Emperor's Return is the second release by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. It was released in 1985 as an extended play and was their first record featuring American drummer Reid Cruickshank. The band's bleak publicity photographs from this period had an influence on the fashion and style of the developing black metal genre. The tracks of Emperor's Return were remastered and re-released in the 1999 edition of Morbid Tales and yet again remastered and included in the 2017 edition of To Mega Therion.
Tragic Serenades is an EP by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost released in 1986. The EP presented 3 reworked tracks from previous releases.
Death Metal is a 1984 split album by the heavy metal bands Helloween, Hellhammer, Running Wild, and Dark Avenger. It contains the only recorded material by the German group Dark Avenger besides their 1985 demo tape. Despite its name, the musical style is not actually death metal.
Satanic Rites is the third and final demo tape by Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. It was recorded and distributed during December 1983. Along with Hellhammer's other releases, it had a major influence on the emerging death metal and black metal genres.
Death Fiend is an unreleased demo tape by the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. It was recorded in June 1983, along with the Triumph of Death demo, and later appeared on the compilation album Demon Entrails.
Triumph of Death is a demo tape by the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. It was released in July 1983. It was recorded by producer Rol Fuchs in the band's rehearsal room on portable equipment sometime in June 1983, along with the material for the unreleased Death Fiend demo. The two demos were typically combined into one, simply called Triumph of Death. Along with Hellhammer's other demos, it had a major influence on the emerging death metal and black metal genres.
Apollyon Sun was a Swiss industrial metal band formed by singer/guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer and guitarist Erol Unala in early 1995, after the termination of Celtic Frost, Fischer's prior group. The group was unofficially dissolved in 2001 when Fischer invited Erol Unala to contribute to the reformation of Celtic Frost. Their name is taken from the Celtic Frost demo "Under Apollyon's Sun".
Triptykon is a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich, formed in 2008 by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, founding member of the pioneering heavy metal bands Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Apollyon Sun.
Eparistera Daimones is the debut album by Swiss extreme metal band Triptykon, the most recent musical project of Thomas Gabriel Fischer, founding member of the pioneering heavy metal bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost and industrial project Apollyon Sun.
Melana Chasmata is the second full-length album by Swiss extreme metal band Triptykon, released through Prowling Death Records /Century Media Records on 14 April 2014 in Europe and on 15 April 2014 in North America. The album was officially announced on 22 October 2013 by the band's frontman, Thomas Gabriel Fischer, on his official blog.
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