Tragic Serenades

Tragic Serenades
EP by Celtic Frost
Released	July 1986
Recorded	13–15 March 1986
Studio	Musiclab Studio in Berlin (new recordings)
Genre	Blackened death metal
Length	11:40
Label	Noise
Producer	Thomas G. Warrior, Martin Eric Ain, Karl Walterbach
Celtic Frost chronology
To Mega Therion (1985) Tragic Serenades (1986) Into the Pandemonium (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	6/10
Kerrang!

Tragic Serenades is an EP by the Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost. It was released in 1986 and was an influence on the developing death metal and black metal genres. According to frontman Thomas Gabriel Fischer, the purpose of this EP was to include Martin Eric Ain's bass lines and improve on Horst Müller's original production of tracks from To Mega Therion.

The EP was reissued in 2018, with 2,500 copies pressed for Record Store Day 2018.

Overview

The re-recorded version of "Return to the Eve" (the original version of which was featured on the Morbid Tales album) features Reed's habit of loudly goofing off during songs, with Reed loosely sharing lead vocals. Celtic Frost included this "party-like studio jam" of the song on Tragic Serenades as their "first public display of light-heartedness".

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Usurper"	3:26
2.	"Jewel Throne"	4:03

Side two

No.	Title	Length
3.	"Return to the Eve" (Party Mix)	4:10

Personnel

Celtic Frost

• Thomas G. Warrior – vocals, guitar, effects, producer
• Martin Ain – bass, effects, producer
• Reed St. Mark – drums, percussion, effects

Production

• Horst Müller – engineer (original recordings)
• Harris Johns – engineer (new recordings)
• Karl "Jeder Will 1500" Walterbach – executive producer

References

• Thomas Gabriel, Fischer (1999). To Mega Therion (CD Booklet). Celtic Frost. Berlin, Germany: Noise Records. N 0326-2.
• Fischer, Thomas Gabriel (2000). Are You Morbid?: Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost. London, UK: Sanctuary. ISBN 978-1-86074-310-8.