Thomas Gabriel Fischer

Thomas Gabriel Fischer
Background information
Birth Name	Thomas Gabriel Fischer
Alias	Tom G. Warrior Satanic Slaughter
Born	19 July 1963, Switzerland
Occupation	Musician, Visual Artist, Writer, Museum Curator
Genres	Extreme Metal, Avant-Garde, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Industrial Metal
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Years active	1981 - 1993, 1995 - Present
Labels	Prowling Death Records, Century Media, Noise Records, Mayan Records
Associated acts	Celtic Frost, Triptykon, Probot, Hellhammer, Apollyon Sun, Triumph of Death, Coroner
Website	Delineation II

Thomas Gabriel Fischer, also known as Satanic Slaughter and best known by his stage name Tom G. Warrior, is a Swiss heavy metal musician. He is best known for the bands he would form in Hellhammer (1982 - 1984) and Celtic Frost (1984 - 1993, 2001 - 2008), both of which were highly influential to the development of the genres of black metal and death metal though the influence of each band would expand to several other musicians through a wide range of genres. Currently, Fischer has been active with the extreme metal band Triptykon since 2008 and a Hellhammer tribute project known as Triumph of Death since 2018.

Fischer is also distinctively known for his "death grunts" used in songs (Often written out as "UH" or "UGH") and his distinctive vocals. One lyric in particular would become a catchphrase of sorts in "Only Death Is Real". He currently plays an Ibanez H. R. Giger series Iceman guitar. He also uses an Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive pedal. Notably, Fischer was ranked No. 32 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World.

Since starting his career in 1981, Fischer has released six studio albums with Celtic Frost, three with Triptykon (including the 2020 live album Requiem), three album-length demos with Hellhammer and one with Apollyon Sun among a host of other releases.

Biography

Early Bands and Hellhammer (1981 - 1984)

Inspired by the music of Black Sabbath, Venom, Raven, and Motörhead, guitarist/vocalist Thomas Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. "Tom Warrior"), bassist/vocalist Urs Sprenger (a.k.a. "Steve Warrior") and drummer Pete Stratton formed Hammerhead (later Hellhammer) in early 1982. Although Fischer was also "blown away" by the first two Discharge records - Why? and Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing - he "was not into punk at all."

After the exit of Stratton and drummer Jörg Neubart (a.k.a. "Bruce Day") joining in the ranks in autumn 1982, Hellhammer attempted to find proper rehearsal spaces, which proved difficult due to either exceedingly high rents or unavailable studio hours. In June 1983, the group recorded their first demo tapes in Death Fiend (Released June 1983) and Triumph of Death (Released July 1983), the latter recorded for just $70. Despite being embarrassed by the end results, Hellhammer shipped their demo to a number of heavy metal magazines, such as Great Britain's Metal Forces; critical response toward them was generally favorable. Although rejected by the labels they sent tapes to, the band eventually caught the attention of newcomer Noise Records.

Steve Warrior had been replaced by former Schizo bassist Martin Eric Ain, a change which marked the beginning of a serious and radical transformation in the band's music and lyrics. These changes were ultimately responsible for Fischer's and Ain's increasing perception of being limited within the confines of the purposely primitive Hellhammer vehicle. On 31 December 1983 the band would release their third demo in Satanic Rites. Signing with Noise Records, Hellhammer would record and mix six songs at Caet Studios in Berlin, Germany from 2 - 7 March 1984. Two of the songs would appear on Noise Records' Death Metal compilation while the other four would be released as the band's first EP Apocalyptic Raids on 7 March 1984.

However the band was harshly criticized by many publications such as Metal Forces, Rock Power and Kerrang! among others who were skeptical of this band, Rock Power in particular calling it "the most terrible, abhorrent and atrocious thing "musicians" were ever allowed to record". Fischer confirmed this in his first book, stating they were "receiving miserable reviews everywhere". In the booklet for the reissued Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D., Fischer would state that this would linger on his new band in the following:

“	“Way back in 1984 and 85, when Martin Eric Ain and I recorded Celtic Frost's first two albums Morbid Tales and To Mega Therion, Hellhammer lasted on us almost like a curse. Even though Hellhammer was the very reason we had thought over our goals and conceived the Frost, HH's left-overs kept being mighty rocks in our way. Many voices saw Frost as the same band with just a name-change. The lack of musical quality in HH made it almost impossible for us to get an unbiased reaction for Frost. To make a long story short, it almost killed all our work and dreams.”	”
	— Thomas Gabriel Fischer,

On 31 May 1984, Hellhammer disbanded, and on 1 June changed its name to Celtic Frost. Though Hellhammer tried to get shows booked in Switzerland no club or venue was interested in booking them. The closest Hellhammer had done to live shows would be live rehearsals at the Hellhammer bunker in Birchwil, Switzerland with friends in attendance.

At the dawn of the next decade Noise Records released a new version of Hellhammer's debut, retitled Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D.. This re-issue was augmented by two tracks off the Death Metal compilation, which was "something we always wanted to, even back in '84", claimed Tom Warrior. This re-release also came with a new cover design done by Martin Ain. Apocalyptic Raids 1990 would be remastered and re-issued on 24 April 2020.

In November 2007, Tom Gabriel Fischer announced that the original master tapes of Hellhammer's demos (Death Fiend, Triumph of Death, and Satanic Rites) would be released as a 2CD/3LP package, titled Demon Entrails, in February 2008 with new liner notes on the complete history of Hellhammer, unreleased photos and artwork, and all tracks remastered personally by Tom Gabriel Fischer, Martin Eric Ain and Steve Warrior. The album was released jointly by Prowling Death Records and Century Media Records.

In 2016, both Century Media and Prowling Death Records joint released an unreleased 7" vinyl single the band originally recorded in 1983 titled Blood Insanity. Tom Gabriel Fischer explained that the band contemplated releasing material they recorded at the time of the Triumph of Death demo sessions which would contain two songs. Unfortunately, the single languished into an unrealized state until the band's split, rendering any plans for future releases redundant. Fischer went on to say that it never left his mind since then and presented the idea of releasing the single to Century Media, in which the record company agreed.

Celtic Frost (1984 - 1993, 2001 - 2008)

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Celtic Frost.

Steve Warrior had been replaced by former Schizo bassist Martin Eric Ain, a change which marked the beginning of a serious and radical transformation in the band's music and lyrics. These changes were ultimately responsible for Fischer's and Ain's increasing perception of being limited within the confines of the purposely primitive Hellhammer vehicle. On 31 May 1984, Hellhammer disbanded, and on June 1 changed its name to Celtic Frost. Fischer, Ain and session drummer Stephen Preistly would rehearse over the next several months and record their debut in October. Morbid Tales was released in November 1984 and was a hit in the underground metal scene. Initially a mini-LP but with two tracks from the Metal Attack Vol. 1 compilation it is considered to be the band's first album. In the spring the band would recruit a new drummer in Reed St. Mark, from New York. The band would record three songs and integrate them with the Metal Attack songs to compose the Emperor's Return EP, released 15 August 1985.

After making an appearance on the Swiss-German television program DRS that April, Celtic Frost would perform live for the first time on 17 May 1985 at Grabenhalle in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The band would tour for the first time that summer, performing in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

In an interview with Louder Sound, Fischer would detail the formation of Celtic Frost and the making of Morbid Tales in an article where every full-length is spoken in detail:

“	“When me and Martin [Eric Ain, guitarist] formed Celtic Frost in the night of May 31 to June 1 of 1984, we sat down that night and we wrote down a very detailed framework of how we wanted the new band to be. We loved the heaviness of Hellhammer and we wanted to retain that, but on top of that we wanted to add much more sophistication and we wanted to have a band that accepts no limits musically or artistically. We didn’t want to be tied down by some clichés or scene conventions. Another factor that was really important, by that time the American metal wave was hitting Europe, and the bands that came from America were incredibly sophisticated in their playing. We knew we could never match that, but we still knew that we would have to compete with them and we knew we had to make an incredible effort to lift Morbid Tales technically beyond what Hellhammer had achieved. And all of these elements are crucial in understanding why Morbid Tales sounds the way it does compared to the Hellhammer EP that was recorded only a handful of months before. We wanted to have a band that would develop tremendously in between the albums. We were complete nobodies at the time. We were ridiculed by the media, and to think that the album we created in this situation became an album, that, 30-odd years later is still being played, that’s an immense honour for two complete outcast kids from Switzerland.”	”
	— Thomas Gabriel Fischer, Louder Sound

Work would begin on a second studio album but before the album could be recorded Martin Eric Ain would leave the group due to personal conflicts, forcing the band to utilize a session bassist in Dominic Steiner. Recording that September, To Mega Therion would be released on 27 October 1985. Featuring artwork by H.R. Giger ("Satan I") it would be widely praised in the underground metal circles and is considered a major influence on the death and black metal genres. Ain would return to the band after the album was recorded in time for a string of shows in Canada, including their appearance at the "World War III" Festival (With Possessed, Nasty Savage, Destruction and Voivod.).

The band would record in early 1986 with Ain again. The intent was to record new bass lines on all of To Mega Therion but ultimately costs only allowed two tracks along with a bonus re-recording of "Return To The Eve", ultimately composing the Tragic Serenades EP. Celtic Frost would tour Germany with Helloween and Grave Digger before touring North America for the first time with Running Wild and Voivod. Notably on the last date of the tour would be at The Ritz in New York City on 14 July 1986. This would be part of the New Music Seminar alongside D.O.A., Nuclear Assault, Rogue Male, MDC and Samhain (In what was notably their last live performance of their original run.).

The first four months of 1987 would be spent working on their third studio album, drawing not just from metal but influences of classical, 70s prog and new wave. During the sessions rehearsals would begin as word was out of an impromptu February tour with Anthrax, against the band's wishes. However on 1 June 1987 Into The Pandemonium was released. A far departure from their extreme metal motif as this album featured a cover of "Mexican Radio" by Wall of Voodoo, emotionally charged love songs, an EBM-inspired song in "One In Their Pride" along with elements of industrial, classical music and gothic rock. Some critics would coin them as "avant-garde metal", a motif that has stuck ever since. However tensions behind the scenes mounted, especially between Noise Records owner Karl-Ulrich Walterbach and Fischer over pay (The record allegedly sold 120,000 units worldwide) just to scratch the surface.

A second guitarist in Ron Marks would be added to "beef up the sound" as Celtic Frost would tour Europe in October with Kreator and Virus, followed by a North American tour with Anthrax and Exodus. Tensions also mounted between the band with Fischer stating to the audience on 19 December 1987 at the Bronco Bowl Auditorium in Dallas, Texas that this would be the final Celtic Frost concert. Fischer would state that Noise Records was "not the springboard that it was or could have remained but the hinderer" and that the label "destroyed the band in 1987".

Five months after the band's ill-fated One In Their Pride tour, Celtic Frost would rehearse for new material, minus Ron Marks. The next month Warrior would form a new lineup of the band with Stephen Priestly back on drums, Oliver Amberg on guitars and Curt Victor Bryant on bass. The band would record over the next several months with big-name producer Tony Platt, eventually revealing their fourth album Cold Lake on 1 September 1988 via Noise Records. The band's sound would deviate into more of a traditional heavy metal sound with a vague semblance of the extreme sound the band established. Notably the band adopted more of a "glam" look to appeal to the rising popularity of glam metal at the time.

Celtic Frost would tour Europe and the United States the next year from February to April. Cold Lake was ultimately slammed by music critics at the time and the band would be labeled a sell-out. Amberg would be fired not long after the tour. Retroactively some critics have been more positive to the album such as Decibel. However, Fischer has referred to it as "the absolute lower limit of whatever can come from my mind" and in his opinion "the worst album ever created in heavy music". Commonly in recent times the album is referred to by Fischer as "The Abomination", even listed as such on his discography.

Recording would begin on a fifth album in the summer of 1989, with Ron Marks joining in the sessions. Eventually Martin Eric Ain would return to the band for a portion of the sessions. Vanity/Nemesis would be released on 11 April 1990 and while seen as a return to form by fans and some critics, would ultimately be panned by contemporaries at the time. Celtic Frost would tour that April and May in support of the album, with the band's last show of the tour on 29 May at the Assembly Room in Darby, England. Though not known at the time this would be the band's final performance until 2006.

In the fall of 1991 the band would record a handful of demos and include two of those new tracks on a compilation album entitled Parched With Thirst Am I And Dying, released in 1992. In the meantime Reed St. Mark would join the band for demo sessions, this demo being referred to as Nemesis of Power. A sixth album was planned entitled Under Apollyon's Sun but before anything could be finished the band would dissolve in 1993. Curt Victor Bryant would join the metal band Doomsday while Reed St. Mark would become one of the founding members of Mind Funk.

In 2001 Fischer and Unala had recorded several songs for a second Apollyon Sun album entitled Flesh. However plans would change when Fischer and Ain would begin writing music together again. Unala would be invited to join a newly formed Celtic Frost as work would begin on a sixth album. Preparation and development work for this new album had begun as far as 2000, with the possibility of releasing the album that year under the title "Probe" or "Resurgam" (With a later tentative title being "Dark Matter Manifest"). The band at this point intended to recruit Ron Marks and Reed St. Mark into the lineup along with founding members Tom Gabriel Fischer and Martin Eric Ain.

Celtic Frost would recruit a new drummer in Franco Sesa (NunFuckRitual) and eventually compose a private demo in 2002 entitled Prototype. Notably this demo featured leftover songs from the Flesh sessions and a cover of "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles. Many fragments of the songs in this project would be worked into the band's next album (And even later in Triptykon's debut album) though some observers have harshly criticized this demo for it's nu-metal sound.

The aim was to develop and record a new, very dark and heavy album. The completion of the project took far longer than anticipated in part due to the DIY nature of the project and the project's financing done entirely by the band. The band also rebooted the Prowling Death Records label and formed a publishing imprint in Diktatur des Kapitals to maintain complete control over their own music. Celtic Frost would sign a worldwide licensing deal with Century Media through Prowling Death to maintain complete creative control on the musical aspect. The announcement of signing to the label was on 18 January 2006 with a May release set for their first album in sixteen years. A month later on 18 February 2006, Erol Unala would leave the band. Developing a sound that mixes black metal, doom metal and gothic metal along with other musical elements, Monotheist would be released on 29 May 2006 to widespread critical acclaim. In an interview with Louder Sound, Fischer would speak in detail on the culmination of the album based on artistic merit and the "spark" to close out their career on a high note:

“	“Celtic Frost eventually dissolved in the early 1990s and I think both Martin and I felt that on the one hand we didn’t want to have anything to do with Celtic Frost at the time because of the way that it ended, but at the same time, given that these last two albums of Celtic Frost were such failures, we always felt that not everything had been said. We always said, this cannot be how Celtic Frost ends. I think we always carried that little spark in ourselves. We always knew that one day we would probably have to talk about it, whether it should be the end or whether we should attempt to resurrect that. But we weren’t in the mood throughout the 1990s, and that was a good thing. We received sometimes incredibly lucrative offers to reform the band for certain festivals. There was this one offer particularly that was monstrously big, and Martin and I talked about it and we decided we were not going to reform Celtic Frost for money. If we ever reform it, it has to be for artistic reasons, and I’m very proud we did this. So we waited a few more years, but eventually in 2001 we met for dinner in Zürich, and we just said, look, we have to attempt at least to provide some kind of artistic conclusion to Celtic Frost that is worth the name. That’s really when Monotheist became a reality from having been in the back of our minds as a concept for many years, but that’s when it became a reality. “It’s the album that should have followed Into The Pandemonium really. To me it’s different from the other Celtic Frost albums, but then every album is different to the other Celtic Frost albums, that is why it’s a Celtic Frost album. And to me, Monotheist counts as one of the important Celtic Frost albums. To me, there are four albums that Celtic Frost did that are crucial to the band’s history and those are the first three and Monotheist. And I’m extremely glad that we have the guts to do this and we had the patience to work for five-and-a-half years on that album to make it right.”	”
	— Thomas Gabriel Fischer, Louder Sound

Leading up to Monotheist's release the band began to announce tour dates, the first date in question being a headlining slot at Wacken Open Air on 4 August 2006. More dates would be announced with Celtic Frost's first live performance of the Monotheist tour (And first live performances since 1990.) would be on 29 May 2006 at Remise in Wil, Switzerland, the same day as the release of Monotheist. On 15 September 2006, Century Media released a music video for "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh".

What would follow would be the band's most extensive touring cycle of their entire career, with over 120 shows spanning over the course of two years. Even more notable is the band managing to perform more live shows in these two years than in the entirety of their initial run. Along with the European tour in 2006 including multiple festival dates were tours of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and two days in Mexico, which would prove to be the band's final shows (Though not known at the time). Anders Odden would perform as a live guitarist for the 2006 tour dates while V. Santura (Real name Victor Bullok) would perform as the live guitarist for the 2007 dates. Adrian Winkler and a team of camera crew followed the band on these tours, filming for a documentary entitled Celtic Frost - A Dying God. The documentary aired on Sunday, 16 November 2008 on Swiss national TV station SF1 (After the band's demise.).

Fischer tendered his resignation from Celtic Frost on 9 April 2008, with the following message displayed on the band's official website: "Celtic Frost singer and guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer has left Celtic Frost due to the irresolvable, severe erosion of the personal basis so urgently required to collaborate within a band so unique, volatile, and ambitious.". While the details behind the breakup aren't entirely known it is public knowledge that Fischer had a major falling out with drummer Franco Sesa. The band had intended to headline the 2008 edition of Roadburn Festival and according to Fischer on the Triptykon forums, the band had intended to perform all of Morbid Tales (Nocturnal Fear being the only song never played from that album) along with classic Celtic Frost songs and "Domain of Decay" for the first time.

Martin Ain, at the time of the announcement, stated that the band was "still alive, albeit in a coma of sorts." He went on further to say that the remainder of the band is "not going to continue recording or touring," saying this "would be preposterous" without Fischer. On 9 Septermber 2008, Celtic Frost members Martin Eric Ain and Tom Gabriel Fischer confirmed on Celtic Frost's official website that the band had "jointly decided to lay Celtic Frost to rest for good".

Triptykon (2008 - Present)

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Triptykon.

Triptykon was formed in May 2008 initially as a side project for Fischer but ultimately became his next band after the dissolution of Celtic Frost that same year. Fischer would then search for musicians to join him on the project, the first of which being Vanja Šlajh, a close friend of Fischer. Shortly thereafter would be Dark Fortress and former Celtic Frost live guitarist V. Santura. The next member was original Celtic Frost drummer Reed St. Mark but ultimately he would leave the group after four rehearsal sessions. On a recommendation from Triptykon's manager Antje Lange the drummer to round out the lineup was Norman Lonhard, who joined in December 2008.

The first recording posted was an experimental track entitled "Crucifuxus" on the band's MySpace page in late 2008. Eventually the band would start recording in August 2009 at Santura's own Woodshed Studio near Landshut, Germany with additional recording in Zurich. The band's debut album Eparistera Daimones ("To my left, the demons") was released on 22 March 2010 to critical acclaim with Century Media interviewing Fischer to promote the album. Notably, the band would also work with artists Vincent Castiglia and H.R. Giger for the release, the latter previously working with Celtic Frost on the seminal To Mega Therion and was a close friend to Fischer and the band.

Triptykon's first live performances would be two warm-up gigs in Germany before a headlining appearance at the 2010 edition of Roadburn Festival which was also curated by Fischer that year. The band would follow in support of their debut album with a tour of Japan alongside Nile and Obscura entitled Extreme Dojo Vol. 25 along with a string of European dates and the Weltenbrand tour alongside 1349 and Yakuza, their first and to date only North American tour. An EP of songs from the album sessions and two live tracks from Roadburn 2010 entitled Shatter was released on 25 October 2010 with a music video for the title track. The band would go into 2011 performing a string of various festivals among other shows, culminating in a European tour entitled Hatefest followed by a supporting gig on the Destroyers of The Faith tour in 2012.

Triptykon would hold off on touring for the duration of 2013 to finish on writing and recording their second record in Germany and Switzerland, an album the band had been working on for three years. On 22 October 2013 the band would announce details on their second album including a release date slated for April 2014. More details including a track list would follow on 7 February 2014 in a second press release along with an announcement of working with H.R. Giger once again in collaboration in regards to artwork. The band would debut a new song "Altar of Deceit" on 21 February 2014 at Blastfest in Norway.

Melana Chasmata ("chasms as [black as] ink") would be released on 14 April 2014 via Prowling Death Records and Century Media to widespread critical acclaim. Tragedy would befall the band as artist and collaborator H.R. Giger would pass away just a week before the album's release, forcing the band to cancel their appearance at Maryland Deathfest that year. The band would still make appearances at later festivals along with a tour of Europe with At The Gates. Two music videos ("Aurorae" and "Tree of Suffocating Souls") were made to promote the album.

Triptykon would begin to perform on a more sporadic basis through the rest of the 2010s. In between these dates Tom G. Warrior would also release an archival Hellhammer 7" along with a temporary participation in the Celtic Frost BMG reissues. Triptykon currently are working on a third album with no set release date. It has been stated that this release will be the final studio album to feature authorized artwork by H.R. Giger. On 1 November 2018 it would be announced that Triptykon would be returning to Roadburn Festival for a commissioned performance of the Celtic Frost/Triptykon "Requiem", backed by the Dutch Metropole Orkest. On 9 March 2020 Century Media would announce the physical release for Requiem, ultimately released on 15 May 2020 to positive reviews.

Other Projects

Some years after Celtic Frost disbanded and with that time away from the music industry completely, Fischer would be invited to contribute to a new project involving a friend of his in Erol Unala. This would lead to the formation of Apollyon Sun, the band's first recording being a cover of "Babylon Fell" for the 1996 tribute album In Memory of Celtic Frost. Unlike Celtic Frost or Hellhammer, Apollyon Sun was more of an industrial metal/trip hop project. The band would release an EP entitled God Leaves (And Dies) on 29 May 1998 and later their only album Sub on 4 April 2000. Apollyon Sun performed on two known occasions (25 August 2000 in Switzerland and 1 September 2000 in London as part of the Gig Week at the Kerrang Awards).

Unala and Fischer also contributed the song "Big Sky" to Dave Grohl's metal side project Probot, with the eponymous album being released on 10 February 2004.

In 2018 Fischer would form a side project known as Triumph of Death, announcing the project on 26 November 2016. Triumph of Death would serve as a tribute band to Hellhammer as that band had never performed live and was seen a chance to bring many of those songs to a live stage. The initial lineup would consist of Fischer, André Mathieu (Punish, Unlight), Alessandro Comerio (Forgotten Tomb, The True Endless) and Mia Wallace (Abbath, Niryth, Kirlian Camera). Following a string of warm-up shows in Germany, Triumph of Death would perform as several festivals such as Hellfest, Kilkin Zaibu, Wacken Open Air, Party.San Festival, Brutal Assault and Psycho Las Vegas. That December Triumph of Death would perform at Merry Christless Festival, with Jamie Lee Cussigh taking over on bass.

In 2016 Fischer, along with Vanja Slajh, Mia Wallace and Pidi Leuenberger would form Niryth, a project with three bass guitars and described as a more of a "dark psychedelic" project. At the time of Niryth and Triumph of Death's formation, Fischer was in a relationship with Wallace. At the end of 2019 the two parties would have a falling out. Fischer, Slajh and Leuenberger would all leave Niryth and Wallace would also in term would no longer be participating in Triumph of Death. In May 2020 Fischer would announce a new project utilizing songs written from Niryth, which would notably lead to a dispute in songwriting credits between himself and Wallace.

Personal Life

Fischer has maintained a personal blog known as Delineation II, with the first post being on 31 October 2004. The blog in question covers details of Fischer's life such as news regarded to his bands, unreleased photos, personal/symbolic stories and tributes to fallen musicians among other subjects.

Fischer has been married once. Meeting Michelle Villaneuva on a North American tour in 1987, the two would marry a year and a day later on 26 November 1988. Their marraige would last sixteen years, ultimately divorcing in 2004.

Fischer has also published two books on his career as a musician. Are You Morbid? would see release in 2000 detailed Hellhammer and the entirety of Celtic Frost's first run, currently holding a 3.74 average on Goodreads. Notably this book has been long out of print and has become somewhat of a collectors item. Fischer, working with Martin Eric Ain, would publish a book in 2010 titled 'Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost 1982-1985, which extensively documents Fischer's early life, Hellhammer's run from 1982 - 1984 and Celtic Frost up to the release of To Mega Therion. The book featured a foreword by Darkthrone guitarist Nocturno Culto and an introduction by the author Joel McIver. Fischer had stated in 2018 that two more books were in the works: A Celtic Frost book covering the band's entire first run and a book covering Celtic Frost's reunion and Triptykon.

Fischer is a vegetarian and does not eat meat. In an interview conducted by Red Bull Music Academy, Fischer would elaborate further, stating that while he doesn't dislike the taste of meat he however dislikes the slaughter that creates it. He also maintains a sober lifestyle by not partaking in drugs or alcohol. One notable exception would be when the Swiss military would try to draft him for their mandatory military duties. On suggestion from a friend in Switzerland's punk scene, Fischer would drink and smoke for a week straight, along with not sleeping or eating, to appear so gaunt that he would be declared unfit to serve.

Fischer would establish a friendship and working relationship with Swiss artist H.R. Giger, beginning with Giger letting the band use his artwork for "To Mega Therion". He was the personal assistant to H. R. Giger from 2007 until Giger's death. He was a close friend of Giger and his wife Carmen, and continues to be active for the Giger estate and as the co-director of the Museum HR Giger. Fischer also appears in the documentary Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World, a biographical documentary by Belinda Sallin. Dark Star premiered on 27 September 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Bands

• Tarot - Guitar (1981)
• Grave Hill - Guitar (1981 - 1982)
• Hellhammer - Guitar, Vocals (1982 - 1984)
• Celtic Frost - Guitar, Vocals (1984 - 1993, 2001 - 2008)
• Apollyon Sun - Guitar, Vocals (1995 - 2001)
• Triptykon - Guitar, Vocals (2008 - Present)
• Triumph of Death - Guitar, Vocals (2018 - Present)

Selected Discography

Hellhammer

• Death Fiend (Demo) (1983, Prowlin' Death Records)
• Triumph of Death (Demo) (1983, Prowlin' Death Records)
• Satanic Rites (Demo) (1983, Prowlin' Death Records)
• Apocalyptic Raids (EP) (1984, Noise Records)
• Demon Entrails (Compilation) (2008, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)
• Blood Insanity (Single) (2016, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)

Celtic Frost

• Morbid Tales (EP, later Studio Album) (1984, Noise; Metal Blade)
• Emperor's Return (EP) (1985, Noise)
• To Mega Therion (Studio Album) (1985, Noise)
• Tragic Serenades (EP) (1986, Noise)
• Into The Pandemonium (Studio Album) (1987, Noise)
• Cold Lake (Abomination) (1988, Noise)
• Vanity/Nemesis (Studio Album) (1990, Noise)
• Parched With Thirst Am I And Dying (1992, Noise)
• Monotheist (Studio Album) (2006, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)

Triptykon

• Eparistera Daimones (Studio Album) (2010, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)
• Shatter (EP) (2010, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)
• Breathing (Single) (2014, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)
• Melana Chasmata (Studio Album) (2014, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)
• Requiem (Live Album with The Metropole Orkest) (2020, Prowling Death Records; Century Media)

Other Contributions

• Coroner - Death Cult (Demo; Lead Vocals, Lyrics, Producer) (1986, Self-Released)
• Apollyon Sun - Industry (Demo) (1997, Self-Released)
• Apollyon Sun - God Leaves (And Dies) (EP) (1998, Mayan Records)
• Apollyon Sun - Sub (Studio Album) (2000, Mayan Records)
• In Your Face - Now or Never (Demo; contributes keyboards) (2000, Self-Released)
• Apollyon Sun - Flesh (Demo) (2002, Self-Released)
• Probot (Studio Album; Guitar and Vocals on "Big Sky") (2004, Southern Lord Records)
• Dark Fortress - Eidolon (Studio Album; Vocals on "Baphomet") (2008, Century Media)
• 1349 - Revelations of The Black Flame (Studio Album; Guitar & Bass on "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", Producer, Mixing) (2009, Candlelight)
• 1349 - Demonoir (Studio Album; Producer) (2010, Indie Recordings)
• 1349 - Hellvetia Fire (Live DVD; Vocals on "The Usurper") (2011, Candlelight)
• Sorrows of The Moon - Seven Bells (Studio Album; Mixing, Mastering) (2012, Lupus Lounge)
• My Dying Bride - A Harvest of Dread (Compilation; Contributed liner notes) (2019, Peaceville)

Bibliography

• Are You Morbid?: Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost (2000, Sanctuary Publishing Limited)
• Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost 1981–1985 (With Martin Eric Ain) (2010, Bazillion Points)

External Links

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Celtic Frost Official Page