Guitarist Oliver Amberg, who played in Celtic Frost from 1988 - 1989, recently guested on the 80’s Glam Metalcast. An excerpt has been transcribed as follows:

Why Amberg thinks fans take issue with the Cold Lake album:

"The image didn’t help the album at all. If you seen us later on the tour, we looked like a different band. It wasn’t the smartest move having pictures like that. There was a lack of heaviness with the production as well. It was too polished and lacked some aggression. I think people weren’t ready and people weren’t forgiving about the image we had then. There’s a lot of hate going on still after 30 years, which puzzles me. There’s some people who like it and some that don’t... but I like it."

Does he deserve some blame for the type of songs that were written:

"When you just look at the songs and the riffs, forget about the production and some of the lyrics - it’s quite a heavy album. I think there were some words like 'sleazy,' people were like 'oooh' that’s a word Celtic Frost shouldn’t use. Some people live with it, and some people still hate it. We were a four piece band, it wasn’t just me writing the songs. It was teamwork. We had a lot of fun making this record. Especially in the beginning when the songwriting was going on. We had a lot of laughs and good times. Then it just didn’t turn out how everybody expected. There become a lot of anger and frustration for everyone involved with the band. Things were ok, then it changed. I won’t apologize to some people who think I’m a dirtbag. After 30 years I’m free of charge now, they shouldn’t blame me anymore." 

On why he got let go from the band:

"It was a pain in the ass to work with me for Tom (Gabriel Warrior - vocalist / guitarist). I was a young guy who had a record contract and I toured, and I was just behaving like a prick. I thought I was a rock star and a king. That was pretty heavy for the other guys to deal with, especially Tom. There was my attitude and some abuse of stuff, I was a mess back then. If I had the wisdom that I have now, things would have turned out so differently. I wasn’t focused on the music like Tom was. Celtic Frost was his life. I was focused on playing live and having a party. It’s sad actually." 

Should Cold Lake be re-issued and available on Spotify etc.:

"I think if they would, it really doesn’t have much weight anymore. Now it’s like the forbidden album. You can’t get it anymore, you can’t stream it... it’s gone. I think it’s only Tom’s decision. It’s his baby, if he doesn’t want it anymore, so be it."