To Mega Therion (album)

To Mega Therion
Cover art by H. R. Giger[1]
Studio album by Celtic Frost
Released 27 October 1985
Recorded 14–28 September 1985
Studio Casablanca Studio in Berlin, Germany
Genre Black metal, death metal[2][3]
Length 39:52
Label Noise
Producer Horst Müller, Tom G. Warrior, Karl Walterbach
Celtic Frost chronology
Emperor's Return
(1985)Emperor's Return1985		 To Mega Therion
(1985)		 Tragic Serenades
(1986)Tragic Serenades1986

To Mega Therion (meaning the great beast in Greek) is the second studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released on 27 October 1985 by Noise Records.[2] 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.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal8/10[3]

Ned Raggett in his review for AllMusic writes, "The bombastic 'Innocence and Wrath' starts To Mega Therion off on just the appropriate note – Wagnerian horn lines, booming drums, and a slow crunch toward apocalypse. ... With that setting the tone, it's into the maddeningly wild and woolly Celtic Frost universe full bore, Warrior roaring out his vocals with glee and a wicked smile while never resorting to self-parodic castrato wails. 'The Usurper' alone is worth the price of admission, an awesome display of Warrior's knack around brute power and unexpectedly memorable riffs." According to Raggett, "other prime cuts" include "Circle of the Tyrants", "Dawn of Megiddo", "Tears in a Prophet's Dream", "Eternal Summer" and "Necromantical Screams". Raggett concludes his review by stating that the album "is and remains death metal at its finest".[2] Canadian journalist Martin Popoff considers the album "a black metal landmark" and "the most consistent example of early death metal that exist". He remarks how "the band had decided to delve more unto the extreme" and praised Tom Warrior's "surprisingly accomplished" lyrics and the mix of death, black and doom metal with a pinch of ambient music.[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Tom G. Warrior, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Innocence and Wrath"1:02
2."The Usurper"3:24
3."Jewel Throne"3:59
4."Dawn of Megiddo" (Warrior, Martin Ain. Consistently misspelled as Dawn of Meggido on re-releases)5:42
5."Eternal Summer"4:29
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Circle of the Tyrants"4:36
7."(Beyond the) North Winds"3:04
8."Fainted Eyes"5:00
9."Tears in a Prophet's Dream" (Celtic Frost, Steve Warrior)2:30
10."Necromantical Screams" (Warrior, Ain)6:06

Personnel

Celtic Frost
  • Tom G. Warrior - guitars, vocals, effects, co-producer, assistant engineer
  • Dominic Steiner - bass, bass effects
  • Reed St. Mark - drums, percussion, effects
Additional musicians
  • Martin Ain – bass (tracks 2 and 3 on 1999 re-release; songs originally from Tragic Serenades EP)
  • Wolf Bender – French horn (tracks 1, 4 and 10)
  • Claudia-Maria Mokri – additional vocals (tracks 2, 6 and 10)
  • Horst Müller, Urs Sprenger – sound effects (track 9)
Production
  • Horst Müller - producer, engineer, mixing
  • Rick Lights - assistant engineer
  • Karl Walterbach - executive producer

References

  1. ↑ "Celtic Frost, 'To Mega Therion'". Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Raggett, Ned. "Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-1894959315.

Further reading

  • 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 978-1860743108.
  • Shapiro, Marc (1993). "The Birth of Death: A Speed Demonology". Guitar presents Speed Demons of Metal, 6–9, 23, 110–112.
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