To Mega Therion (album)
| To Mega Therion | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover art by H. R. Giger[1] | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 14–28 September 1985 | |||
| Studio | Casablanca, Berlin | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 39:52 | |||
| Label | Noise | |||
| Producer | Horst Müller, Tom G. Warrior, Karl Walterbach | |||
| Celtic Frost chronology | ||||
| ||||
To Mega Therion is the first full-length studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in October 1985 through Noise Records.[2] The cover artwork is a painting by H. R. Giger titled Satan I.
"To Mega Therion" translates to the great beast in Greek.[according to whom?]
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[3] |
Ned Raggett in his review for AllMusic wrote, "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 is 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]
Legacy
[edit]The album was a major influence on the then-developing death metal and black metal genres.
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]
Decibel magazine ranked To Mega Therion #21 in their "Decibel Thrash Top 50" list. Writer Nick Green praises both its "purer" thrash metal tracks such as "Circle of the Tyrants" and the experimental edge of "Necromantical Screams."[5]
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by Tom G. Warrior, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Total length: | 39:52 | |
Personnel
[edit]- 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
[edit]- ^ "Celtic Frost, 'To Mega Therion'". Rolling Stone. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d Raggett, Ned. "Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ Pitchfork Staff (10 September 2018). "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
...To Mega Therion, their sophomore album, which spread apocalyptic visions over ungodly, vicious thrash metal.
- ^ Green 2011, p. 9.
Further reading
[edit]- Fischer, Thomas Gabriel (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.
- Green, Nick (November 2011). "Decibel Thrash Top 50: #21 - CELTIC FROST - To Mega Therion". Decibel (Decibel Thrash Hall of Fame Special Issue). Philadelphia, PA: 5–11. ISSN 1557-2137.
- Shapiro, Marc (1993). "The Birth of Death: A Speed Demonology". Guitar presents Speed Demons of Metal, 6–9, 23, 110–112.
