Celtic Frost – ‘To Mega Therion’ CD

‘To Mega Therion’ (meaning the great beast in Greek) is the debut album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released on October 27th, 1985 by Noise Records. 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.

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, a remarkable display of Warrior’s knack around brute power and unexpectedly memorable riffs.

Other prime cuts include ‘Circle of the Tyrants,’ ‘Dawn of Megiddo,’ ‘Tears in a Prophet’s Dream,’ ‘Eternal Summer,’ and ‘Necromantical Screams.’