Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion (1985)

To Mega Therion, or “The Great Beast” in Greek, is an accurate title for Celtic Frost’s first studio album (“Morbid Tales” and “Emperor’s Return” were each EPs, but when they got remastered, they were combined into one album), as it is truly a beast among metal albums. I’m not the only one to think this, as many metal bands spanning across many different genres – thrash, death, black, doom, you name it – have used this (and Celtic Frost’s music in general) as springboards for their own careers (Obituary and Darkthrone are two examples).

TRACK LISTING

1) Innocence and Wrath (1:02) – This intro is a foreshadowing of what’s to come. It’s pretty much a simple doom riff with a French horn (played by Wolf Bender) playing over it. Keep this in mind, as the French horn will return at several points later on in the album. This sounds like the soundtrack to the apocalypse.

2) The Usurper (3:24) – A more up-tempo song with some great riffs (you’ll hear a near endless number of these riffs throughout the album) and plenty of energy. It will give you a vicious punch to the face. You will also hear some female vocals (done by Claudia-Maria Mokri) at one point on this song, but they will reappear on other songs on the album as well.

3) Jewel Throne (4:02) – This song starts off mid-paced, but only gets faster as it goes on. I especially like the lyrics on this one.

4) Dawn of Megiddo (5:43) – Another slow, doom-like song, with insanely heavy riffs and the return of the motif from “Innocence and Wrath” at several points, with Bender’s French horn playing over the apocalyptic riffs.

5) Eternal Summer (4:31) – This song is a mix of thrash and doom, having a good variety of fast and slow riffs and tempos to match.

6) Circle of the Tyrants (4:37) – This song is a remake of the version on the “Emperor’s Return” EP. I like this one better, as it’s more polished and features deep vocals at points. Mokri’s female vocals return at around the two-minute mark as well.

7) (Beyond the) North Winds (3:06) – Another up-tempo song, one with more thrash metal-like riffs on here than any other song.

8) Fainted Eyes (5:05) – Dominic Steiner’s bass is most audible on here, with plenty of bass clangs. This song, like “The Usurper”, is one of the fastest on here, and provides plenty of energy.

9) Tears in a Prophet’s Dream (2:32) – This is an instrumental that experiments with electronic ambiances, random percussion sounds, and eerie wails. It’s probably the weakest track on here, and could possibly be filler, but you may like it.

10) Necromantical Screams (6:04) – This song scared me the first time I heard it. Mokri’s vocals and Bender’s French horn both return for this grand finale. The song moves along at a doom-like tempo with some occasional bursts of speed. If you had to ask me, I’d say this song takes the themes spread throughout the other nine tracks and combines them into one epic.

Take my word on this one – this album is a masterpiece. I hold it in very high regard, and if you were to give it a listen, it wouldn’t surprise me if you did too. Highly recommended!

HIGHLIGHTS: everything, with Tears in a Prophet’s Dream bringing up the rear.