Celtic Frost "To Mega Therion (1988 Reissue, Germany, Noise Records, N 0031-3)"

To Mega Therion is the second studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released in October 1985 through Noise Records. The cover artwork is a painting by H. R. Giger titled Satan I.

"To Mega Therion" translates to the great beast in Greek. It is an expression found in the Bible but was also a nickname used by Aleister Crowley.

The album was highly influential on death metal and black metal, and some consider it to be one of the best albums of the 1980s.

Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork said To Mega Therion "spread apocalyptic visions over ungodly, vicious thrash metal." He further explained: "As subgenres began to harden into unified aesthetics, this music could not be pinned down: French horns, droning keyboards, and constantly shifting song structures assured that even the most devoted metalheads had never heard anything quite like it."

The album's horn sections have been described as "Wagnerian".

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".

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 exists". He remarks how "the band had decided to delve more into 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.

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."

Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork wrote in 2018: "Whatever response they elicited, Celtic Frost never seemed to care much: After all, they reminded us, we’re all going to the same place anyway."

Tracklist:

1. Innocence and Wrath 01:02   
2. The Usurper 03:27
3. Jewel Throne 04:06
4. Dawn of Megiddo 05:47   
5. Eternal Summer 04:31   
6. Circle of the Tyrants 04:38  
7. (Beyond the) North Winds 03:08   
8. Fainted Eyes 05:09
9. Tears in a Prophet's Dream 02:33  
10. Necromantical Screams 06:02  

Time:  40:23

Issued in a standard jewel case, with a 4-page booklet.

Track 2 (inspired by »Hear The Ballad Of The Swords« and »The Sign Of The Usurper« by Tom G. Warrior)

Track 6 [some] lines inspired by a poem by Robert E. Howard, called »Cimmeria«

Track 10 inspired by the song »Buried And Forgotten«, by Tom G. Warrior, Autumn 1983.

Fourth track is titled "Dawn of Meggido" in booklet.

- Official Video : Circle Of The Tyrants

Recording information:

Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Casablanca Studio, Berlin, 14-28 September 1985.

Horst Müller – producer, engineer, mixing

Rick Lights – assistant engineer

Karl Walterbach – executive producer