To Mega Therion (meaning the great beast in
Greek) is the first full-length studio album by Swiss
extreme metal band
Celtic Frost, released in 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.
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'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.
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
Side two
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
Celtic Frost
Tom G. Warrior – guitars, vocals, effects, co-producer, assistant engineer
^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.