Celtic Frost
To Mega Therion

"Nyarlathotep. The crawling chaos. I am the last and will speak to the empty spaces... beyond worlds, vague phantoms of monstrous things; vile temples with gigantic columns resting on nameless rocks below space and reaching voids above the spheres of light and darkness. And omnipresent, incessant, in this repugnant cemetery of the universe, the muffled roll of drums and the monotonous wailing of blasphemous flutes played in inconceivable lightless chambers, beyond time, to whose rhythm dance clumsily, darkly, and gigantically, the last gods: the blind mute stupid monsters whose soul is Nyarlathotep"

Excerpt from Nyarlathotep by H.P. Lovecraft

A Dark Sound... A Rotten Sound... The Sound Of Chaos...

This CD by Celtic Frost cannot be described with simple words, I will try to review it even though I think I picked a very difficult CD for me:
the year was 1985, a very important year for black metal as "The Return..." by Bathory of Quorthon and this album by the Swiss Celtic Frost were released. After the release of the first two EPs, namely "Morbid Tales" and "Emperor's Return", singer-guitarist Tom Warrior recruited the excellent Reed St.Mark behind the drums, and a short while later the revitalized trio released this CD, a milestone of extreme metal.

"To Mega Therion" opens with "Innocence And Wrath", a splendid intro opening the doors to this masterpiece of rare beauty, the first real track is "The Usurper", a very fast and aggressive track typically thrash, followed by "Jewel Throne", another brutal track. Next comes "Dawn Of Meggido", a much slower track compared to the first two but with heavier sounds thanks to the sound of horns and timpani, after which it progresses to "Eternal Summer", a track that starts very fast until the pace slows down and then brutally explodes. The sixth track is a band classic, "Circle Of The Tyrants", a macabre track with much more black sounds compared to the previous ones, followed by "(Beyond The) North Winds", a much more static track than the previous ones, the next "Fainted Eyes" is a good track where Warrior delivers an excellent vocal performance supported by the drummer.

"Tears In A Prophet's Dream" is a splendid instrumental-ambient piece composed of an evil and macabre sound, this masterpiece closes with the splendid "Necromantical Screams", a track that summarizes the entire sound of Celtic Frost and after a series of deadly riffs and drum beats concludes with the sound of timpani and horns.

A historic album, for me, it deserves to be among the top 10 metal albums of the 80s.

"The night opens on the brink of the abyss. The gates of hell are closed: at your risk, you attempt them. At your call something will awaken to respond to you."