Review by Ben for Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion (1985)

I found it hard to enjoy the Hellhammer material. It was raw and messy and not particularly interesting to me, no matter how ground-breaking it was. The first Celtic Frost release Morbid Tales was a tighter, better produced version of a similar sound. Once again, I didn't find all that much that was memorable or fun to listen to on that release.

But this album is where I finally get what it is that attracts so many to this band and the one that proceeded it. It's a much tighter affair, the production has been beefed up once again, but this time the songs are finally excellent. The band started to inject some of the experimentation that they are known for, with some female vocals, symphonic backdrops etc, and the album has fantastic artwork from the warped mind of HR Giger which I really appreciate.

It's hard to pinpoint why I suddenly like Celtic Frost on this album as overall, it still relies heavily on the crawling riffage that was prevalent on the previous releases and Warrior's distinctive drawl. I think it's just that the band finally put their sound to good use, creating truly dark, gripping tracks such as Circle of the Tyrants, Jewel Throne etc. Still not one of my favourite bands but this album is highly entertaining!