If "Morbid..." was Frost's calling card, "To Mega Therion" illustrated the band's growing ambition. Boasting a natty HR Giger sleeve and a set of tunes featuring everything from French horns to Warrior's patented „death grunts", "To Mega Therion" is a broading gothik masterpiece. Coupled here with the "Tragic Serenades" EP, it has lost none of its boldness.
Kerrang, 02/00
$13.00

TRACK LISTING:
01. Innocence and Wrath (1:02)
02. The Usurper (3:24)
03. Jewel Throne (3:59)
04. Dawn Of Meggido (5:42)
05. Eternal Summer
06. Circle of The Tyrants
07. (Beyond The) North Winds (3:04)
08. Fainted Eyes (5:00)
09. Tears in A Prophet's Dream (2:30)
10. Necromentical Screams (6:06)
11. Return To The Eve (1985 Studio Jam)

IN SPITE OF BEING A MASSIVE ADVANCEMENT FOR CELTIC FROST IN TERMS OF SONGWRITING, MUSICAL GUESTS AND TECHNICAL COMPLEXITY, THE BAND'S SECOND ALBUM, "TO MEGA THERION", WAS ALSO CHARACTERIZED BY A FIRST BRIEF PERIOD OF INSTABILITY. DUE TO VARIOUS EMERGING PROBLEMS, BOTH ON A MUSICAL AND PERSONAL LEVEL, REED ST. MARK AND I SEPARATED FROM BASSIST AND FOUNDING MEMBER MARTIN ERIC AIN, ONLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS OR SO BEFORE THE RECORDING SESSIONS FOR THE ALBUM WERE TO BEGIN, AND AFTER MARTIN HAD COMPLETED THE MAJORITY OF THE SONGWRITING WITH US. WE ENTERED THE STUDIO WITH A TENTATIVE REPLACEMENT FOR MARTIN, BUT RECOGNIZED EVEN BEFORE THE END OF THE TWO-WEEK RECORDING SESSIONS THAT THE REAL AND ONLY SOLUTION WAS TO WORK OUT OUR DIFFERENCES WITH MARTIN. BUT MATURITY HAD SET IN ON BOTH SIDES - AS REFLECTED IN MARTIN'S ASTONISHING PERSONAL GROWTH AND PROGRESS. MARTIN HIMSELF SAID IN A LATER INTERVIEW: "I WAS ONLY 17, AND I WAS CHANGING MY WHOLE LIFE. IN THIS BAND THERE'S ONE RULE: YOU'VE GOT TO WORK AT IT 100 PERCENT. AT THE TIME, I WASN'T ABLE TO GIVE THAT MUCH, AND EVERYBODY IN THE BAND KNEW IT. I TOOK THE TIME TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF." WE RETURNED FROM BERLIN WITH CELTIC FROST'S FIRST NORTH AMERICAN SHOWS APPROACHING, AND WE ASKED MARTIN TO PLAY THEM WITH US. IT WAS OBVIOUS IMMEDIATELY THAT WE WERE TIED SO STRONGLY BY THE SAME VISION THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP WAS NOW STRONGER THAN BEFORE. THIS WAS HELPED ENORMOUSLY BY THE FACT THAT DUE TO MARTIN'S PARTICIPATION IN SONGWRITING AND ARRANGING, "TO MEGA THERION" HAD AFTER ALL BECOME AN ALBUM THAT CONVEYED HIS IDENTITY AS MUCH AS OURS. NOBODY DARED TO SAY ANYTHING FOR FEAR OF SPOILING IT ALL, AND MARTIN SIMPLY DIDN'T LEAVE ANYMORE. HIS ABSENCE FROM THE BAND HAD ONLY LASTED A FEW WEEKS. IN EARLY 1986, WE RETURNED TO BERLIN TO RE-RECORD AND REMIX PARTS OF THE ALBUM WITH HARRIS JOHNS. THE PURPOSE WAS TO INCLUDE MARTIN'S BASS LINES, AND TO IMPROVE ON HORST MUELLER'S PRODUCTION, WHICH WE FELT WAS FAR INFERIOR TO THAT OF OUR FIRST ALBUM, "MORBID TALES". THE RESULTING EP, "TRAGIC SERENADES", IS STILL ONE OF FROST'S BEST RECORDS, AND IT'S TRACKS ARE USED ON THIS RE-ISSUE CD TO REPLACE THE ORIGINAL ALBUM TRACKS (AN INTENTION WE HAD ALREADY IN 1986). IN SPITE OF ALL THE UPS AND DOWNS, HOWEVER, BOTH "TO MEGA THERION" AND "TRAGIC SERENADES" ARE AMONG CELTIC FROST'S MOST POPULAR RELEASES.

THE PROPER AND AUTHORIZED RE-ISSUE OF CELTIC FROST'S MAIN BODY OF WORK IS SOMETHING THE FORMER MEMBERS OF THE BAND HAD WANTED TO SEE REALIZED VIRTUALLY SINCE THE ORIGINAL ALBUM RELEASES TOOK PLACE. CELTIC FROST BEGAN TO BE ACTIVE DURING THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHANGE FROM VINYL TO CD, AND IT WAS BY NO MEANS IMPERATIVE THAT A NEW VINYL ALBUM WOULD ALSO BE RELEASED ON THE STILL LIMITED CD MARKET. WHEN THE BAND ASKED IN 1985 FOR ITS MUSIC TO BE ISSUED ON CD, THE RECORD COMPANY REFUSED TO BELIEVE IN A SUFFICIENT MARKET APPEAL. IT WASN'T TOO MUCH LATER WHEN THE COMPANY RUSHED FROST CDS ONTO THE MARKET AFTER ALL, WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE BAND HAD INDEED FOUND A BROAD FAN BASIS. HOWEVER, THESE ORIGINAL CDS HAD NOW BEEN COMPILED IN A HURRY AND WITHOUT ANY INVOLVEMENT BY THE BAND. AND IT SHOWED. CREDITS, PHOTOS AND ARTWORK OF THE ORIGINAL ALBUMS HAD BEEN OMITTED OR FORGOTTEN, MISTAKES WERE INTRODUCED, SONG COMBINATIONS AND RUNNING ORDERS NEVER INTENDED WERE ASSEMBLED. WE, THE BAND, FELT THIS WAS A MUTILATION, AND IT NEVER DID DO JUSTICE IN THE SLIGHTEST WAY TO OUR AMBITIONS OF INNOVATION, DESIGN AND ART. HENCE THE NEED FOR A RE-ISSUE RIGHT FROM THE START.IN THE EDITING AND DESIGN OF THIS 1999 RE-ISSUE OF THE BAND'S WORK, I AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE BEEN GRANTED THE INVALUABLE ASSISTANCE BY THE WORLD'S FOREMOST CELTIC FROST RESEARCHERS, MICHAEL ST. LINDHOLM AND ZANE REED JOHNSON, CREATORS OF THE OFFICIAL CELTIC FROST WEBSITE "HOMAGE TO CELTIC FROST", EXPERTS ON FROST INFORMATION AND COMPILERS OF WHAT MUST BE LARGEST TAPE AND VIDEO ARCHIVE FEATURING THE BAND. EQUALLY IMPORTANT WAS THE ACTIVE SUPPORT GIVEN BY MY FRIENDS AND FORMER BAND-MATES IN CELTIC FRsOST. REFER TO "HOMAGE TO CELTIC FROST" @ WWW.CELTICFROST.COM FOR FURTHER DETAILED INFORMATION ON CELTIC FROST, INCLUDING AN EXTENSIVE DISCOGRAPHY, A DETAILED ITINERARY (INCLUDING TOUR DATES, SET LISTS, REHEARSAL AND RECORDING DATES, ETC.), RARE, EXCLUSIVE AND PRIVATE PHOTOS, AND MUCH MORE.

THOMAS GABRIEL FISCHER, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, AUGUST 1999