The first half of this album is heavy metal and a true classic, The second half is out there

Agreed!

I love this album for it's experimentation and avant-garde influences, but also the amount of memorable material there is to be found on here. The classical interludes such as 'Tristesses de la Lune' and epic closer 'Oriental Masquerade' show that there is genius at work here. It's surely not to everyone's tastes, but I like to think this is the band's best album.

Sucky album.

Well, I agree that this is probably the first avantgarde metal album ever and I appreciate their courage to bring completely new and unusual influences to metal back then. On the other hand, not all the experiments worked out. Songs like Mexican Radio and One In Their Pride should have been left out completely or released as B-sides or something. Inner Sanctum is really great song but as far as I know it had been written in 1985 for To Mega Therion and it doesn't fit on this experimental album.Tristesses De La Lune, Rex Irae, and Oriental Masquerade sound really original especially when you realize that female operatic vocals and symphonic parts were used here almost ten years before symphonic metal became popular. The thing I really don't like are the male vocals on songs like Mesmerized and Sorrows Of The Moon. I usually like weird vocals but I find Tom's voice really annoying here. The rest of the songs are OK but they don't belong to CF's best material. The other problem is that the whole album sounds like a compilation of five different bands. If you are new to Celtic Frost I would recommend to start with To Mega Therion and Monotheist, continue with their early EPs and Vanity Nemesis and then try this record at your own risk. Oh, and don't forget to avoid Cold Lake at all costs. :-)

After two raw "Thrash/Black Metal albums, Celtic Frost experiments a lot with their third effort. Even if the album is not always well recognized, i love it to death. You have to be an open minded listener to understand this masterpiece.

Great album to those who are willing to not be so close minded and allow elements in the songs other than "metal" . When this first came out it took me a good 3-4 months of listening to begin appreciating what Celtic Frost had accomplished. Now more than ever, the effect and influence of not only 'Into the Pandemonium" but Celtic Frost period. Two genres at minimum black/symphonic can be traced back to CF. Like them or not you have to give credit where its due.