Celtic Frost - Into The Pandemonium

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.

Not as bad as some think it is.

I personally go for rating it a 9. Its different its avant-garde and its awesome.

It has a massive amount of experimentation in my mind that works

It has memorable moments and songs that resonate the first 2 relases.

PS : i rate their first 2 albums as 10's.

Some weird shit but I dig it.

My personal Top 3 songs from the album:

Babylon Fell (Jade Serpent)
Inner Sanctum
I Won’t Dance (The Elder`s Song)

An embarrassing mess that highlights just how overrated Tom was as an alleged "innovator". The 1st of several albums that exposed him as a very temporary fluke. The moment he tried straying a little from the original formula (i.e. his monotonous, slow, stoner thrash) he fell flat on his face because he simply doesn't have either the musical chops, the guitar skills, nor the talent to develop what little he was given by way of his DNA. Being in the right place at the right time is pretty much the essence of his success. If he had been born 10 years later I very much doubt anyone would have noticed his music, or certainly to a much lesser extent.

I support a degree of experimentation and certainly prefer a band that evolves to one that never changes, but you do need a measure of talent in order to lead the way (not every band can be Voivod). Experimentation can lead to a revolution - or it can lead to unintentional hilarity. The latter happens incomparably more often, because there are so many deluded narcissists out there desperate to be the first ones at something. Give them just a little bit of success and they start imagining to be God's gift to the world, which is - perhaps - what happened here. Experimentation is risky business, and you'd better know what the hell you're doing if you're going to dabble in it. Clearly, Tom didn't have a frigging clue, he isn't a musician in the real sense of the word. Sort of the way Lars Ulrich isn't a proper musician. He's one of those trial-by-error hustlers who try to weasel their way into the pantheon of real artistry, and it's rather sad that most music fans can't tell the difference between such hustlers and the real deals. He just wanted to "innovate" at all cost, for the sake of it, because he'd started considering himself an "artiste".

Don't believe people who tell you this is a classic. They are the emperor has no clothes types; either too stupid to notice they've been conned, or willing participants in this silly game of let's hail the delusional "artist" as a genius - because why not. Why not indulge him. Some of them might be well-meaning but had been suckered into Tom's cult of personality, with generous helpings from moronic rock journalism.

Written by Slopcrusher on 17.09.2025 at 08:19

An embarrassing mess <blah> <blah> <blah>

No offence, but offence intended you sound like a proper douche dude.

That's ManiacBlasphemer right?

Written by Boxcar Willy on 17.09.2025 at 20:47

That's ManiacBlasphemer right?

Yeah, that was him. If I counted correctly, it was already his seventh MS account. The fact that he keeps coming back, even though he has the dubious honor of being banned for life, never ceases to amaze me. However, we already deactivated his latest account just a few hours after he registered.
Kudos for spotting him so quickly!