Depending on who you speak to, this is either where it all went terribly wrong for Celtic Frost, or a brilliant example of a band pioneering a new direction and giving the old warhorse of metal a new lease on life. Some people were shocked by this album and vowed never to give Celtic Frost a second chance...others (such as myself) were initially quite displeased with it, but after repeated listens began to appreciate it...others still (although they were by far in the minority) loved the album right away. "Into The Pandemonium" had that effect on it's listeners - there was no "middle ground", it was either "this fucking album sucks, I can't believe Frost would release this pile of shit" or it was "What are you nuts?!?!? This is the greatest metal album of all time!". Of course, as with most things where reactions are at such polar opposites, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. 12 years later, I feel this is a very good album, but I understand completely why others might hate it - it just isn't a Frost album in the traditional sense. On the one hand, it does have similarities to the older Celtic Frost (the thick guitar tone, the esoteric lyrical approach, the general "aura" surrounding it), but on the other, it's got some elements that just aren't Celtic Frost, most notably of which is Tom's new style of "singing" - he mimics Valor from Christian Death to the point of parody almost...as a matter of fact, the entire album has a Christian Death slant running through it - this is not really that surprising when you look at the fact that Martin Ain (who had recently rejoined the group after leaving the band before "To Mega Therion") did have a somewhat "gothic" overtone to his look, and if I'm not mistaken (which I could very well be), I do recall some interviews where Tom had mentioned Martin's leaving was due to "musical differences" - still, this could all be considered conjecture, so I'll leave it well enough alone. Besides the vocals, the next two biggest intrusions would have been the Wall of Voodoo cover (I mean, who the HELL would have ever envisioned the same band that did "Dethroned Emperor" also covering "Mexican Radio" ?!?!?! It just didn't make any sense), and "One In Their Pride", a track which basically consists of NASA samples and a dancey drum-beat - once again, not something which really fit into the imagery of Celtic Frost. There were also those who weren't sure how to take "I Won't Dance (The Elders Orient)"... on the surface, it sounds like Frost - heavy, laden with thick guitars, there's even some of Tom's gruff vocals (although in a somewhat watered down form), but it's an unmistakably POP oriented song and reeks of "radio friendly song writing"...

Now that I've pretty much surmised the "bad" points of the album, I'll give credit where credit is due. Firstly, while there is a predominant Christian Death flavour to the album, it's not a carbon copy - perhaps this is a testament to the power of Celtic Frost, but somehow, even through all the sonic plagiarism, this STILL has a Celtic Frost vibe - not as strong as before, but it is there. And love it or hate it, you have to give them credit - they took a hell of a gamble releasing something like this, and while a lot would say they bet the farm on a bag of magic beans, it can not be denied that they must have had balls the size of small asteroids to actually go through with it. Kudos for trying, even if some would call it a failure.

Reaction to this album is of course much less dramatic these days than it was back in 1987 - after all, we've had numerous bands since then (most of who owe a debt of gratitude to "Into The Pandemonium") expanding the musical scope of "metal", and perhaps all us old timers were over-reacting a bit, but without going into some old fogey rant of "well, in MY day, we did things THIS way" and "until you've walked a mile in my shoes, blah blah blah", I'll just state that you had to have been there to really understand what all the fuss was about...

Bottom line : if you're anything less than extremely open minded this would not be a good place to start if you're looking into Celtic Frost - it's a ground breaking album, but it might be breaking ground you wish to have firmly under your feet. Approach with caution...

© 1999 chorazaim