''Into the Pandemonium'' is the second studio album by Swiss

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

, released in 1987. It is the first album to feature bassist and backing vocalist

Martin Eric Ain Martin Eric Ain (born Martin Erich Stricker; July 18, 1967 – October 21, 2017) was a musician best known as the bassist of the influential extreme metal bands Hellhammer and Celtic Frost. He used the stage name Martin Eric Ain throughout. ...

, who appeared on 1984's

Morbid Tales ''Morbid Tales'' is the debut EP by the Swiss extreme metal band, Celtic Frost, released in November 1984. The first European release on Noise Records was a mini-LP with six tracks, while the American release by Enigma Records, Enigma/Metal Bla ...

EP, but not the band's previous album. The album is more varied than Celtic Frost's past LPs, with unlikely covers (

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single " Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV and ...

's "

Mexican Radio "Mexican Radio" is a song by American new wave band Wall of Voodoo. Produced by Richard Mazda, the track was initially released on their 1982 album '' Call of the West'' and was released as a single. With regular airplay on MTV in the United S ...

"), emotionally charged love songs, the album's recurring

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

-influenced rhythmic songs of demons and destruction, traditional Frost-styled songs about dreams and fear, and a dark, classical piece with female vocals.

Content

The album is vastly different from the band's previous work which cemented its late 1980s

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

term; it is also a departure from the style found on the band's previous albums, ''

'' and '' To Mega Therion'' that Celtic Frost had become known for. However, it does have the recurring symphonic elements found on previous albums. The album has a more classic heavy metal style within the songs with elements of

, classical,

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

and

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

. ''One in Their Pride'', an industrial-oriented track, is built around various

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

samples. Some of the lyrics are silently borrowed from other sources. For example, significant portions of ''Inner Sanctum'' are directly quoted from

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

poems,Hatfield, C. W. ''The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Brontë'', page 54. Columbia University Press, 1941. while the lyrics to "Tristesses de la lune" are borrowed from the poem of the same name in

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

's ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

''. The lyrics to "Sorrows of the Moon" are an English translation of the same. The track "Rex Irae" is the opening part of Celtic Frost's

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

; the third, concluding part of which, "Winter (Requiem, Chapter Three: Finale)" can be heard on 2006's ''

Monotheist Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

''. The second part of the requiem was never released by the band.

Thomas Gabriel Fischer Thomas Gabriel Fischer (born 19 July 1963), also known by his stage names of Tom G. Warrior and Satanic Slaughter, is a Swiss metal musician. He led the groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and today is the frontman of the band Triptykon. Caree ...

has performed the whole piece, with the long missing second part ("Grave Eternal"), at

Roadburn Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

2019 with

Triptykon Triptykon is a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich, formed in 2008 by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, founding member of the pioneering heavy metal bands Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Apollyon Sun. History Fischer announced his departure from Ce ...

along with the

Metropole Orkest The Metropole Orkest (Metropole Orchestra) is a jazz and pop orchestra based in the Netherlands, and is the largest full-time ensemble of its kind in the world. A hybrid orchestra, it is a combination of jazz, big band and symphony orchestra. Com ...

. A registration of this performance has been released.

Album art

The cover image is a detail from the right (''Hell'') panel of ''

The Garden of Earthly Delights ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. It has bee ...

'', a triptych painted in 1504 by

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

, now part of the permanent collection at the

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Track listings

Original LP

Original CD

1999 remastered CD edition bonus tracks

Personnel

;Celtic Frost * Thomas Gabriel Warrior – vocals, guitars, synthesizers, effects *

– bass, effects, backing vocals *

Reed St. Mark Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-garde ...

– drums, percussions, synthesizers, effects, backing vocals ;Additional musicians (CD editions) *Manü Moan (The Vyllies) – vocals (track 4) *Andreas Dobler – guitars (tracks 9, 10, 14, 15) *Lothar Krist – orchestral arrangements, conductor (tracks 4, 10, 11) *Malgorzata Blaiejewska Woller, Eva Cieslinski – violins (tracks 4, 10, 11) *Wulf Ebert – cello (tracks 4, 10, 11) *Gypsy- viola (tracks 4, 10, 11) *Anton Schreiber – French horn (tracks 10, 11) *Thomas Berter – backing vocals (track 1) *Claudia-Maria Mokri – backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 10) *H.C. 1922 – backing vocals (track 8) *Marchain Regee Rotschy – backing vocals (track 13) ;Production *Celtic Frost – producers *Jan Nemec – engineer, sample editing (tracks 7, 12)

Reaction and legacy

Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic called ''Into the Pandemonium'' "one of the classic

albums of all time." In 2021, it was elected by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' as the 2nd best

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

album of all time. "Inner Sanctum" was featured in the 2009 video game '' Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned''.

References

{{Authority control Celtic Frost albums 1987 albums Noise Records albums Musical settings of poems by Charles Baudelaire Combat Records albums