How NASA, 'Alien' and Satan collided on a Swiss metal classic

By Dave Graham ZURICH (Reuters) -Tom Fischer was a struggling young Swiss musician in 1984 when Oscar-winning artist H.R. Giger threw him a lifeline: a striking cover for an album that became a heavy metal landmark by his next group, Celtic Frost. Once dubbed the "Black Sabbath" of the 1980s, Celtic Frost pioneered a maverick blend of extreme metal that influenced decades of thrash, death and symphonic metal – and even grunge legends Nirvana. October marks the 40th anniversary of Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion, an album that still graces greatest record lists of the era with its menacing cover by Giger, designer of the monster in Ridley Scott's horror sci-fi film "Alien". "We were nobodies at the time. We had nothing to lose, so we contacted Giger, not expecting anything," Fischer, 62, told Reuters. Named Satan I, Giger's painting of a horned creature taking aim with a weapon made from a figure resembling Christ outraged some. But the album helped put Celtic Frost on the map. Celtic Frost formed in 1984 as a reboot of Hellhammer, a proto-black metal group that met with such press hostility that Fischer and bandmate bassist Martin Ain decided to start again. LETTER TO GIGER Before disbanding Hellhammer, Fischer wrote to his compatriot Giger to ask if they could use Satan I for a record cover, enclosing a demo tape, and imagining that would be the end of it. Then Giger called. "My jaw dropped," said Fischer. "(Giger) said: 'It's not really my music; I listen to jazz. But I think I understand the underground aspect of it. Until "Alien" … everybody said, I'm too extreme, I'm too dark, just like what you described in your letter'," he recalled. Giger agreed on condition they also use another of his paintings for the LP. The band then decided they were not worthy of the picture – until they could play better. "We said: 'We can't do this to Giger. We need to do this cover justice'," Fischer said. Two Celtic Frost records came and went before Satan I became the face of To Mega Therion, which yoked classical bombast, hints of opera and even rap to Fischer's seething guitar and vocals, and Reed St. Mark's explosive drumming. The album was dedicated to the early NASA space programmes, an echo of Fischer's fascination with flight since watching the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in 1969, aged six. Its follow-up, Into the Pandemonium, delved into the historic event with offbeat track "One In Their Pride" built around sampled voices from the space race including U.S. President Richard Nixon and moonwalker Neil Armstrong. The tune also fuelled growing tension with their record label, and Celtic Frost imploded in 1987. Reunions followed before the band played its last gig in 2007 and Fischer began working for Giger, whose art adorned the records of his next band, Triptykon. The artist died in 2014 and a final album cover collaboration between the two is due out next year. (Reporting by Dave Graham, editing by Ed Osmond)

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