Celeste is a French black metal band (formed in 2005) with some hardcore punk elements. The combination is growing in popularity (see Black Anvil). That seems to perplex people who have followed the scenes for a long time. But it makes perfect sense to me, since both styles traditionally put message over music, resulting in a large number of crappy DIY bands in addition to the greats.
Celeste's sound is, at its most basic, Watain with an industrial guitar tone and sprinklings of The Dillinger Escape Plan discordant weirdness. It never goes quite as wacky as DEP, so each of the songs holds together. It's heavier than black metal usually tends to be, and several tracks (like instrumental "(S)") go at a blackened doom pace for at least part of the song. Others, like opener "Ces Belles de Rêve aux Verres Embués", are much faster.
Despite "Un Miroir pur qui te Rend Misérable" getting repetitive toward the last couple minutes, there is no low point on this album. The most interesting offer is closer "De Sorte que Plus Jamais un Instant ne Soit Magique", a 13 minute progressive affair featuring strings, tempo changes, and lots of great discordant atmosphere.
The Verdict: It reminds me a lot of a black metal version of countrymen Eryn Non Dae, especially toward the end of the album, although with more restrained tendencies toward weirdness.
adapted from http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/
Coming from rather an odd angle with their third full length "Morte(s) Nee(s)" Celeste have well and truly fucked up my mind in trying to work out what is going on in this bruising collision of black metal, post-metal and dashes of hardcore, as I can say without hyperbole I have never heard anything quite like it before. In these straightened times of identikit 'Satanic' BM bands and 80s retro thrashers galore it is nice to hear something 'new', however not always does that for an enjoyable record make...
Built upon a barrage of discordant sounding guitars and pained screaming in the vein of a less-chaotic Converge or The Dillinger Escape Plan, "Morte(s) Nee(s)" rides high on nihilistic intensity, matching the dynamic violence of the hardcore/post-metal worlds with a darkened vibe presumably being aired in equal measure in their native French tongue (if only I knew). Where my biggest gripe comes in is on a point that will no doubt please others - it is not until the end of song four, "En Troupeau Des Louves En Trompe L'oeil Des Agneaux", that there is any break in tempo and sound. So consistent in fact has the claustrophobic riffing been in destroying one's mind that the progression from songs one to four has gone completely unnoticed, on all my listens thus far. "(S)" which follows on with a slower tempo and mere howled screams in place of vocals has the stronger BM vibe and is recommendable in it's own right, but it is alas a departure from the 'normal' sound of Celeste, a sound in which I can offer very little to report on.
The 13-minute concluding track "De Sorte Que Plus Jamais Un Instant Ne Soit Magique" ratchets up the doom factor in it's closing stages with the undeniably sad strains of violin backing the near prostate tone of riffing to serve as a bleak and sombre end to the record, a record which I'm afraid for all it's extremities and honest bleakness continues to leave me detached and unmoved. I'm sure there is potential in "Morte(s) Nee(s)"; you're just going to have to be the right person to find it. Celeste offer a twist to the crowds TDEP et al have established over recent years, but only there do I feel their potential lies. Something definitely from leftfield.
Originally written for www.Rockfreaks.net