Artist: Celesty
Title: Vendetta
Type: Album
Label: Spinefarm
The appropriately titled intro “Prelude for Vendetta” is bombastic and leads us neatly and sonically into “Euphoric Dream”. The first 5 seconds told me this band was from Finland. Added to that particular melodic keyboard-infused concoction is some fantasy-ridden uplifting Epic Power Metal and we race off into the night. It’s fast and furious, there’s no pause for breath, there’s a Valhalla choir in the background, there’s continuity as each passage leads into the next. There’s a purity about it. There’s plenty to interest us – the huge solos, the subtle changes of pace, the chorus and of course the catchy melody. The vocalist has a harshness along the lines of the guy from Sentenced. The start of “Greed and Vanity” suggests that Children of Bodom have turned up and are playing Power Metal. Again thunderous drumming and breakneck rhythms signal an upbeat track. I wasn’t sure whether it was going to stay the same or break off and head in a new direction. I perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised by “Like Warriors”. This is a cliché of a Power Metal Track. It’s time for naff lyrics: “Like Warriors … tonight we’ll be free … raise your swords up high … we have to be glorious” etc etc. Yet it’s upbeat and doubtless a crowd-pleaser. “I come to your rescue, my life is so powerful”. Thank goodness for that. “Autumn Leaves” is up and down the scale and is another catchy track, while “Lord (0f this Kingdom)” is another flag-flying track based on epic battles and the like. The end of “Feared by Dawn” is great, but the four tracks in the middle were inevitably somewhat anti-climactic. Then we’re bouncing off the walls again with the wonderful “Dark Emotions”. This is a great developing track and proves what the band, whose fourth album this is, is capable of. The beginning is indeed dark but we’re soon into frenetic rhythms, then after two minutes there’s a more emotional, slowed down section, a good break, and off we go into a major solo. The band are at their best here. A highly infectious riff is matched by zillion miles an hour drumming. “Fading Away” is another jolly track, very Finnish in its style and leading into a predictable but flamboyant guitar solo. This is music for good times. The final track on most versions of this album is the four-part 14 minute version of “Legacy of Hate Pt 3”. It’s utterly epic. It starts slowly, the church bells chime, there are haunting female vocals for the first time on this album. It’s atmospheric and the guitar work is full of feeling. The male vocalist comes in. Powerful emotion leads to more choral-infused Power Metal. There’s more intent about this track than the others. It’s very dramatic, quite dark and very powerful. This is another side of Celesty. There’s an air of an epic symphony about it. Somewhere in there is the soundtrack to an adventure film. The track moves from quietness to potent power, sinister growling, choral music, and it all ends in epic emotion like the end to a grand musical piece. Some editions of this album have a bonus track “Gates of Tomorrow, which is like a summary of the earlier tracks – Melodic, Epic Power Metal, the solos, the guitar going rapidly up and down the scale and we’re off to the races again. It came as a bit of a surprise after “Legacy of Hate Pt 3” and served to sum up the two styles of the band.
When I first got hold of this album and realised it was a Finnish band on Spinefarm Records specialising in Power Metal, I expected something exciting. “Vendetta” contained no real surprises. Some tracks had nothing much to say, while others like “Dark Emotions” took Power Metal to new heights. “Legacy of Hate Pt 3” was in an epic league of its own, but not for those who want rampant Power Metal. That said, there’s plenty of power, speed and melody here. I preferred it when the band came off their rapid-fire pedestal and slowed it down for a few moments. It was at these points that they proved their skill. Whichever way you look at it though, “Vendetta” is a most enjoyable album and is well worth a listen.
http://www.myspace.com/celestymetal
http://www.celesty.net
http://www.spinefarm.fi
Andrew Doherty
MTUK HOME
