Artist: Celeste
Album: Misanthrope(s)
Type: Album
Label: Denovali Records
Just after getting my head around a French band Eryn Non Dae with what I described as an ‘apocalyptic’ vibe coursing through their album then this turned up and guess what? Yep in a way it is more of the same and I guess French bands have a lot of anger at the moment. It’s no real surprise either as the news has in the last few years been full of riots, strikes, civil unrest, economic decline and contempt at government ineptitude under Sarkozy. Through all this creativity is on overdrive, French black metal has come of age and is producing some of the best music within that genre at present and French cinema has also reacted with some of the most debauched violence seen in years with films such as À l'intérieur, Frontiers and Martyrs delivering new sadistic extremes under the backdrop of riots, which are never far from the cameras lingering viewpoint.
Celeste fit neatly into the grand scheme of things. Misanthropes(s) and all of their 3 albums seem to end with an (s), is a pretty grim and unrelenting place to find yourself caught up in. Intense is probably the best one word description that can be given of the album and if that is what you are looking for then you are in the right place. There is no subtle introduction here at all, the opener ‘Que des yeux vides et seches’ (titles and lyrics are French) blazes in with everything hitting you at once. It is quickly evident that the musicianship is technical and when the rage breaks down into glimmering, shimmering guitar bursts you can really feel that this lot are proficient players, up there with their countrymen such as Gojira and Hacride. Vocals are rasped out straddling genre delivery in a way but fitting neatly with the general frenzied tumult of the music itself.
One song quickly finishes, in fact almost too perfunctorily, and without pause the next one starts up. In a way I found this to be the albums downfall. It offers little in the way of change and its unrelenting demeanor over a 51 minute 9 track running time becomes a bit of a harrowing listening experience. Quite often this happens when there is too much to take in going on in an album but after repeated listens this is not really the case here and despite a certain complexity it is not that diverse. Sudden bursts of almost blackened speed as on ‘Toucher ce vide beant attise ma fascination’ are counterpoised by mid-paced feral vocal assaults that whilst admirable become kind of stagnant after a while. When the song slows down as well as it is inclined to it comes as no surprise and this kind of plays it too safe without delivering the real chaos that I would welcome.
Still that aside it is an album that I expect many will enjoy and there is no faulting the skill or determined mindset behind the players. It’s rather unfortunate as far as I am concerned as this was an album that I really wanted to enjoy more than I actually did. As the biog states this has crossover appeal that fans of post hardcore, sludge, doom and black metal could possibly appreciate but it’s not quite made the world burst into flames for me.
It should also be mentioned that the design team have made the package here look very appealing and a lot of care and hard work has gone on aesthetically. There are also various coloured and screen-print designed vinyl of this on sale and you can even get yourself kitted out inverted cross bags to complete the whole package.
http://www.weareceleste.com
http://www.myspace.com/unhiverdeplus
Pete Woods
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