I don’t know what it is about France, but they deliver some really great metal. I know we all know about and love Gojira, but there are two much lesser known bands who deliver their own unique brands of metal.
Second Band! Celeste.
Celeste are on the opposite end of the spectrum from Alcest, the band I wrote about in my last post.
Instead of presenting a brand of black metal with a penchant for the ornate, Celeste’s sole purpose is to create bludgeoning, terrifying music. While there’s some debate about how “too kvlt” Celeste are, I don’t think that matters, because this band delivers where it counts: creating quality music.
Celeste’s music is not an easy experience. It really makes you work and challenges you. Their latest album “Morte(s) Nee(s)”, is 42 minutes of incessant sonic sledgehammer. A really big sledgehammer. With spikes. And probably an inverted crucifix or something, because this is black metal here, and we’ve got a part to play. Oh wait, what’s that? Celeste don’t dress in armor with spikes on it and corpse paint? That’s probably because their live show is far more subversive and honestly, more interesting and terrifying that other black metal acts:
Who needs dramatic costumes or severed pig heads when you entrap your audience in something far more frightening: darkness. I was already a fan of Celeste before I saw videos of their live shows, but that drove me over the edge, because now I love this band. Their focus is clearly more on making music that is an experience, which shows in their performances and their stripped down, raw attitude to the music. Sure, one of the tennants of black metal is lo fi, relatively poor production quality, but what good is that? Celeste’s albums are a pleasure to listen to. Every instrument is clear and pronounced. I love Wolves in the Throne Room to death, but the production quality was always a turn-off.
It gets even better, since Celeste offer their music to us dopes for free. Yep, free. But honestly, these guys deserve to be making some money off of this so I would suggest you donate or buy merch. Hell, if you like the albums, why not get one on vinyl? Their artwork for each of their records is stunning, and truly captures the essence of their sound. I know I’ll be purchasing one or two vinyl records from them once I make some more money.
Here’s the link to their store where you can download their music for free: http://denovali.com/celeste/