Coming out of the long line of French screamo bands, Celeste formed out of ex-members of the defunct Mihai Edrisch. Their debut work is this single twelve-inch Ep, Pessimiste(s).
Celeste is definitely similar to fellow Euro screamo bands in the sense of their vocal delivery. Deep, and almost metallic, Johan's vocals almost seem unhuman at times-not in the machine like way, but in the heavily emotional sense.
But instrumentally speaking, I find more similarity toward American screamo band Orchid, in the form of their simply played, but overall very dramatic guitar playing. Guillaume's playing, along with the tight drumming, easily transists from fast to slow paced tempos whenever needed. It seems to be a simple tool to fix their way around climaxes and crescendos, and with the simple addition of finger picking passages in the middle of a song, it offers just enough variation for five tracks.
The overall feel of the record is of a very deep recording. Everything feels just enough echoed to create such an eerie vibe, but without much help from the bass which is a bit of a disappointment. In fact it's hardly audible. The constant slow riff in
Diluons Nos Souvenirs D'enfance, could easily be accompanied by a deep bass, but instead gives full responsibility to Guillaume's guitar playing. Following this mostly slow tempo song is the fast paced drumming of
D'abysse En Abysse, the slightly higher pitched guitar work, and Johan's more frantic and higher pitched delivery. The tempo change between songs is extremely effective in giving the short record enough variation for comfort-something a lot of bands can't seem to pin down.
Celeste doesn’t seem to be expanding upon untouched territory on their debut record, that's for sure. But the amount of emotion that's presented in their performance, not to mention the overall tight (if sometimes boring) work that ties it all together, proves a solid foundation for progression.
