Celeste
Nihiliste(s)

3.5
great

Review

by lunchforthesky USER (41 Reviews)
December 4th, 2007 | 32 replies

Release Date: 2008 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Celeste come on a long way with their sophomore release but still fall some way short of a truly excellent record.

Of all the emotions that music can induce there is nothing quite the same as the thrill of the first time you “get” heavy music. I remember the first time I heard “Jane Doe” and I was absolutely blown away. It was like being hit with a sledgehammer across the face. On paper it seems ridiculous, you have a band with no ear for melody, very few identifiable moments, lyrics which are completely indistinguishable and a singing voice, the word singing used extremely loosely, that sounds something like the noise the hot blonde makes when the psychopath hacks her to bits in a slasher movie. Yet somehow amongst the unrelenting brutality there is something majestic and beautiful about heavy music. It’s what you might call an acquired taste for sure, but far from the “random noise” that detractors and the generally ignorant make it out to be, there is such a raw honesty about a band that gives everything they’ve got into their art, and one thing you could never hold against Converge and heavy music as a whole is a lack of passion.

Celeste is a band that has completely bought into the ethos of what good hardcore music is about. On their debut “Pessimmiste(s)” they produced an album with potential but ultimately something very mediocre by comparison to their peers. It mirrored the sounds of fellow French hardcore merchants Sed Non Satiata and Amanda Woodward whilst lending a nod to doom/emo crossover pioneers Envy. On “Nihiliste(s)” the band walk further down the doom metal path and away from their emotional hardcore roots which in a way mirrors Envy’s career path again. Unlike their Japanese counterparts however, Celeste have delivered a resounding no to the shimmering Explosions in the Sky tones and get straight to business. Right from the get go the world feels like it’s collapsing in on itself with opener “On Pendra les Femmes et les Enfants en Premier” which ensures a blistering start to a record, which really doesn’t let up from the opening bars to the closing screams. The whole album feels like one giant dissonant crescendo and it effectively combines a very “full” sound production wise with the raw feel present in their songwriting.

To set things straight, this is nothing like a classic album nor is it even remotely revolutionary or even intelligently crafted and complex. Whilst sitting in the same “emo” genre to Circle Takes the Square this album is like the absolute rejection of “As the Roots Undo”. It is the anti-thesis of everything that made the 2004 album such a triumphant achievement. Yet despite being at total odds with arguably the genres finest moment this is still a good listen and a thoroughly enjoyable album. Even though the intensity of the music is halted maybe a couple of times in the whole forty five minutes of “Nihiliste(s)” it’s almost like a pop album in its approach. Rather than make something which pulls the listener in all directions simultaneously Nihiliste(s) has one approach and one angle which it repeats and re-uses for a skull crushing three quarters of an hour.

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