Celeste, Misanthrope(S)
Immediately upon hitting play on Celeste‘s Misanthrope(S) a massive wall of discordant sound erupts from the speakers. Distorted, fully textured guitars plunder your eardrums as thundering rhythms steamroll through the sludge, paving way for the tortured screams of vocalist Johan. Throughout the disc, bleak riffing leaves a grimy film over everything in the near vicinity. The rhythms rumble like a distant earthquake. All together these individual elements combine for a crushing force to be reckoned with.
Que des yeux vides et séchés
Celeste waste no time getting down to business as this opening song ruptures from the speakers with caustic riffs, dense textures and raw vocal delivery. It’s got a touch of Converge to it, but this French crew amplify and pile on much more creating a leaden sounds that’s heavy as balls and yet still has plenty of emotion. The slow down that begins just before the two minute mark is a nice reprieve from the static sludge, and serves as the launching pad to a build up of epic proportions.
Comme pour leurrer les regards et cette odeur de cadavre
The opening to this next song is a bit more desolate yet no less dense and dark. The vocals feel a bit more distant as the overall weight of the song drowns them out a bit. There is some interesting, off kilter timing to a few of the riffing passages early on in the song, which only add to the feeling of morose desolation. The slower pace throughout only adds to that feeling. Despite the songs bleak nature, there’s actually a decent groove behind those big riffs and sludgy rhythms.
Toucher ce vide béant attise ma fascination
Noisy riffs and crashing cymbols get this next one off to a chaotic start. The vocals come in with a hell of a lot of power and angst. This is one hell of a song. I love the beefy slow down just before the two minute point as clashing drums explodes behind thick, slowly delivered riffs.
La gorge ouverte et décharnée
This next song opens up rather slowly with thick guitars, bass and slowly building drums. This thing almost has a funeral dirge feel to it. When the vocals finally come in around 2:10 they are deeper in delivery and almost indistinguishable from the din of static, riffs and crashing drums. There’s some sweet guitar work around 3:25 that lightens up the mood a little, but not to much as to take away from the dark feel of the song.
Il y aura des femmes à remercier et de la chair à embrocher
Thick bass works behind smashing cymbols and driving riffs as this next one gets under way. The vocals, if it’s even possible, sound that much more violent and aggressive. This dude has to have surely shredded his vocal chords recording this stuff. 1:50 marks a dramatic slowing of the pace as thundering drums and big riffs dominate. The track ends in a frenzy of textured guitars and very active drums.
Mais quel plaisir de voir cette tête d’enfant rougir et suer
Driving riffs with a someone blackened feel push along crashing drums over the first 30 seconds before the raw vocals come in There’s definitely some strain in the screamed delivery that let’s you know dude is putting in all he’s got into his vocals. At 4:38 the sludge dissipates for some light guitars and steady drums. This is certainly the lull before the storm and thick riffing comes back in shortly after, leading to raw vocals and crashing drums. At just under nine minutes in length this is a monolithic track that captivates and bludgeons simultaneously.
Une insomnie avec qui tout le monde voudrait baiser
This next one carries over smoothly from the previous song with steady riffs and mid-tempo rhythms. Celeste pick up the noise levels a good deal as the vocals come in. There are some smooth tempo shifts in this song that hide behind the textures and sludgy riffs. There’s a decent lull in activity midway through the song, but the band is sure to make up for it with more crushing riffs and heavy handed drums.
A défaut de te jeter sur ta progéniture
This one si straight up chaotic from the opening seconds as layered vocals and thick tones bludgeon your every sense. I’m not sure how much more I can take before slipping into the realms of desperate insanity. The static textures throughout the album are almost too much to handle. Several slower moments help break up the bleak riffing but they don’t last long so catch your breathe and clear your mind while you can.
…Anesthésié vos membres dans une orgie d’enthousiasme
The final song on Misanthrope(S) starts off slowly but builds up quickly with heavy drums, discordant guitars and thick, rumbling bass. The brief respite after the two minute mark is dramatic and sets the mood for the crushing din of noise to come. Black metal undertones make their way into the mix, as well. This song ends the album in a shroud of desolation and bleakness. Have a nice day.
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Favorite Tracks:
All of them
Additional Notes:
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