Celeste – Morte(s) Nee(s)

April 8th, 2010 by WLOY Staff

France’s Celeste have been busy in the business of uneasy tension. Their third full-length album in 3 years, Morte(s) Nee(s) continues in the tried-and-true tradition of harsh, melancholic, and brooding music. In 2010, Celeste reveals themselves to be more than simply a mirror of their French screamo counterparts Sed Non Satiata or Amanda Woodward. A tinge of black metal can certainly be felt here or there, but Celeste is really a screamo band at heart – and it fully embraces this quality on Morte(s) Nee(s). Heavy and dissonant, Celeste craft a distinct sound that’s sure to turn many away. The brooding atmosphere gets tiring, sure, but it never feels redundant or overused throughout the album’s 42-minutes.

Morte(s) Nee(s) spans from some more sparse sections, like “(S),” to the freakishly full sections where the vocals explode from your listening device. The heavier aspects are much more concentrated. Whilst the fuzzy, over-saturated guitars wail on uncomfortably loudly, unaccustomed ears are bound to shiver away in repulsion. Until the vocals are described, though, justice can’t be truly done in describing the sheer bleakness of Morte(s) Nee(s). Rather than using softer moments at times to accentuate the heavier parts, a tactic many screamo bands live by, Celeste refrains from any sort of let-up in intensity. Melody is ditched for dissonance, and those moments that would grant a softer reprieve are almost entirely brushed aside in favor of relentless screaming.

In effect, all of Morte(s) Nee(s) feels rather corrosive and dirty, as perfectly displayed by the raw fervor that the vocals thrive on. The pace isn’t what grants the intensity; Morte(s) Nee(s) is more mid-tempo than it is thrashing and flailing. This aspect itself adds to the calculatedly disgusting, almost sinister, overarching atmosphere of the album. Celeste may not blow you away with their technicality — the instrumentation on Morte(s) Nee(s) feels a little underdeveloped, especially with respect to its percussion. On the other hand, Celeste are sure to send a shiver down your spine with utter despair and emotion, like the feeling of drowning in a shallow, dirty puddle.

Overall Grade: 4/5