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Album Review: Celeste - Morte(s) Née(s) [15th Anniversary Edition]
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
After bursting onto the scene 15 years ago with their landmark record “Morte(s) Nee(s)”, French extreme metal act Celester are celebrating the occasion with a remastered and re-released version of their seminal album. Not to be confused with British soul singer-songwriter of the same name (if you know, you know). Never afraid to carve their own path and show no compromises in doing so, Celeste have impressed audiences the world over with their fierce live sound that expertly blends the raw spine of post-hardcore and adding a satisfying black metal twist. “Morte(s) Nee(s)” provides a perfect opportunity to experience this from the comfort of your own home.
No fancy introductions, just straight up blackened hardcore brutality right from the get go, going straight for the jugular in a less than conventional attack. Forget blast beats and KVLT shrieks you normally associate with black metal. Think slower, more bludgeoning in its rhythm with a much meatier and dense low end. The vocals are raw, drenched in primitive angst and emotion. Though sadly my level of French is basic at best, so to connect with the lyrical themes and topics is near enough impossible without Google Translate. Though Johan would probably lose some of that primitive emotion that makes this approach to the vocals so impressive should he perform in a language other than his mother tongue, so it’s swings and roundabouts really.
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The pacing of the album works well. Some black metal bands seem so intent on building the most intense and crushing atmospheres, resulting in creative tunnel vision and lack of variety in the composition. Whilst Celeste certainly can crank up the intensity and volume, making you want to crank up the volume and allow for maximum immersion. At the same time, they understand that the build for towards these climaxes needs to be slow and gradual, and the listener needs variety and respite from this, and this evident throughout the album, with huge peaks and necessary troughs to provide breathing space. The final song of the album, the 13 minute juggernaut that us ‘De Sorte que plus jamais un instant ne soit magique’ is perhaps the best illustration of this. This also applies to the vocals, with the track ‘(S)’ being almost entirely instrumental and allowing the guitars, bass, and drums to tell the narrative.
Though admittedly, Celeste are not going to be everybody’s go to band. Some may find them too abrasive and somewhat uncomfortable. Returning to the song ‘(S)’ may perhaps illustrate this best. The early part of the song features the voice overs from what can be interpreted as a female voice struggling and wailing in physical and other pain. It’s unclear what purpose this demonstrates, whether it’s depicting a scene of domestic abuse and bringing awareness to this. What’s certain is that this is bleak, raw, and will make some uncomfortable. That’s symptomatic of a band carving their own path and affording themselves full unrestricted artistic creativity to express themselves and their unique world perspective.
Make no doubt about it. Celeste push and challenge the traditional boundaries of extreme metal in “Morte(s) Nee(s)”. Maybe they push too far on some occasions. Maybe.
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