Review: Celeste - Assassine(s) (2022)
French Post Black/Sludge metal band Celeste return with their new album is called Assassine(s) that released by Nuclear Blast Records on January 28th, 2022. Celeste is formed in 2005 at Lyon, France, and Assassine(s) is their sixth album on their career.
This album opened with Des torrents de coups, they offer bursts of dark dissonance here, the vocals are so horrifying that seems lead us into a room full of anxiety and leave us there with scary feel. Then De tes yeux bleus perlés, a song that has a cold, melancholic, and spooky feel, created from a series of dark sludge riffs that melt into a solid black metal form, the musical structure is so comfortable that we are not aware that we are hypnotized into this haunting music, while Nonchalantes de beauté comes with a slightly slow tempo that is quite thrilling, slowly sinking us into the bleak and sinister nuances of this dark composition. Draguée tout au fond punching us with very heavy riffs, fast tempos, with the accompaniment of cruel howling vocals and drums that are so energetic that they create a frightening rhythm that tortures us with one strike. (A), an interlude track that is quite calm and invites us to reflect for a moment in this silent atmosphere, before Il a tant rêvé d'elles strikes us with its very aggressive structure, while the sharp howl of vocalist creates an anger moment that drag us into the music that this is so dark, and Elle se répète froidement sinks us into the darkest notes the band can create in this album. The melancholy feelings mingles with the darkness, and creates a haunting rhythm that can provoke our thoughts. The album closed with Le coeur noir charbon executing us with an impressive rhythm, a heavier pattern, wrapped with strong post-metal influence, then soft female vocals joined by a dark and gloomy sound, which explode one last time before disappearing into the darkness.
I really love Assassine(s) since the first single is dropped, it's a masterpiece of a hateful album, musically is a great blend of black metal, sludge, and post metal. The guitars are crunchy, wild, and gloomy with haunting, melancholic, and beautiful riffing, the vocals are emotional, sinister, and monstrous, also the drums shows are incredible. Overall, this album produced very well with incredible songwriting.