Celestia - Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre Review

Celestia - Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre / 2006 Paragon / 8 Tracks / http://www.paragonrecords.net / Reviewed 25 February 2007

The speed in which Celestia start off their "Apparitia" is without comparison. Also impressive is the harmony that the band can bring to the table with the chorus of this track. This extremely focused output puts Celestia immediately alongside the most impressive acts in their genre. The track could almost be on popular radio, it has so much in the way of harmony strung through it. This is not saying that Celestia is weak in any stretch of the imagination. Rather, the band is as hard as early Cradle of Filth or Deicide, with a little bit of progressive metal added to the instrumentation of "Apparitia". "The Awakening of the Dormant Fiancee" does slow down considerably at points, but this is done to both further the story that they are telling as well as to highlight the intensity of the act when the band does get back to the quicker style.

"Necromelancholic Reveries" is a track that banks on the slower style approached during the first track, and this track is similar to the first one in that it shows the band's tremendous ability to cobble together impressive instrumentation with a high amount of intensity and brutality. The approach taken by Celestia during "Wandering Through The Past Memories" is a little more approachable by mainstream listeners as the guitars and drums are straightforward, moving into an almost-sea-shanty type of styled before moving into something slower than normal for Celestia. Celestia is just able to vary their approach and give different individuals different things to appreciate. The best thing about Celestia is that they do not change their overall outlook to mesh with fans, but rather modify their sound to pick up and add additional style and influences between track to track. The disc may only have eight tracks, but these tracks last for almost three-fourths of an hour.

The density achieved by Celestia on these tracks Is a sight to behold. Just listen to the opening guitar lines to "Perverted Decadent, Dying, Love" and one will be treated to some of the emotive guitar lines ever heard. Of course, this is conducted in a metal format, but being constrained to "metal" does not prove to be a straitjacket to Celestia as it seems to be to other acts. If you like metal or stories being told with music, "Apparitia - Sumptuous Spectre" is the album that individuals need to pick up.

Top Tracks: Perverted Decadent Dying Love, Spectra

Rating: 7.4/10