Celestine “At the Borders of Arcadia” CD

I have another kind reader to thank for graciously sending me an email suggesting I check out Reykjaví­k, Iceland's Celestine, whose debut EP, "At the Borders of Arcadia", cranks out six tracks of absolutely incredible material in a little under a half-hour. Expect loads of nastily churning detuned power chords, chugging rhythms, and low-end throbs accented by tactfully executed caustic/chaotic guitar textures and completely ripping vocals that tear forth with some genuinely pained 'n' strained grit. There's a hint of discordant melody tucked amidst the dense force of their attack, but they're not afraid to venture out into some straight up clean/acoustic atmospheres either—at times utilizing smatterings of loose ambient effects and such to round out the mix and create a more enveloping sound. All of the song titles unite to form the phrase, "Despair and witness the ruin of god and me.", which appears across the back cover of the disc, and the lyrics are basically presented as a continuous narrative on the first page of the CD booklet, so there's obviously a little something more going on behind the scenes here as well, which works far better than average with the overall tone of the music, artwork, etc. I don't know, as usual there's so much more that I should probably say here, but I'm just going to let the music speak for itself in the end. From the moment I first heard this band I was impressed and intrigued, and that's always a very promising sign...

Celestine "Witness (the)"

He was restless, tired. "Please let me sleep," he said. "Just let me sleep." And in this exact moment, he had begun his journey, with only the end in mind...