H R H - R E V I E W S

Celestia
Apparitia-Sumptuous Spectre Paragon Records

Comments: Almost five years old, Apparitia-Sumptuous Spectre, the debut album for the French black metal band Celestia is repackaged and remixed. This time it's Paragon Records turn to get it right and damn have they done a good job of it.

This black metal is unique in several different ways and very well done, which is surprising especially since it sounds so damn good several years after its creation. Many metal albums sound played out a year later let alone ones that contain music from a prior decade. Maybe we should expect brilliance from a bands that released demos in the past with names like A Cave full of Bats and Infected by Rats.

The monster dark riffs are here as well as the top shelf eerie high pitched vocals but there is so much more to this band. There are guitar leads that stand out due to the unique approach to the tone of the instrument. There are leads under ground on this record that sound excellent and then emerge wonderfully from the darkness almost with the sound of a sunrise juxtaposed over a sea of darkness. You see this especially well at the end of "Wandering through the past memories" and in the beginning of the next song "Perverted, decadent, dying love." This album features pretty much all songs about relationships so it makes sense to show both the high and deep tones as well as the light and darker moods, as no relationship is a cake walk.

That's another thing that separates this band and harkens fans to demand new music as well. Instead of the traditional dark devilish themes they choose different a newer approach to their melancholy desires. Sure, many times they may be talking about good versus evil and choosing the latter but at least it's not the same old crapola we are forced to digest weekly in this genre from Europe. Take the underground ethereal beauty of the guitar solo on the track "Spectra." It is emotional and lovely while the black metal riffs still kick you in the dentures!

These guys should be releasing a new record in the next year, so get your stink asses online to www.theomegaorder.com and buy this, and then be prepared for a newer, stronger storm to arrive.

Band Members
Noktu - Vocals, Guitars, Bass
Astrelya - Drums

Track Listing:
01. The Awakening Of The Dormant Fiancee
02. Necromelancholic Reveries
03. Wandering Through The Past Memories
04. Perverted Decadent. Dying Love
05. Spectra
06. Morbid Romance
07. The Fragrance Of The Dead Rose
08. The Radiance Of The Astral Circle

HRH Rating: 8.4/10