Animale(s)

About

"Outcast as a bastard / the kind of error we regret / … / hanged in a foul rope, dry, tight and unflattering / … / a family photograph, on the jammed horizon / a kid on the grill / poached and abused". Expressionistic, sophisticated, evolved, overflowing, pitch-black. Just a few word, a desperate attempt to properly approach Animale(s), the fifth full-length record of the French unit Celeste from Lyon. While their former albums Pessimiste(s) (EP) (2006), Nihiliste(s) (2008), Misanthrope(s) (2009) and Morte(s) Née(s) (2010) had all been finished in a few month, it took them all the last three years to craft this concept double album. Unsurprisingly, the result of this long process is an opus which is so loaded and dense that it can barely withstand its inner pressure. "Your most despicable wanderings did not even mime the slightest detail of this scene / even this helping hand you reject, like the outstretched hands with which we strike you every day / … / can her tears release you / can your soul calm down for once". The concept behind Animale(s) is the bleak story of a boy and a girl, a kind of love story with a tragic ending. A story about how tough youth can be if parents discard their responsibilitie. For once in metal and hardcore-oriented music, a closer look at artwork and lyrics gives a new dimension to a record and is indispensable for a comprehensive and complete experience of this double album. The album contains two instrumental songs simply entitled (X) & (Y) which are a reference to the X & Y chromosome. The cover depicts a couple in bed, the female looking down in sadness and shame, the male with an aggressive dominant expression on his face. The album title refers to animalistic instincts and behaviours in human. Also, to how humans treat other humans as their own cattle and breed them for slavery. Slavery has always been a constant feature in human history. It was always normal. It was only in 'recent' times that slavery was deemed 'unacceptable' and 'abolished'; however, slavery is still a recurrence in our 'modern' and 'civilised' world, it never disappeared. Then in turn we enslave animals which we abusively breed and proceed to systematically slaughter to feed u. Not even animals themselves are this fucked up. They are simply following their instincts to survive. Except for… dolphins or chimps (from whom we evolved). Perhaps it is just a mammals thing. "Cold, squeezed too much / rolled around by vagabonds in hostility / creased by strength and rocked / in a linen without trust / then dragged face downwards". Musically, Animale(s) sees Celeste developing their metal and hardcore oriented sound in different direction. Their music was always characterised by the interaction of monumental melodie, dark riff, violent drumming, hateful unvaried vocals and expressionistic lyrics; but on the new album all these ingredients are even more condensed. This record marks their further delving into black metal realms whilst never forgoing their screamo roots or neglecting their sludge metal tendencie. It is their most varied (by their standards), complex and intense record. Their most ambitiou. Their longest, over an hour across 12 track, some longer than their usual length. The chaotic disarray of their distorted nihilistic void is greater than a force of nature. And like energy, it cannot be destroyed or created, only modified and/or converted into more dark energy. The last three years' tenure have carved out the contrasts in Celeste's music like a stream carves out a rugged canyon. The melodies are more melodic, but also more sparse. Many parts are much darker and noisier than the past album. The lyrics are as savage as they can be without being vulgar. At the same time, Animale(s) features exceptional collaborations with artists such as the experimental musician Ben Chatwin from Talvihorros - also on Denovali Records - and the composers and sound designers Sabrina Duval and Jean Charles Bastion. "Broken like the glass which seems to penetrate her / cold as the iron which is going to tear her up / like a frightened prey, crying under the yoke of hatred / … / to forgive this alive and obscene error / … / the shadow of his shadow raised in the mud and shit". .

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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