Celeste - Assassine(s) (2022)^{Release ID: 33937}

Following on from my mediocre response to Celeste's 2017 offering, Infidèle(s) I was approached their offering from some five years later with a degree of trepidation.  Although there was nothing wrong with Infidèle(s) it failed to leave any lasting scars and was just a rudimentary record containing some sludge, hardcore and blackened elements.  I think it is safe to say that after a couple of listens to Assassine(s) that Celeste have matured well enough and are now in the business of writing some memorable yet still distinctly menacing tunes.  Combining the above mentioned elements with some post-metal dissonance makes the majority of album number six really shine.  This album is full of tracks that cut with an adult aggression, no signs of any juvenile stabs here, just tracks that come straight for the jugular.

The vocalist sounds a lot more blackened on this release and this serves for a much more pleasing affair for me when I take this into account with the rest of the component parts.  This album still retains that modern sound that combines these hardcore and sludge elements well but the maturity is just so much more obvious in the song writing on this outing and I can see why this made some EOTY album lists.  I am not blown away, but then again I detect that this is not really the point of the album.  This is an assured album from start to finish that exerts control of itself without resorting to suppression at any point.  I hope the improvement continues.