Celeste - Infidèle(s) (2017)^{Release ID: 6997}

French metallers Celeste offer a consistent and uncomplicated brand of sludge driven, post-hardcore with just enough blackened edges to keep them in The North clan on album number five. Full of nihilistic and despondent tones, the tremolos on Infidèle(s) have a bleak warbling effect alongside the more prominent percussion and intense sludge vocals. As such the consistency adds to this bleak element in the sense that it offers no real variation of sound. This does make the album a bit of a slog to get through in all honesty, yet it still helps retain the pervading sense of darkness end to end on which the album thrives upon.

Singing in his native tongue, vocalist Johan deploys a hardcore-like ethos to his sludge-styled vocals that works well given how far forward in the mix they sit without dominating the sound overall. Guitarists Sébastien and Guillaume do a great job of creating a wall of riffs when needed (check out the Russian Circles’ elements of (I), a purely instrumental track of monumental proportions). The solid drum work of Royer underlines the sound of this tight unit who pay with a passion that does not require any exuberance to get their message across.

Infidèle(s) is solid record that lights a few fires along the way. However, they do not burn very bright or for very long in terms of leaving a lasting impression. As soon as the record is over, I forget about it and move onto something else, which is not to say that it lacks merit more that it just does the same thing well far too often and leaves no real standouts for me to grasp onto.