To follow up on Vince’s French Metal Invasion post: everyone needs to check out Celeste. I first read about the band on Invisible Oranges but didn’t actually get around to listening to them until last night, and I’m glad that I did.

There’s definitely a black metal-tinge to the music, but it also incorporates jabbing, metallic riffs and the raw-yet-sprawling scope of post-hardcore bands like Buried Inside. Celeste makes the kind of music that is somehow beautiful and ugly at the same time. The production is way harsh and the vocals are bloody hoarse; the lyrics are in French so I have no idea what the fuck the dude is singing about, but whatever it is, he sure does sound all worked up.

I listened to Celeste’s latest, Misanthrope(s), twice last night, and once again this morning. I’m already prepared to declare it one of the best albums of 2009. It’s available as a free download, so you have absolutely no excuse to not at least check it out (if you’re really that worried about saving precious hard drive space, you can also just stream it). Go get it now.

-AR