By: Greekbastard
Celeste
absolutely crushed it at Psycho Las Vegas this
past August and THE SLUDGELORD was able to catch up with
them to find out if they survived Sin City along with other questions inquiring
minds want to know about this mysterious French band…
Please give
a short history lesson of Celeste for those that may not have heard of you.
Royer: We are a French metal band
based in Lyon/France. We released six albums in 10 years. We play a mix of post
hardcore, sludge, metal, and black metal with dark melodies and an evil
atmosphere.
You recently played at the Psycho Las
Vegas festival, how did it go for you guys?
Guillaume: Despite a lot of
technical problems we really enjoyed our show and the venue was totally packed
during our whole set. We were just a bit frustrated to not be able to create
the same live experience as we do usually in Europe with our full backline and
our own fog machines and strobes we manage by ourselves. Whatever, it was a real pleasure to play in
Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel!
What bands did you check out while you
were at Psycho Las Vegas and who were some of your favorites?
Royer: We checked Gojira, Mastodon, Cult of Luna, Abbath, Cult Leader, Inter Arma, Sumac, and some more. I would say Mastodon
was one of the highlight, Gojira we saw them
already several times back in France, but they always “do” the job on stage.
Was this Celeste’s first time playing in
the United States?
Royer (Drums): No, actually we came out here
in the U.S. two years ago for a 3 week Midwest and East Coast tour sharing the
stage with Primitive Man.
I was able to catch some of your set
between bands and walked into a packed room while you guys were playing. You guys are known for playing live with low
LED light headbands with no other surrounding light. How long did it take to get used to playing
with this setup?
Royer: Usually we play with strobes that we switch on and off by ourselves in addition to our headlamps, but due to some logistic problems we didn't get them for the fest. At the beginning we were paying only with some light. Since the beginning of the band we’ve been playing with red lights. We’ve been used to playing like this for a while now so it felted pretty natural.
What type of mood are you attempting to
invoke with this low light atmosphere?
Guillaume (Guitars): The idea behind our light
show is to create an apocalyptical atmosphere that, in our opinion, fits
perfectly to the music we play. We want to make our audiences open their minds
so they can enjoy our performances even more. Even if sometimes it's the
contrary for some people who really dislike this amount of fog and strobes.
Your music has been described in several
different styles and genres ranging anywhere from post rock to black
metal. How do you describe it?
Royer: It's pretty hard for us too,
because there's some hardcore, doom, metal, black, sludge, noise influences in
our music. It's a mix of all the best parts of those subgenre. Most of people
would say we play a post blackened hardcore.
How do the crowds that attend your shows
differ in Europe vs. the United States?
Royer: First it depends where you
play in Europe, but the U.S. the audience are a bit more excited to see us
because we don’t get to play in the U.S often. Most of them are seeing us on
stage for the first time and have been following us for years.
What is next for Celeste? Is there a new album in the works?
Royer: We're about to release a new
album called “INFIDELE(S)” this year, it will come out on the 29th
September. We’ve already published two exclusives songs online. We will be touring both Europe and the U.S.
in support of it.
The End
Check out Celeste’s
new album released by Denovali Records. It
can also be ordered through the band’s Big Cartel page here:
