This is a re-mastered version of the original album which was released in 2000. From a personal point of view, “Celestial” is the least played of the three Isis albums that I have in my collection. So the first job was to re-acquaint myself with the original version.
The original “Celestial” is not silky like the later “Panopticon”, although it is easy to see how the band went from one to the other. An avant-garde and experimental post metal feel dominates this work, denying the majesty of later albums. “Celestial” is innovative and varied in its atmospheres, ranging from the anguished and tortured “Glisten” to the moody and more epic “C.F.T. (New Circuitry and Continued Evolution)”. In between there is psychedelia, electronic industrial sounds and above all an edgy and shadowy metal sound suggesting the sinister underworld of the apocalypse. It’s only later in Isis’s development that the sun started to break through the clouds.
Listening to the 2013 version, I had a stronger sense of Isis not being quite ready with their explosion of ideas. Sonic enhancements and greater clarity, often in a sludgy framework, serve to bring out the variations between and within the tracks, which although joined by a series of signals SGNL > 01 through to SGNL > 04 strike a disparate message.
With “Celestial (The Tower)”, industrial processes are now at work. Distant cries can be heard in the background. The guitars make a shadowy noise amid this mechanical and repetitive scene. Harshness turns to a bleak soundscape, then cosmic sounds intervene. A dreamy and melancholic passage is played – impressive, more so with the rising tension which goes with this post-metal music. The cosmic sounds, prevalent on this version, add both mystery and continuity. But Isis still have the crustiness. The extreme side is here. “Glisten” slows down. Its plodding beat and discordant guitar define the sound. A repetitive chant follows but as I re-heard this classic track, my impression was of continuation without apparent purpose. The atmosphere then becomes more fraught. “Swarm Reigns (Down)” starts. Aaron Turner’s vocals are of a screaming kind, drums crash down and we’re in a world of thick dark clouds and heaviness. A pause for reflection precedes a series of magical sounds like dolphins calling. A deep, slow and intense set of sounds finally give way to an eruption of anarchic-sounding violence as we heard at the beginning. “SGNL > 02” is like a release valve, as hissing, far away sounds escape. “Deconstructing Towers” starts in a pumping and forceful manner. The soundwaves are sinister and the mechanical punishment goes on, descending into experimental aural chaos. The squeaking sounds which emerge are like a machine needing a drop of oil. Meanwhile the drum plays out its ponderous beat. The cosmic sonic attack continues in its brain-twisting and deviant way. From a few acoustic guitar strums we enter “SGNL > 03”, another brief galaxy of sound trial. Deep tones mark the start of “Collapse and Crush” and penetrate our brains. The delivery is slow and anguished. Such deliberate torture has no element of sympathy. It’s hard to be drawn in and more frustratingly, it all leads to an inconclusive end. This might have passed for innovation in 2000, but now it passes me by a little. But I am still captured by “C.F.T. (New Circuitry and Continued Evolution)”. Slow and teasing, dark and menacing, the guitar work starts to expand. The cymbals sound like waves on the shore. The electronic buzzing noises sound eerie in the background. It stops. It takes on a new lease of life, but it’s strange. “Gentle Time” is like a continuation but it moves outwards. Harsh instrumentals are matched by echoing and distant vocals. This is chunky and brutal but characterless. It picks up in intensity but if this is celestial, it’s a celestial mess. Fire crackers then go off. The sound of birds in the woods can be heard. “SGNL > 04” brings the transmission to an end. I couldn’t see the link myself.
Largely anguished and agonising, this re-release made no more sense to me than the original pressing. “Celestial” is a sound experience. If you don’t mind being the subject of a strange and bleak experiment, it’ll be fine.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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