Technically this isn’t a July release because Origins is officially released on August 1, 2014 but Eluveitie did unofficially release twelve out of sixteen tracks off of Origins on July 29, to my more than ecstatic pleasure. So, I chose my favorite song from the released tracks (which was almost impossible) and decided to have Celtos be my top release for this month. And oh my god, it’s worthy of much more than just top monthly. Throwing musical objectivity to the wind, Celtos has solidified Anna Murphy and Chrigel Glanzmann my favorite voices in metal at the moment.
Listening to the beginning of Celtos gives me uncontrollable glee akin to the childish elation felt on Christmas morning, but about 1000 times better than that. Celtos opens up with some ever-folksy Hurdygurdy accompanied by mystical vocals from Anna Murphy (who is a fucking goddess, who sounds this good signing in Gaulish?) We also get Chrigel singing clean vocals for a brief moment, which is pretty rare, but something I definitely want to hear more of. Celtos then progresses into intricate layers of recurrent riffs, flute, and fiddle as well as drums from none other than Merlin, whose heavy playing gives the song the most of its instrumental weight. All the elements are woven together into a fabric that so beautifully complements the fairylike singing from Anna and the dark and dirty renditions from Chrigel it makes me want cry. Most of the song is in Gaulish and we don’t have ample information about the story behind Celtos for now (before the official release) but without a doubt Celtos sings tales of deities and mythological epics from Rome’s rival Gaul tribes. Celtos is composed in a similar fashion to Helvetios’ Luxtos, and ardent fans will hear the connection, however, Celtos is distinctive and brilliant in its own right.
For fans of: Good Music.
Patrick Saad’s Top Release of July 2014
Dog Fashion Disco – Sweet Nothings
Recommended: We Aren’t the World.
There are many Power / Symphonic / Heavy Metal albums being released each month, but finding new releases which dare not follow the Metal sounds of the last 30 years is tough. Dog Fashion Disco are one of those bands which I blindly trust to twist my brain up with unconventional songs and weird genre fusion while keeping their songs memorable.
“Sweet Nothings” is their first album in 8 years and it’s evident that the band hasn’t lost its edge in all those years. Given the fact that some of the band members have been engaged in active (and similarly freakish) bands like Polkadot Cadaver (see our review here), fans were quite prepared for this reunion.
