Pitchfork Media

Unrestrained!
Time is a function of need. In industrial society, time is constituted in a linear fashion and regimented by the minute. In agricultural society, time is constituted in a cyclical fashion, oriented to the season and the light of day. Music, insofar as it is a distribution of sound frequencies across periods of time, can be approached from a similar perspective. In general, such a perspective adds little insight to musical analysis, as the vast majority of albums work within these conventions. However, Celestiial's orientation towards nature—and by this, I mean not only a reverence for the natural world but also a representation of its rhythms and patterns—benefits from a different interpretive approach in order to comprehend the temporal affinity between its movement and the procession of nature. Nature is balance between creative and destructive forces. Its ability to maintain the harmony of its system is achieved without rapid intervention but with a deployment of self-correcting counter-force that is amoral and inexorable. The vision of Tanner Anderson (ex-Shroud of Despondency and Azrael) is one of a musical world embodying the same serene calculation and sinister calm as the natural world. It is a vision that does not force its exploration of evil into the foreground, but prefers to hold it in the background, in the shadows. This makes for an uncomfortable and challenging experience; whereas most funeral doom allows bleakness to predominate (which is perfectly acceptable, of course), Celestiial cuts a different path. By mixing in found sounds culled from nature and eerily meditative tonalities (reminiscent of Disembowelment), Celestiial builds a contrast with the more traditional doom elements. The latter is built around a hypnotic use of the cymbal, cavernous Nortt-like death growls, low-tuned guitars that sprawl across the background almost unnoticed, and almost mystical keyboard undulations. The fact that these traditional doom elements are not particularly brutal or particularly dominant in the mix is what makes Celestiial distinct from its peers. Consequently, it is also what will likely prove the most controversial and misunderstood about Celestiial. It is not heavy in rhythm. It is not overbearing in vocal expression. It is not agonizingly loud in guitar. The melodic tones evolve with measured passion, assuming their height on the 10-minute third track where they intertwine with the deathly gurgle of the vocals in order to create an uneasy tension that can only be compared to that most disturbingly amoral of nature's scenes: that of animals killing their young in order to ensure their own survival. It unfolds slowly, in a self-correcting balance, meditative and mysterious. It is built around a time that is not linear (like industrial society) or even cyclical (like agricultural society), but rather like a human attempt to represent the unfolding of nature. As a result, the points of reference are more difficult to discern; this sense of time is also a function of need, in that it is about nature preserving balance between myriad chaotic, competing forces. Celestial is not ambient. Perhaps it is not doom either. It is just one guy representing what the natural world means to him and exploring through music how he thinks that it functions within time. <Tate Bengtson>

Poisonfree.com
Years ago, when I began to explore the mystic depths of the extreme-metal scene I got a copy of an album named "Stream from the heavens" by a band called Thergothon. I allready knew the genre "doom-metal" by the likes of Black Sabbath, St. Vitus or Candlemass but THIS album totally hit me. Was this still music? How slow can it be? How deep can you tune? And grunt? And how sick and depressing can the atmosphere be?

What I did not know back then is that there is a whole genre named "funeral doom", real extreme "music", missing the rock-feeling of many of the old school doomsters but pathing a way to the deepest abyss of the human soul. Torturing, depressing sounds.

Quite a long introduction, isn't it? Well, I felt it would be usefull to start with the description of the genre, since this "scene" is so small, many might not have heard of "funeral doom".

Ok, now that we have created a foundation let's take a look at the cd. "Desolate north" is the debut of Celestiial, a one man project from the blackest pits of the US and is released on Bindrune Recordings, run by Scott and Marty of the great Worm Gear zine. The music is really slow, but fragments of melodies, which are integrated in the very dense sound, help to gain some feeling for structure and flow. The overall sound is totally unique. The guitars are almost mixed in a black-metal way and are integrated in the sound as well without dominating it. The most exclusive feature is the use of samples of "natural" sounds like birds etc. It sounds weird on the paper, but this adds some THICK atmosphere. Listening to the album makes you think of a walk through a wood, no human around, only trees which may have been there for thousands of years and your own thoughts talking to you.

If you are into atmospheric music, which grows every time you listen to it, "Desolate north" looks like a must have. Heavily recommended.

EATNAILS.COM
Melding the sounds of the forest with sweeping ambient bits of noise, the one-man act known as Celestiial takes heed from his fellow misanthropic black metal brethren on the eight-track DESOLATE NORTH enough to be placed in the same league, but from there things radically change. Sprawling, slow, and rather oblique, Celestiial's drone metal wares, funeral doom devices, and intriguing uses of unique instrumentation truly encapsulate the barren loneliness of the artist's Northern Minnesota homeland with eerie accuracy. Exploring depressively bleak dirges which emulate the sounds of nature at their most primitive, this is by far the anti-party album of the year.

Seaoftranquillity.org
Celestiial is a one-man funeral doom act hailing from the USA. The number of funeral doom bands in the US has been on a steady decrease in the last couple of years, so hearing this record was a great surprise. Led by Tanner Anderson, the songs on this disc are pretty long compositions, punctuated with moments that recall earlier Ulver and Agalloch circa Pale Folklore, particularly in the intro of "Haunting Cries Beneath the Lake Where Our Queen Once Walked". This is a song with slow, mournful riffs capped by distant whispers and vocals which are hard to understand but add a lot to the song. Actually the description on doom-metal.com is dead on: "A one man project by T.R. Anderson, Celestiial plays cold funeral doom, instilled with the pulse of nature and forests. Slow, bleak, and atmospheric doom with influences from various places in the history of funeral doom."

Fans of Skepticism, Thergothon and Disembowelment as well as Evoken and Winter should be all over this album. Though mostly instrumental with minimal vocals, the songs draw distinct influences from typical funeral doom characteristics. The combination of vocals and electronics, keyboards and guitars, and syncopated drum beats as well as traditional instruments that include the harp and Native American flutes produces great atmospherics, underpinned by a forest-like mood (again, Agalloch anyone?) and the love for nature. The ever-present cymbals that crash every quarter note (see "Lamentations in the Citadel of God") may get some, but remember, this is the project of one man only and he does have to rely on programmed drums to realize his cause. The title track proves to be a welcome change of pace, starting with sparse keyboard sounds that echo on endlessly till the piece segues into "Thule", another song over eight minutes. The ghostly acoustic guitars underlie a stormy weather which thunders scarily and wild animals howl distantly in the forests. The whole song follows the same pattern until the next interval, "Hinterland", kicks in with more over-dubbed synths and piano work. These intervals serve to set the foundation of the songs they precede, which are decidedly longer and more complex.

A bit monochromatic for some, but long-time doom metal fans should pick up Desolate North as soon as possible.
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score: 4 Stars

Worm Gear
Desolate North is the debut album from one-man project Celestiial (Tanner Anderson), and if this is any indication of future releases, it's a name to remember. Typically branded as 'funeral doom', Celestiial transcends the sub-genre and creates an individual sound that simply has to be experienced instead of described in the typical 'this band meets that band' way. The dirge elements are still there - depressingly slow tempos, inhumanly low vocal growls and rumbles, ever-present drones, minimalist musical structure - but instead of stopping there, Anderson adds a layer of realism. Whereas most funeral doom releases seem to exist in their own twisted universe, Desolate North transports the listener to an earthly, more familiar (but no less ominous) location. Whenever I hear "Desolate North" (which, at this point, is over a dozen times) the feeling I get is of autumn in a forest. Leaves turning, fires burning... which isn't exactly 'desolate'. My only complaint about the album is that the title seems to be a slight misnomer. The icy bleakness that goes along with a desolate landscape just isn't present here. But that's a completely personal interpretation, and may have more to do with the reviewer than the artist. As I said, rather than winter I get the feeling of autumn - in fact, this release reminds me of Nargaroth's "Herbstleyd" in that it conveys effectively the feeling that winter is coming and you can almost smell it. Anderson's use of less common (that is, less common in the metal genre) instruments such as the harp and celtic flute add to the individuality of the project, separating it from any genre album. In fact, "Desolate North" isn't like any album I've ever heard. If this album doesn't go down as one of the best of the year, it's due to lack of name recognition or complete inability to discern brilliant musicianship and concept. "Desolate North" has become one of my favorite albums and I recommend it to anybody looking for something intense, fresh, and one-of-a-kind. If this album doesn't rejuvenate the tired extreme metal genre, it's not due to lack of quality. This is an absolute must-hear. - Christine Lett

Fish Com Collective
First, understand this. There is ethereal, ambient beauty here, as if nature were reaching out to you. This concept does exist in the music of Celestial on "Desolate North." And then the sick shit happens. In terms of the word "doom" this is about as doomy as you can get; though it may not be traditional doom metal, but it is doomy as hell. Big, cavernous production with uber-ominious atmosphere and deep vocal grind slow-roaring out of the depths of the hellish abyss into which you've fallen ...
review written by: Upchuck Undergrind

absolutmetal.com
Celestiial's brand of mystical "funeral doom" consists mainly of noise...alot of natural sounds like rain etc., with evil, haunting guitar parts and faint growling over it. It's mixed here and there with clear atmoshpheric string sounds and all sorts of strange shit. It's epic, very slow and somewhat relaxing, like what Satan would listen to while getting a massage.
Album Rating: (4 Newcastle Brown Ale's)
Reviewed by: Wolfie

Smother Magazine
EDITOR'S PICK!
Druidic ambient drone metal by a one-mad outfit from Minnesota, "Desolate North" is a celebration of nature, mysticism, and paganism all wrapped into one. Dark and heavy with ambient drones and atmospheric natural sounds, Celestiial has sick guttural vocals that give it an even more leftfield vibe. This is the soundtrack to all of those fast-motion nature films you'd watch on an old projector in high school science class about the wonders of decaying animals and plants.
- J-Sin

Absolute Zero Media
The Cold artwork and the thing's I've been reading about Celestial give me a feeling I'm going to really like this. I keep here slow Doom/ Death is what we have here and from the intro its could just be a creepy ambient doom CD oh but how wrong I am. Straight from the realms of Skepticism or Esoteric comes this powerhouse of crushing Doom/Death. This is for a very very select few of listeners. If you like your Doom ultra slow with a lot of Blackened elements and the gutteral voices of a derranged man then this gift is 100% for you. This is stuff that use to come from Avantgarde or Wounded Love Years ago but seems to be long since forgotten and for one I'm so very glad there are bands like this again. This release and Catacombs have given me hope that the real doom metal world can once again over take the realm of stoner and doom rock. Raise you horns so very slowly for what could become a Doom classic.

Daredevil Music
Hailing from Minnesota and making an appearance on newly founded Bindrune Recordings, Celestial (a one man project) provides a dark and intriguing mix of hypnotizing ambience and crushing, ultra-slow doom. If you've got a short attention span, then you are definitely going to want to avoid this record as the pace is slow and Celestial will do nothing more than swallow you whole and spit you back out in pieces if you've got a weak constitution. For those who can take some atmospheric and beyond slow funeral doom metal then the "Desolate North" should be an excellent purchase. Celestial really create an interesting concept record based all about the forests and woodlands of the Earth using a variety of ambient sounds and instrumentation to really get you in the mindset that you are wondering around lost in the woods at night and the thoughts of despair and loneliness are setting in. Used to create more atmosphere are actual recordings of woodland sounds that are used to contrast crushing yet minimalist riffs, distant percussion and bellowing growls. There's even the use of other instruments such as a Celtic Harp for even more atmosphere. Every now and then there is a totally breathtaking segue between the heavier, drawn out doom songs where Celestial just envelope the listener with moments of touching beauty and ambience that juxtapose smoothly and help transition into the more traditional songs. I especially like the trio of the long and bludgeoning "Lamentations in the Citadel of God", the captivating ambience of the title segue and the slow-burning and atmospheric "Thule" although the whole album has nary a moment that is out of place or one that takes away from the total experience. The production here is excellent for the sound that Celestial displays, keeping things raw but allowing for enough clarity that the dark atmospheres shine through without a hitch. All in all, this is one the most powerful albums in the funeral doom style I've heard in quite sometime. I've only really followed a few bands in this genre (it's not that the style bores me, I just really haven't gotten the chance!) so Celestial was an excellent addition in my collection and I definitely hope to hear more from them in the future. If you dig Disembowlment, Evoken and Skepticism then the "Desolate North" should be a must-have for your collection as it combines both the ambience and crushing destruction of the above mentioned bands while adding some unique touches to the genre.

Beowolf Productions
This is a one man Doom Metal project. This is not your typical sounding Doom Metal though. The music here is Funeral Doom, but is not slow Doom. The music is more creeping Doom Metal, with some really haunting & mystical sounds mixed in. There is some really dark & cold vibes all through out. There are some slight vocals that are enchanting, but also suffocating. The music also mixes in natural sounds of wilderness into this errie darkness. This is some really cool Doom Metal & better than most I've heard of this style in a long time. If you like your Doom a little different & with a cold atmosphere then check this out!!!

Desert-rock.com
Translated from French to English:
Our opinion: It is necessary for me to overcome the artwork in the most beautiful tradition black metal nordic, the ambiguous logo of the label representing runes as well as certain titles of pieces as "Thule" or "Desolate North" to resolve me to leave this production to penetrate my platinum laser in order some to discover the container. Initially destined to use freesbee for I thought it filled to race edge of scandinavian metal hammered to big double blows pedals, this production could interest some twisted frequenting occasionally these orderlies. Second work of an unorth american tortured one, this cd is a curious collage of musical textures that his parent qualifies funeral doom influenced by the elements of mother nature; we rediscover therefore behind melts noises of rains and other gazouillis of birds. Enough synposes and light, the 8 beaches component this project discographique succeed themselves pleasantly without for as much to take the listener to the suicide as I feared it while reading the annexed bio. Unbelievably slow, the tempi want themselves slower than the beatings of the human heart for the humans not the subject treated by the fellow, it consecrates himself in his mystical work to the emotions released by all the things surrounding us in this low world. Even the no followers ésoterisme nordic can find counts for them on this tormented album on which note them are diluted with parcimonie in a maelström of synthetic textures gliding that are not without recalling certain instrumental deliria of isis. Although near of the doom, this album has not absolutely nothing to see with the rock compos of the cadors of the trains; it flirts with the bruitisme without in to have the taken side head and well abode less dark that it does not leave it to presage.

Feastofhateandfear.com
Celestial is one-man 'band' from Minnesota - one dark man, but like I've been quoted, 'The darkest character contains the brightest spirit." Hell, if not, why do you think there's so many sounds from nature on this recording? Yes, it is funeral dirge, as slow as mountains move and as seas regress. Yet, hardly to no guitar, but lots of keyboards, harps, even Native American flutes, all with samples of birds, crickets and running water. The vocals are in the doom vein of being guttural and gloomy, but fit into the thundering dirge well. Due to Celestial's use of synthetic soundscapes and aural textures, over organic 'rocking out', I'm tempted to call Desolate North death ambient, as much as I'd like to classify it as funeral doom. (March 20, 2006)

High Bias Livejournal
There must be a lot of frozen, barren forests in Minnesota, because that seems to be where one-man-band Celestiial sleeps, not to mention dreams. Like a black metal version of Flying Saucer Attack, Desolate North combines mysterious, repetitive guitar and keyboard pulses with scowling melodies and monstrous roars that sound like they're emanating from the depths of some twisted Hong Kong director's version of Hell. Comparisons to Mortiis are inevitable (and not just because both acts like double i's), but the Norwegian elf has yet to make anything this compelling. Desolate North is the ultimate in uneasy listening. Michael Toland

Sleezegrinder
Celestial is one dude, name unknown (to me, anyway) from Minnesota. This is his ode to the woods. Back in the 70's, bands would write albums that were odes to the woods as well, but those had lotsa flutes and tambourines and there was a lot of dancing involved. Ok, so there's a flute here, but you cannot dance to this at all. Even if you were dead and hooked up to electric wires, your lifeless body would refuse to twitch in time to this. It's funeral doom, by definition, mixed with ambient field recordings of birds and babbling brooks and shit, with a few exotic instruments tossed in (including flutes!) to further alienate anybody human. 45 minutes worth of the stuff. Just imagine the chase scenes in Evil Dead slowed down to a painful crawl, and toss in a flute, and you've got Celestial. It's pretty good, if you're into digging graves in the woods at midnight. And who says you aren't?

Metal-march
From North America hails Celestiial, a band recently formed (2004) but already with two full-length albums. It's actually a one man project with Tanner Anderson (Autumnal Winds, Shroud of Despondency, Azrael) in charge or everything here. Unlike the other projects he participated, Celestiial's sound genre only goes one way, and that path, my friends, is a very dark one. I'm talking about Doom Metal, but not any kind of Doom, this one is much more oriented for those who seek the end of their lives. I'm obviously talking about Funeral Doom Metal.

Now there aren't that many ways to describe the Funeral Doom Metal genre, at least those who got the chance to experience one album of this sort should know what I'm talking about. Boring for some, nothing like you've ever heard before for others, these are the two ways people normaly go with this genre. As for me, I always try to put myself in the middle when it's not exactly one style I'm into all that much. Doom is in fact one of my favourite music genres, even though I don't feel exactly the same way towards Funeral Doom simply because it's too much slow paced for my taste. But then again, if it wasn't like this it wouldn't be called Funeral Doom. It's supposed to be slower than the pulse of the human heart.

"Desolate North" is exactly as it is mentioned at the band's biography. Slow, suffocating vocals and some clean guitars. Adding to this some keyboard parts and the whole dark atmosphere of Celestiial is created.

Not beeing able to compare this band/album to others of the same sort simply because no names come to mind, it's pretty much what you would expect from a band of the genre, so no way anyone who calls himself a fan would be disappointed with such release.

Lords of metal
Translated from Dutch to English:
Slow... very slow. Consider yourself lucky I don't write as slowly as 'Desolate North' by the Minnesotian band Celestial sounds. En this doesn't just sound slow to be slow, it is a functional slow. Funeral doom wouldn't be funeral doom if it wouldn't manage to slow your heartbeat just to fit in with the music.

Screaming people in the background, howling wolves, sounds of a haunted mansion and melodic intermezzos. 'Desolate North' is a horror that slowly crawls forth and you can picture a movie to go with it without any problems. Downside is that this is not a record you simply 'just' put on. Celestial sounds too dominant to ever be used as background music and you can only the album just by sitting down and listening to it. If you don't, all that remains is a thick soup of noises. If you concentrate, however, you get beautiful and macabre music. Should you, as big fan of the genre, live in an old mansion or have a graveyard in your backyard, which would be the best place to enjoy this record. In the dark, ofcourse, since daylight completely nullifies the images produced in your mind. But, of course it works very well if you listen to it sitting on the couch, having a drink. Just as long as you listen to it. 85/100

Neufutur
Reviewed 20 April 2006
Three-fourths of an hour of music await the listener of "Desperate North". This ample amount of time means that Celestial can set the stage for large things, devoting the entirety of tracks like "Into This Earth of Shallow Intent" purely to set the mood for everything that ultimately follows. One just hears the tension level rise as Celestial works in repetitious ways, in the style of a more metal Vangelis. The atmospheric metal of Celestial continues with "Haunting Cries Beneath The Late Where Are Queen Once Waited," a nearing nine minute track that uses cries and animal noises to really create a distinct sound for Celestial.

This is not the type of music that moves from sedate to brutal in just few minutes, but something that is like the best described fantasy book. The action may get a little fast at times, but this is not the goal of Celestial. Rather, the goal of Celestial is to tell the story in each and every composition on "Desperate North". There are some questionable arrangements; the inclusion of drum hits that are essentially done the same way during the middle section of "Haunting Cries" ostensibly has the desire of linking together disparate sections of the track, but in reality only succeeds in bothering the listener.

Owing much to the cohesion of this disc, this same style of drumming is continued in "Lamentations in the Citadel of God". There seems to be a little more in the range of differentiation in these drum hits, coupled with more happening in the track to distract listeners for what is something that can be construed as a weakness on Celestial's end. Aside from this style of drum hit, the only thing that is shown to be a common thread through a great deal of the tracks on "Desperate North" is something atmospheric in the weather; on both "Lamentations..." and "Thule", the rainy sound of Celestial is a visual cue for listeners. Never mind the fact the band is talent enough to realistically approximate weather, but this is an essential development on an album that has nothing in the way of vocals to speak of. The story ends three-fourths of an hour after it starts, and Celestial creates an atmospheric metal album that rivals acts like Mortiis for dominance in the field. If the band can vary their drumming style on the tracks here, there will be little that individuals can find fault with.
Top Track: Desolate Worth
Rating: 5.9/10

Transcending the Mundane
Celestiial hails from Minnesota, living in the woods,feeling a connection to nature. This album is his second, released onMarty Worm's Bindrune Records. Celestiial creates funeral doom metal onthe similar plain as Skepticism, except perhaps less metal. One couldat times call this funeral ambient, much like Nortt's Ligfaerd.However, unlike Nortt, Celestiial is not concerned with the human sorrow or pain. Celestiial writes of the forest, of the pulse andbreath of nature, both in life, and also in death. The sound of decayand rebirth filters through these songs, the human voices contained,seem to simply immerse into the sounds of nature, seemingly one withthe animals calls, all traces of humanity dead. Guitars quietly drone on, creating dark emotions, the drums are slower then slow. Celestiialwrites on their website, that the beat of funeral doom is slower thenthe heartbeat, thus reflecting something beyond life, creating death inthe listener (a paraphrase). This oneness with decay is quite audible.The fact that the music is barely perceptible as being human, or evenat times music, only adds to the slight otherworldliness. The sounds ofthe unhuman..

This album is only for a few. It is beyond commercial,more grim then most black metal. Not for the despair ridden, nor forthe cocky. A release for those who seek comfort beyond humanity. I cannot suggest this to fans of any specific styles. It is for all ofyou who do not value the human world, the weakness, the vapidity. Ifyou value the true face of nature, both in death and in life, then youwill value this music, it does not even matter if you like metal. It isbeyond all of these things, it is true purity of spirit. To those attuned, I cannot suggest this release highly enough, it is perfect, tothose who do not understand nature, and are highly close minded about metal, then I suggest staying far away.
Reviewed by: Karl Haikara

live4metal.com
By: Dave Schalek Monochromatic black and white album cover, a title straight out of the northern forests of Scandinavia, and an incorrect "ii" band name spelling immediately screamed out "raw black metal shamelessly ripping off Mutiilation!" Not even close! Celestiial turns out to be a dark ambient project, with a few funeral doom (note the reference to Xathagorra below) overtones, from the great North Woods of Northern Minnesota. Celestiial may have once began as black metal, but has now morphed away from metal entirely.

Basically, you really have to be in the mood for this sort of thing, and a dark ambient project, or band, had better be able to hold your interest or you'll probably become bored pretty quickly. Not many projects are able to do this, but Celestiial turns out to be one of those projects. Consisting mostly of layered, muted synths with bass and guitar tones combined with sounds of the North Woods of the Upper Midwest, "Desolate North" is similar to Vinterrriket's nature-based ambient work in delivery, but with a decided American flavor. The American flavor is mostly brought out through the use of muted bird calls, such as that of the loon, combined with droning cymbals and sounds of rain that help provide a definite sense of rhythm. There is also a decided funeral doom influence with very low-pitched growls deep in the background that sound like a Wendigo creeping around a bleak forest and, minus any riffs, tones that are similar to Earth and Catacombs, but with a much more muted feel. Dark ambient is all about feeling and atmosphere, and Celestiial does a good job of providing the listener with the musical accompaniment to a solitary interlude spent at Boundary Waters or Lake In The Woods (geographical references) while watching an aurora display.

This is definitely not for everyone and, at times, has more in common with some of the Native American folk music that you could probably buy at an art fair in New Mexico than metal. Still, Celestiial's nature-based form of dark ambient is one of the more effective releases in this genre. Recommended for those wanting to try something a little different.

noiseitalia
Translated from Italian to English
From the deep one of the levano forest of the alarming you play yourself, left it complains and gutturali insidiosi gorgoglii... It seems that the nature wants to trigger the darker part of the just mystical one to be able and the Celestial plan of it is curing the perfect sonorous column: a funeral doom able of ergere impenetrable onirici walls being based on a claustrofobico ambient that it drags the listener in deepest of the incubi. On the wake of Disembowelment, Skepticism and Thergothon this one-man-project goes to create the slowest one dark ambient resorting mainly to the employment of keyboards and synth, with the added one of sporadic effects of guitar and sometimes recovering also typical harp and flauti of the NATO to you Americans. Artistic the job evocative and is optimally realized, but it is right to terribly clear that to the listener less "open-mind" these long atmospheric pieces risk to appear all nearly equal ones and borings. In conclusion, a job indicated to more misantropi between you, than feels just comfort taking a walk solitary in the night in the dark one of the more recondite forests... (Bokal) .: behind

Metal Nightmare
*sigh*... funeral doom. There's nothing else like it, save the other bands in the subgenre. CELESTIIAL are just as suffocating, as claustrophobia-inducing as SHAPE OF DESPAIR, SKEPTICISM, or yes... even the legendary THERGOTHON. They are impossibly slow, impossibly heavy, and completely impossible for people who are only into fast metal to listen to. Lucky for me that I'm not one of those. Diversity in your metallic tastes is a good thing. I'd really like to see more "sword & sorcery" movies incorporate funeral doom like CELESTIIAL into their soundtracks. Let's face it, there's nothing more appropriate for scenes where our stalwart hero descends into a dark cavern on a seemingly insurmountable task. The tension from hearing funeral doom while waiting for him to be jumped by a pack of rabid kobolds would be incredible. This kind of music would also be awesome for the ending fade out in a horror flick where the inhuman creature wins and kills all of the "heroes." What I'm getting at here is that CELESTIIAL are is one bleak band, a sucking vortex of blackness from which no light or anything even remotely happy can escape. The antidote to hope is dread... which is manifested in CELESTIIAL.

Cdreviews.com
This is where the style starts heading down south. They claim to "mirror mysticism in nature". I claim they do not have a fucking clue what they are talking about. They claim "its heart lies not in its medium but in its dreams". I claim Winger provoked more fear in the listener than this. They claim "it is a reflection of astral light shown upon the earth-sinking into its soil-waiting and dreaming". I claim they are only right about the "soiling" part of it, of the rest is more like shut the fuck up already. They claim "it wished to be the pulse of woodlands and water." I claim Desolate North is more like the pulse of toilets and sewers. They claims this is "funeral doom" and that as such it "is slower than the human heart" and that "its pulse is dead". I claim they are right about the dead part: this is totally fucking dead on the water. I really want to get this, and if I wanted to I could claim to the farting winds of the North that is scary stuff, but it really isn't during summertime.

The first song is titled "Into This Earth of Shallow Intent" and the second one "Haunting Cries Beneath the Lake" while the third one is called "Where Our Queen Once Walked" and the fourth "Lamentation in the Citadel of God". Do you get my point? Me neither. I hear a guttural voice, sloooowww drums, nature at its fullest; birds chirping, water cascading, and yet I don't get much out of it. I feel numb, which I guess it's a good thing. There is a hissing quality to this recording that is also entirely bothersome. First time I heard this I was heading back home from work and it totally pissed me off. Too bad 'cause I really liked the album cover; it kinda made me think of a b/w version of Paradise Lost's Lost Paradise. Then I realized that Celestiial were going toward the drone fanatic, offering their own take on scary soundtracks layered with blankets of whatevers. And it is not like I don't see it. I see how Desolate North could evoke fear and chill you heart, but man what can I do? I live in Florida and here it's hot as fuck all year round.

Doom-metal.com
Album of the month!
Celestiial is the one-man project of T.R. Anderson from Minnesota, USA. It also happens to be one of the hopes of funeral doom in these times of internet bands and UDOM-style ambient funeral wannabes.

On 'Desolate North', the entire history of funeral doom is incorporated, from Thergothon to Tyranny, with a bit of Nortt thrown in for good measure. But, above all, a lot of Hierophant and Catacombs. From all this namedropping, you'd think there wasn't an original bit to this album at all. Nevertheless, while Celestiial isn't re-inventing the wheel, he is making it out of a whole new type of wood.

I didn't choose the wood metaphor for nothing, as nature is the driving (thematical) force behind this project. All tracks, both the four melodic interludes and the four slabs of doom, exude a forest air, complete with icy mists, stormy weather, and the haunting sounds of woodland denizens. The whole is instilled with a heartbeat, nature's cadence, that lends the album even more of an organic feel. Guitars, drums, vocals and electronic effects work in unison to create a landscape that is both warm and cold, mysterious and familiar.

Isn't there anything about this album that's not good? Sure there is; next time around there had better be some more variation in the drum programming, as the incessant 4/4 cymbal hits can become a nuiscance. Two albums of that would be overkill. However, that's the only downside I can come up with. This is simply very, very good.

If you support the future of original funeral doom, you need to have this. Besides that, this album might very well appeal to lovers of 'nature metal' in general; think Agalloch and Woods of Ypres, for example. In short, this is quality stuff, and highly recommended.

Imperiumi.net
6 ½ stars
Funeral doom kuuluu metallimusiikin alagenrenä siihen marginaaliryhmään, joka ei sen koommin paistattele suuressa suosiossa kuin omaa suurta bändikatrastakaan. Äärimmäisen hidastelun esitaistelijoista muun muassa sellaiset kotimaiset nimet saattavat olla tuttuja kuin Skepticism ja Thergothon, ja oman osansa tähän kekoon kantaa myös minnesotalaisen Celestiialin debyyttijulkaisu Desolate North.

Tuotoksen kolmevarttinen sisältö on orgaanista ja luonnonlähteistä tavaraa, mutta genrensä ehdoilla. Bändiä oikeastaan luonnehditaankin, ja varsin osuvasti vielä, metsä(iseksi)-doomiksi, sillä metallisoitinten ja minimalistisen örinän rinnalla kuuluvat myös linnunlaulu ja muita luonnonääniä. Ja jos jossain on onnistuttu hyvin, niin suorastaan uneliaan hitaassa ja uuvuttavassa tempossa. Levy nimittäin on samaan aikaan hyvin rauhoittavaa painostavan tunnelman ja luontoäänien kontrastissaan, mutta myös tavallaan hyvin väsyttävää materiaalia.

Biisit ovat keskenään varsin samankaltaisia hidasteluita, mikä ei ehkä suuremmin yllätä. Onkin sitten puhtaasti makuasia pitääkö stagnaation puremasta paikallaan jopottamisesta vaiko hieman enemmän vaihtelua sisältävämmästä tavarasta, mutta ainakin meikäpoikaan levy tuntui hieman liiankin yksitoikkoiselta. Toki raskasta äänimaisemaa rikotaan samplejen lisäksi myös ajoittain ulisevilla kitaroilla tai koskettimilta, muista soittimista puhumattakaan, mutta silti levyä vaivaa - edelleen vahvasta tunnelmastaan huolimatta - hienoinen tylsyys.

Levyn soundipuolta on hieman hankala kutsua hyväksi tai huonoksi, sillä kitaroita tai rumpuja ei kuitenkaan käytetä aivan samalla tavalla kuin suuressa osassa muuta metallimusiikkia. Sanottakoon kuitenkin soundeista sen verran, että ne toimivat tässä tapauksessa hyvin ja palvelevat tarkoitustaan erinomaisesti, mutta millekään kultakorvakerholle en teosta lähtisi suosittelemaan - enkä myöskään testisoittolevyksi uusia stereohankintoja varten. Laulu ehkä levyllä jää yllättävänkin paljon paitsioon, mutta näyttäähän homma toimivan kelvosti näinkin.

Vaikka tavallaan mieleni tekisi Desolate Northia hieman kehaistakin, jää levystä lopulta suuhun hieman tympeä, itseääntoistava ja neutraali maku. Se ei ole tarpeeksi kulmikas tökkiäkseen makuhermoja kunnolla, eikä se oikeastaan jää muutenkaan makuaistimuksien joukkoon kauaksi aikaa itsestään muistuttamaan. Luontoäänet toimivat levyssä erittäin hienosti, mutta ideasta vaan ei oteta tarpeeksi vielä tässä erässä irti. Ehkä sitten ensi kerralla.
Serpent, 25.05.2006

Deadtide.com

Reviewed by Rahn - Desolate North, the second album from Funeral Doom outfit Celestiial, is aptly titled. Though not a product of Scandinavia, as the name might suggest, Celestiial does hail from the most Nordic and symbolically "Northern" state of the American union, Minnesota. Composed of a single member, Celestiial does not rely very heavily upon complex instrumentation or particularly unique songwriting (in either the lead or rhythm departments) to capture the interest of his audience. He instead layers ambient nature clips of wind and birdsong throughout the majority of the album, lending each track a solid atmospheric base from which to structure the rest of the song, but not allowing for too much variation, which is admittedly generally appropriate for Funeral Doom. There was, though, little reason to break up tracks two and three, as they begin and end identically, partially due to the same drum "beat", if you will, being used for practically all the album. While funeral doom is never expected to dramatically alter tempos from one song to another, a little more variation might be more compelling.

What does make for a pleasant change is the dispersing of brief melodic interludes, entirely devoid of percussion or distortion. Though as independent tracks they bring little to the table, when absorbed as a piece of the whole (which is really how doom should be experienced, after all), the respite is a welcome one that clears the mind and prepares it for the next track. And although the themes of Celestiial appear to deal almost exclusively with northern and Germanic matters, there is a faintly Oriental tonality evident in the melodic interludes: the layering effect and notes reminiscent of the pentatonic scale.

All scrutinies aside, Desolate North is a solidly morose piece of work from a relatively new name worthy of mention in the field. Too, now that stalwart group Aphotic have disbanded, any reassuring signs of Doom-like life from the Midwestern North are more than welcome.

Standout Tracks
Give or take, they're all roughly the same

Metalwhore.com
Celestiial is a one-man funeral doom powerhouse from the woodlands of Minnesota. Actually I have no idea where this majestic prophet of the forest lives but if it's not the woods he should move. I had a hard time deciding whether to put this one in "metal" or "ambient". I decided on the latter because although this brings with it the crushing heaviness of Skepticism-like funeral doom, it's coupled with natural wilderness sounds, harps and Native American flutes.

Now before we all start dancing around the campfire making smores and singing Kum-Ba-Ya I'd like to point out that this is not a happy sound... at all. It's as ominous as the backwoods at night. You're a stranger, an alien presence... fuck... you're part of the food-chain. Slower than slow fuzzed-out strums of guitar noise slide up your spine while you're transfixed hypnotic by gently repetitive percussion. The vocals are so slow and deep you'll forget they're human. It's just becomes another sound in the slow decay.

It's dark, majestic and an overall wholly enjoyable experience. If Treebeard's rocking the Ipod, you can bet your ass "Desolate North" is on his Marching On Isengard playlist. This is a killer addition to Marty Worm's Bindrune label.
Jeff Rating: 9

Sea Of Tranquility
Celestiial is a one-man funeral doom act hailing from the USA. The number of funeral doom bands in the US has been on a steady decrease in the last couple of years, so hearing this record was a great surprise. Led by Tanner Anderson, the songs on this disc are pretty long compositions, punctuated with moments that recall earlier Ulver and Agalloch circa Pale Folklore, particularly in the intro of "Haunting Cries Beneath the Lake Where Our Queen Once Walked". This is a song with slow, mournful riffs capped by distant whispers and vocals which are hard to understand but add a lot to the song. Actually the description on doom-metal.com is dead on: "A one man project by T.R. Anderson, Celestiial plays cold funeral doom, instilled with the pulse of nature and forests. Slow, bleak, and atmospheric doom with influences from various places in the history of funeral doom."

Fans of Skepticism, Thergothon and Disembowelment as well as Evoken and Winter should be all over this album. Though mostly instrumental with minimal vocals, the songs draw distinct influences from typical funeral doom characteristics. The combination of vocals and electronics, keyboards and guitars, and syncopated drum beats as well as traditional instruments that include the harp and Native American flutes produces great atmospherics, underpinned by a forest-like mood (again, Agalloch anyone?) and the love for nature. The ever-present cymbals that crash every quarter note (see "Lamentations in the Citadel of God") may get some, but remember, this is the project of one man only and he does have to rely on programmed drums to realize his cause. The title track proves to be a welcome change of pace, starting with sparse keyboard sounds that echo on endlessly till the piece segues into "Thule", another song over eight minutes. The ghostly acoustic guitars underlie a stormy weather which thunders scarily and wild animals howl distantly in the forests. The whole song follows the same pattern until the next interval, "Hinterland", kicks in with more over-dubbed synths and piano work. These intervals serve to set the foundation of the songs they precede, which are decidedly longer and more complex.

A bit monochromatic for some, but long-time doom metal fans should pick up Desolate North as soon as possible.

Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score: 4 stars

Decibel Magazine|
Radness will prevail

Hailing from the deep, dark woods of Minnesota, the one-man band Celestiial has, on its debut release Desolate North, created one of the best albums for suicidal bird-watchers that you are likely to hear any time soon. Celestiial is on the same page as all your fave one-man DIY black metal mopes. He takes the template of the funeral doom genre made not-so-very-famous-when-you-get-right-down-to-it by pioneers like Disembowelment and disembowels the formula even further, until the end result is skeletal, oblique and downright ambient. I mean, REALLY ambient. This is not "heavy" music in the least, if we're talking volume and crunch. This is a sloooooooow wash of sound held together by the striking of a distant hypnotic cymbal and embellished with the occasional bird song or nature walk sound effect of wind or water. Guitars are gently and sleepily strummed.

But it is "heavy" music if we're talking about the end product: a deep and pervasively creepy atmosphere that is compelling in its use of silence and hushed reverence for the forest floor. I can see Desolate North appealing to all kinds of people: goths, ambient/experimental/drone/psych freaks, dark folk purists and metal doom headz looking for new sounds in a genre that can be a bit starved for innovators from time to time. Just so you don’t get confused and think I'm describing some new age beardo with foot fungus and a fannypack full of trail mix, Celestiial has a metal heart that is tried and true. And you don't have to hear his deep mournful croak of a voice (used sparingly) to understand why. It's all in the way that he looks at the scary places that we all fear when the lights are out and illuminates what is attractive about them. And how he makes beautiful sounds out of the darkness that others would rather run from. - Scott Seward

Aquarius Records
There was a time where all you had to do was add umlauts to every vowel (heck how about a few consonants too?) to make your band name more evil. More mysterious. For glam rockers it simply meant changing s's to z's, BOYZ, TOYZ, NOYZE... oh and changing i's to y's, and double o's always helped... Bad Noose. But recently, there have been several examples of grim black and doom metal bands adding an extra 'i' for no apparent reason. When it was just French black metallers Mutiilation, we thought, okay, they're just French and little bit strange, or maybe it was a typo but they thought it was cool. We can dig that. But now with Minnesotan funereal doom lords Celestiial jumping on the double 'i' bandwagon, we're beginning to think something is going on. Something sinister. Er... siiniister we mean.

Anyway, we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for more of the evil double 'i' but in the meantime, Celestiial has more than just the 2 i's going for them. They also have a gaggle of o's. that's right. Celestiial are definitely one of those bands who have earned the multiple o'd doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom. They're in the tradition of bands like Skepticism, Thergothon, Disembowelment, Evoken, Winter and more modern practitioners of the ultradoom like Catacombs, Esoteric and the like, but Celestiial are no ordinary doom band, sure their songs are lengthy and glacial, guitars are nothing but black smears in a starless sky, the plodding drums are dropped reverently amidst a bleak and barren sonic landscape. Vocals growl and gurgle and float weightless like some dark wind. Celestiial's doom is even more spacey and blissed out than any of their influences. The guitars are thick and dense and tuned impossibly low, but they sound soft, like someone shaking out a huge black blanket and letting it settle over you, blocking out all light. The programmed drums are so dense with reverb, and the cymbals seem to sizzle endlessly, the percussion just turns into a wash of hiss and whir, that adds a strange fuzzy glow to the already murky and blissy sound. The other thing you can't help but notice, is the sound of nature, everywhere, in every song, crickets, wind blowing through the trees, frogs, whippoorwills, thunder, rain falling on leaves. You know how Skepticism sounds like it was recorded in a forest? This is like that too but it's not metaphorical, it really has forest sounds. It's almost like their is some black doom funeral procession, trudging through the forest, lit only by torchlight, the creatures of the night, gathered just outside the circle of fire. So intense and strangely serene, especially for a 'doom metal' record.

And the thing is it's not just for effect. Celestiial are from Minnesota and are quite possibly the first reflective, isolationist, naturist doom band ever. From the band's website: "Celestiial was created to mirror mysticism in nature. Its heart lies not in its medium but in its dreams. It is a reflection of astral light shown upon the earth--sinking into its soil--waiting and dreaming. It wishes to be the pulse of woodlands and water. Nothing more? Understand that funeral doom isn't always slow for the sake of being slow. It is slower than the beat of the human heart. Its pulse is dead. The pulse of CELESTIIAL aims at being completely parallel to continual motion in everything of this earth. From the seasonal changes to representations of myth."

Woah. But if you really listen, Celestiial's slow motion doom does sound perfectly at home amidst the sounds of nature. Like some living breathing shadowy doomic creature living among the insects and wild birds, lurking in tree tops and curled up upon soft piles of wet leaves. It's almost like a doom metal version of recent record of the week Osmose, by Ariel Kalma, but instead of synths and rainforests, it's doom and dark forests. And as if to further tie the music to the land, and the peoples of the land, Celestiial incorporate an unlikely selection of traditional instruments into their slow motion dirges, such as Celtic harp and Native American flutes.

All of that, strange instrumentation, nature sounds, the two i's, combine to make this wonderfully weird, hauntingly mysterious and quite possibly one of the dreamiest and most blissed out doom records ever!

CMJ.com
On possibly the worst make-out album ever, Celestiial combine Windham Hill-style new age with atmospheric, synth-heavy doom metal. With most songs lasting an average of nine minutes, the group maintains a death-obsessed personality split between melancholy and anger. Following funeral doom scene-leaders Skepticism and Disembowelment, Celestiial sings in whispers that sometimes grow into vomited grunts. But it's their use of nature sounds that sets this band apart from their ancestors. The chirping birds on "Lamentations In The Citadel Of God" and the thunderstorm on "Thule" provide far more frights than the pulsing cymbals or movie-house synths. It's impressive how Celestiial captures more sadness, unease and mystery in a single reverberated loon call on "Vinterland" than most doom metal bands since Candlemass are able to do with a Marshall stack. Desolate North is possibly the most original and artistic manifestation of emotional rebellion in its genre's history - Kory Grow

Thrasher Magazine
July, 2006
Nature is what came to my mind, as in the sounds of brooding dark forests and eerie echoes of uncharted wilderness. Celestiial offers a more elite ambience of funeral doom, adjoined in captivating and unsettled slow, pulsing beats through upturned earth. Desolate North erupts with the minimal, yet explodes with creation. Haven't quite experienced this before. So brilliant. I thrive with the haunting and sinking feeling this awards me. It's dreadfully nurturing.