Celaris
In Hiding

It looks good, the cover of the debut album by American progressive metallers Celaris. It is called In Hiding, being in hiding can’t be a good thing if you want to be a famous musician. The band is compared with the likes of Periphery or TesseracT to name a few that are mentioned in the press material, and I read that they want to make the same impact on the music scene as that scene have made on them.

In Hiding is a progressive metal album in the same vein as the previously mentioned bands, not unnecessarily complex but it has some smaller surprises and relatively fresh ideas. I think the production is pretty good, not the best I have heard but the sound is relatively fresh and dynamic. The singer is pretty good too, but I think he could have gone a little wilder and more dramatic. They keep it surprisingly short with a playing time of less than forty minutes; many progressive albums tend to be a bit too long but this one is kept sensible in that regard.

Celaris offers a good and strong debut album with good songs, with relatively progressive and modern sound. Good, but also a bit lacking. I am missing a standout song, something that really makes me want to return to the album. It wouldn’t have hurt the album with a bit more depth and dynamics either, so there are some smaller niggles here. But there are also some very interesting and really good touches, the band promise a bit more than they can deliver on this debut album.

In Hiding is a good and strong debut, a good album that could be worth checking out and that is especially for those of you who enjoy the progressive stuff. It could be a start of a very exciting career; I think there are something great in the future for this band. Celaris debuts well and shows that there is some excellent music in hiding within the composers here, you will probably not go wrong with this one but it might be best to wait for them to find what is hidden.

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