CELELALTE CUVINTE

3.5 stars. CELELALTE CUVINTE are a 5 piece band from Romania who have released eight studio albums including this the debut from 1987. I was surprised to see that they just released a new album in 2023 with the one before that coming in 2008. Three guitarists but the one adds vocals and flute and the other violin while the third is maybe the most used playing his 12-string. No keyboards here but they would add them to the followup to this. These guys changed styles a lot going from the proggy first two to Thrash, then Doom followed by Alternative Metal and so on.

Romania like most East Bloc countries was not the best place to demonstrate your artistic freedom. What freedom? Even this debut was released on the state label allowing the government some control I suppose. They lived in a city near the Hungary border and no doubt were influenced by what they heard on Hungarian radio. I know PHOENIX, SFINX and THE STEPAN PROJECT and that's about it. This self titled debut is interesting the way we get so many contrasts between the acoustic 12-string led sections and the heavy electric guitar passages. They form a nice contrast and these guys can certainly play. Vocals don't do much for me at all, higher pitched and there's that one moment when I'm asking why? That would be on that second track.

A balanced recording overall and there's two tracks I really like and that's about it but this is a good record. The opener "Beloved Letters" is such a beautiful, folky piece with vocals, flute and 12-string. Under 2 minutes but what a gorgeous track. Then "Late Hour" where they go darker and heavier much to my appreciation. Almost galloping at one point too and the bass is the best here.

Not a lot to chose from when we're talking 1987 but this is one of the better ones for sure. A talented band. I might check out their new one for fun.