History & Biography Celesty was formed in 1998 in the town of Seinäjoki, Finland. The line-up featured bassist Katajamäki and drummer Jere Luokkamäki. A demo was recorded in the summer of 1999. The demo was never released and members were turfed from the fold. After constituting a whole new line-up, the band hit the studio in the autumn of 2000. The result, the Warrior Of Ice demo, was issued in the spring of 2001. Another demo, familiarly entitled Times Before The Ice, was recorded in the spring of 2002. The demo captured the attention of Spain's Arise Records, which signed the band. The Finns soon recorded a debut album. Reign Of Elements was released in December of 2002. Shows in Finland followed. The band also appeared on The Keepers Of Jericho - A Tribute To Helloween Part II CD. The band was the winner of a Helloween cover songs’ contest.
A second album was recorded in the autumn of 2003 following which Celesty acquired new singer Antii Railio. J-P was also drafted into the Finnish army at this time, which meant acquiring guest guitarists for shows. Guitarist Alanen was permanently out in 2005, which brought the induction of Teemu Koskela. The group has signed a worldwide deal with Spinefarm Records in 2008. The band was previously on Dockyard 1. The band announced a new full-length album for March 2009 called Vendetta through Spinefarm Records. The band was no longer on Dockyard 1. Celesty announced that vocalist Antti Railio had decided to pursue a different style than the band in late 2009. The group was searching for a replacement and could be contacted at rekry[at]celesty.net. Tony Turunen, who is the brother of former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen, joined Finland’s Celesty in February, 2010. Celesty parted ways with guitarist Tapani Kangas. The band would continue without a second guitarist. The act disbanded in 2012 and returned in 2015. Kimmo Perämäki, Tapani Kangas and J-P Alanen were back. The reformation was standard-issue cliche not only for itself, but also because the act did nothing and split up again (in 2016).
Reviews CELESTY - LEGACY OF HATE - ARISE
My first guess as to what Celesty sound like would have been something akin to Stratovarius. The band is from Finland and has a keyboardist. My second guess was Hammerfall. That one came from the album's title. Both of those bands have a home under the Celesty umbrella, but if the Finns had to be compared to one act then the name Freedom Call would make the most sense. The melodic, yet fast, style coupled with the fantasy concept and layered vocals is reminiscent of the German band Freedom Call. It is occasionally too poppy and occasionally comparable to Dream Theater too, but Celesty's melodic hard rock is more German in nature than Finnish. The band's drum sound is too unnatural for its good, but more importantly the band has lost its vocalist since the recording of this album. The future sound of Celesty is up in the air as a result. - Ali "The Metallian"
CELESTY - MORTAL MIND CREATION - DOCKYARD 1 
Another day, another Finnish band, another maligning of the meaning of heavy metal. The Finnish six are billed as a cross between progressive and power metal, but both terms are superfluous and misplaced in this case.
Mortal Mind Creation is the third installment in the band’s fantasy saga which began with 2002’s Reign Of Elements and continued with 2004’s Legacy Of Hate, which might sound special, but hearing the clichéd and keyboard-laden music it is obvious that fans of metal will shun the band and album. Celesty relies on the light-weight song structures that many a younger band has tried with keyboard runs, heavier passages, fast segments and so on. What is missing here is any hint of originality even if the band insists on playing pomp rock in the guise of metal. The vocals of new-ish singer Antti Railio are adequate, but flat at the higher pitches. Songs like Lord Of Mortals, Last Sacrifice and War Creations, in particular, show potential, but end up a victim of the synthesized pop sound Celesty calls its own. Unreality, in contrast, could have been a decent hard rock song were it not for the massive keyboard attack. It goes without saying that the album has its share of formulaic slow songs.
Celesty is decent for what it does, and apparently every label needs to have a band like this on its roster, but Dockyard 1 should remark that labels like Arise, Soundriot and more tried to build a business based on this style and failed. - Ali “The Metallian”
Interviews
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