Celestis began its humble existence in 2006 as a musical collaboration between two like-minded pointy-guitar wielding longhairs -- Alexandre "Alyag" Popravko and Alex Victor Dobbins (Train Bigger Monkeys). In time the duo recruited a sleu of additional members (most notably bassist Josh "Sinky" Sinclair and drummer Chris DePape), and embarked on a three-year streak of live shows around southern Alberta, Canada.
In 2009 the band dissolved in pursuit of other projects, but Alexandre's original compositions remained fresh in his mind, and he would repeatedly turn his attention to tinkering with them while delving further and further into the realm of audio production. Eventually the songs seemed to take on a life of their own, and steadily developed alongside Alyag's own personal evolution over the years.
The release of Celestis' debut self-produced album Aurorae in late 2013 heralded the first installment of a multi-album endeavor by Alyag to explore the nether-reaches of his inner self and harness the elusive creative nectar flowing within his whimsical being (being expressed here in third person, no less!). Borne of its heavy, melodic Scandinavian metal roots, and permeated in themes of introspective self-reflection and the vanquishing of personal demons, Aurorae was composed, performed, and produced in its entirety by Alyag in the many months between 2011 and 2013 -- with some compositions dating as far back as 2006.
Although there are no currently existing plans to resurrect Celestis as a full-fledged band outfit, Alexandre continues to work on new material, with an extensive catalogue of heavy, melodic, intricately layered, and stylistically eclectic material slated for near-future release. With the project acting as a perpetual vehicle for the synesthetic transformation of his innermost self-analyses into creative aural musings, each subsequent release is intended to represent a sort of sonic slide-show of encapsulated cathartic bursts of emotional output, thusly signifying a specific chapter in Alyag's personal quest for self-awareness and mind-expansion. In other words -- a tremendously hefty pile of heavy metal hippie talk. With, um, seven-strings. And growlies. And the gods know what else.
