CELAVI – DOLOREM album review

Dolorem album cover

If Vanadian Avenue covers certain artists on a regular basis, it is because we believe them to be a particular force on the circuit, bringing a new and fresh approach to what is happening on the scene. And North Wales based duo CELAVI not only push boundaries of what it means to be successful independent and self-published artists but easily created a whole new genre for themselves. How does Celtic Nu Goth Metal sound to you? Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Wait till you hear what other accomplishments the band has.

Gwion Griffiths and Sarah Wynnedo not have the word “impossible” in their dictionary. They set themselves goals and stick to them with precision and determination. They also have almost instinctual aptitude for business. Like legendary guitarist Steve Vai, CELAVI understood early on that being signed to a label comes with a lot of risks and is not always profitable for artists. So, they have created their own label MERAKI, which over the years grew to include audio production and radio programming. To be the best you must work with the best and CELAVI found their ideal producer in Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me the Horizon, Motorhead, Nova Twins). They seem to be the only unsigned Welsh act to gain over a million streams on their debut EP (“NOVUS”). The duo were supported with grants from Gorwelion/Horizons project and Help Musicians, received airplay from major radio stations: BBC Wales, 6 Music and BBC Radio 1. Their single “DYMA FI” (This Is Me) was a song of the week on BBC Cymru being published on Welsh Language Day.  Just recently, CELAVI landed on the cover of editorial playlists (they do not use pluggers, they promote themselves) such as Amazon UK Breakthrough Rock and played a small tour across Wales and England (including supporting Elkapath).

CELAVI`s debut album “DOLOREM” came out on 28^th June 2023 and day later the band played an instore gig at HMV in Cardiff. Judging from pictures you could not find a standing spot so we can safely say it was well attended.

CELAVI success did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of hard work, self-financing and putting out music they wanted the world to hear. And “DOLOREM” is a great summary of the last five years. It equally consists of old and new material; their biggest and most known tracks are published alongside new ones and the whole record feels complete and carefully planned. You don’t need to know a thing about the band to be fully immersed in their catalogue. Fan favourites “Me Delecta”, “Dyma Fi” and “Nightmare” are complimented by earlier compositions “Tempest” and “Stain” (released in 2020), while “Solum”, “Dirge” and “Neb Arall” represent new musical direction.

It is not the first time when CELAVI used their release to close off a chapter in their career. Their EP “NOVUS” from 2019 brought together all the very early demos and compositions (such as “Pan!c”, “Bite” and “Hurt”) and other rarities (such as their version of “Du hast”) into one comprehensive collection. It represented a more gothic, sentimental side of CELAVI.  There were obvious fascinations with the classics: Theatre of Tragedy, Paradise Lost or This Mortal Coil.

In opposition to “Novus”, “DOLOREM” can be described as powerful, colourful and complex. This is a record that can only be made by a band that matured and found their own voice. CELAVI are not shying away from singing in their own language (Welsh), they experiment and boldly criss-cross genres. You want nu metal – you got it (“Nightmare”), you prefer electronic overtones, listen to “Stain”, need some symphonic metal in your life, then “Solum” is your jam.

I mentioned at the very beginning about this Celtic Nu Goth Metal niche and once you are finished listening to the record, you will be trying to find your own description of CELAVI`s sound. Not to squeeze the duo into some tight box but because there`s so much going on sonically on “DOLOREM” that it is fun to find a description that fits.

I admire CELAVI for their appetite for exploring, for their boldness to compose in a language that is spoken by a relatively small amount of the world`s population, for not being afraid to be misunderstood or overlooked as a curiosity. Population of Wales is barely 3 million and only about a million of Welsh speakers live out in the world. By land mass alone, it is smaller than tiny Slovenia. And yet, the Land of Song is home to incredibly creative minds that take the odds and turn them into advantage, who feel citizens or the world, rather than being confined to Bangor.