Bangor based, North Walian metal duo C E L A V I are seizing the day and hammering out the best nu metal tunes since the arrival of Bullet For My Valentine. The husband and wife dream team, Gwion and Sarah Wynn Griffiths, are going from one sold out gig to another, scoring mentions in the Metal Hammer and national airplay along the way. With their latest single receiving truly rave reviews from each direction, the old Welsh music guard (Catatonia, Manic Street Preachers and Stereophonic) needs to finally step aside. There is a new, absolutely phenomenal band in town that knows how to fire up Welsh hearts and spirits with their music. The loudest thing to ever come from Wales according to the BBC, will win you over with their industrial/goth infused metal anthems. “Sori?” fuses heritage with modern entertainment, radio friendliness and originality. What are you waiting for? Get on the bandwagon!
“SORI?” single cover by Dylan Maggs
Official bio: “SORI?” marks the first of two commissioned tracks by C E L A V I, created as part of an innovative project to write nu-metal songs in the Welsh language and uniquely incorporating the restored Conacher pipe organ at Canolfan a Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil. Last November, C E L A V I brought “SORI?” to life in a powerful live performance at the Metal Soar event, featuring the remarkable talents of musician George Herbert on the pipe organ. Sarah says “As a band, we stand for self-worth, authenticity, and unapologetically being yourself – no matter what life throws at you. “SORI?” embodies that spirit: it’s raw, angst driven yet deeply empowering”.
I know every band out there is blowing up their own trumpet, trying to be noticed in the extremely competitive music business. Everything’s fair in love, war and on social media as they say. Musicians are doing all they can to stay relevant or to prove that they are better, more successful than everybody else. C E L A V I are in this unique position where they do not have to boast about anything, or fake nothing in order to make it. The band has some serious achievements under their belts gained through hard work, persistence and a bit of luck. It includes numerous plays from BBC Radio 1 (Future Alternative, BBC Introducing Rock), BBC Introducing Wales and BBC Cymru. They are the only metal band to reach number one on the official BBC Cymru Alternative Charts and then they spent several weeks in the top 20. Their songs were named Song of the Week at least three times by BBC Cymru and they have been added to their official playlists. C E L A V I’s music was featured in movies and tv shows on the BBC and S4C. Their festival appearances include The Great Escape, Rebellion and Download where they appeared after being shortlisted by Kerrang! Magazine. Add 15k monthly listeners on Spotify and working with Grammy nominated record producer Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon, Nova Twins, Holding Absence) and you have a very impressive CV for a band that has been on the market for just a couple of years.
We at Vanadian Avenue have been following their career closely for the last 4 years. We are incredibly proud seeing the duo finally breaking through and reaching new heights. You can check our archives to read our previous coverage for them. So what makes the latest single so powerful and appealing that even Metal Hammer described it as a “song to remember”? Let us sink our teeth and we will explain in a moment why “SORI?” is our song of the month!
Band picture by Dylan Maggs
“SORI?” (Welsh for “Sorry”) stands at 3 minutes and 21 seconds. This is the first of two songs that the band composed especially for the Metal Soar concert that took place last year at the Theatr Soar Art Centre in Merthyr Tydfil. The event celebrated the restoration of the unique 1890’s Conacher pipe organ located in the building. C E L A V I performed alongside the local quartet Echdoriad and George Herbert, a Westminster Abbey organist and assistant director of music at the Hampton Court. The main score was written by Welsh composer David John Roche who specializes in creating classical orchestral music inspired by metal, rock, goth and industrial genres. Roche worked with National Orchestra of Wales, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, La Filharmonie, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra and Brazilian National Orchestra among others and composed two incredibly popular symphonies: “Everything You Ever Wanted (And More) from 2024 and newly released, “Love is Everything”.
“SORI?” is groundbreaking for several reasons. First of all, it features the previously mentioned antique pipe organs, you can hear their beautiful tones at the beginning of the song and during the choruses. Hand on heart, it must be the first metal track I have heard in my life combining pipe organs with electric guitars. I know many symphonic metal bands routinely perform with full orchestras on stage (Therion, Nightwish) but pipe organs are absolute novelty. Second – the song is sung fully in Welsh. Seriously, there is not a single word in English in it! “SORI?” is also bloody hard to classify for review. I should really call it a fusion metal: it’s partially symphonic, partially gothic and partially nu metal/metal core. Heavy, mid tempo, particularly gloomy in verses, slowly unravelling – some sort of a weird, morbid march. I mentioned it is also very radio friendly and melodic – Sarah’s ethereal vocals add some angelic sweetness to the lurking shadows and monotone droning rhythm.
The track deals with themes of self pride, accepting yourself despite everyone and everything and feeling unapologetic for living the way you want to live. Being different is never easy, but staying true to your authentic self is crucial. The lyrics put strong emphasis on knowing one’s own value and following their own path. I had to use a translator to understand the words, but my dear friend who speaks Welsh assured me that the lyrics are quite poetic – thanks Rebecca!
“Sori?” is an absolute hit in our humble (but well informed) opinion. The best thing that the band released so far, no doubts about it.
C E L A V I are on tour this month so grab a ticket if you see them playing in your neck of woods. You will not be disappointed. The Welsh duo are incredibly good live! 2026 will be a huge step up for the band as they are being booked on large stages. They will play at Chepstow Castle alongside Lake Malice, As December Fall and Tigress. You can buy tickets at: https://events.liveit.io/cross-border-music-group/as-december-falls-guests/?token=H-iC73gXmmJ34AjIDpVzyP5aEt8
With other gigs surely to be announced shortly, C E L A V I are on stratospheric rise. And this is where they belong – on the rock and roll (or rather metal) top of the world.
CELAVI online:
https://www.wearecelavi.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WEARECELAVI/
https://www.instagram.com/wearecelavi/
https://twitter.com/wearecelavi
https://soundcloud.com/wearecelavi
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4OEzNJIkgsH8PTw0y86ATx?si=bo7MdX3-Q1O_nfbhpgAziw&nd=1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVqtR652vnb9pwo89ek2Y2g
https://www.tiktok.com/@wearecelavi
https://www.threads.net/@wearecelavi
“Sori?” is out now on all streaming platforms.
Rita Dabrowicz
Indieterria 