Celesty's original line up in 1998 included bassist Ari Katajamäki and drummer Jere Luokkamäki. In 1999 Tapani Kangas joined the band as a guitar player, and almost immediately taking place as the main composer of music and story along with Jere Luokkamäki. 1999 Celesty also recorded their first demo during the summer. This demo wasn't released commercially or sent out.
In the Spring of 2000 J-P Alanen joined the band bringing vocalist Kimmo Perämäki with him. During the autumn, Celesty recorded their first demo, Warrior of Ice which was released in spring 2001. Soon after the release, Juha Mäenpää joined Celesty to play keyboards. In March 2002 Celesty recorded and released their second demo Times Before the Ice at Fantom Studios. Celesty signed a deal with Spanish record labelArise Records to record their debut album Reign of Elements in autumn 2002, which was released worldwide in December 2002.
2003-2004: Departure of First Vocalist and Second Album
In summer 2003, Tapani and Jere started composing songs and writing the storyline for their second album. In autumn 2003, Celesty took a break from live performances to record Legacy of Hate. The band describes this album as 'very aggressive and much darker' than their previous material. During this time Vocalist Kimmo left the band, and was replaced by Antti Railio, a vocalist from Vaasa. In May 2004, Arise Records released Legacy of Hate.
In August 2005, the band signed a worldwide record deal with German label Dockyard 1. Celesty started composing songs for their third album. At the same time guitarist and third composer, along with Jere and Tapani, Teemu Koskela joined Celesty. The band avoided live performances to concentrate on their new album Mortal Mind Creation. It was recorded at Midas Studios in Vaasa, Finland during the summer of 2006 and was released worldwide on 23 October.
2007–2012
Celesty released their fourth album, Vendetta, on 11 March 2009. They then went on to play Bloodstock Open Air, UK in August 2009, the band's first gig outside of Finland. In late 2009 it was announced that vocalist Antti Railio had quit his position. Their new vocalist has been announced as Tony Turunen, brother of ex-Nightwish Tarja Turunen. Rhythm guitarist Tapani Kangas departed from Celesty in August 2010. Celesty began an indefinite hiatus in January 2012. The official website states that "During the time, when 5th album songs have been in progress, there has been mixed feelings in the air for a longer period of time now. Situation in the band has come to the point, where only solution is to take a break. Will that break be a year or ten, we don´t know, but this is the only way to take the time that we need." In 2016 the band announced a reunion for at least one show with the original lineup. From Reign of elements Era
