Chelsea Wolfe
Abyss
Sargent House
Although she always describes herself as a folk artist, Chelsea Wolfe has always had much more in common with Black Sabbath than she has Simon & Garfunkel. Wolfe’s music has always pushed the limit on just how gothic folk can be as exemplified with her last record “Pain is Beauty” where Wolfe implemented texture and vocal effects. These techniques which are uncommon to folk music created dark environments and new territory for the genre. Now on her fifth full length; “Abyss”, Chelsea Wolfe has used a wider range of instrumentation and the conscious decision to shed the vocal effects. The new recording techniques bravely challenge and reinvent the Californian singer-songwriter, creating a familiar yet fresh take on what we have come to expect from her.
The idea of an abyss and folk music functioning properly together is hard to imagine. As dark as Wolfe’s folk music has taken us before, Wolfe was looking to achieve, “the feeling of when you’re dreaming, and you briefly wake up, but then fall back asleep into the same dream, diving quickly into your own subconscious.” To achieve this Wolfe utilizes her familiar dark drone soundscapes with huge sludgy guitar riffs, distortion, some excellent drumming from Dylan Fujioka, and viola pieces from Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles. Some of these tracks would not seem out of place on an industrial record like “The Downward Spiral”. Over these harrowing instrumentals Chelsea Wolfe has never sounded more pure or clear because these tracks use minimal or no vocal effects at all. Wolfe’s voice has nothing to hide behind on these tracks and as a result it has never sounded more magnificent. Wolfe pushes herself with different vocal inflections and really shows off her range on tracks such as “Dragged Out”.
On this album Chelsea Wolfe explores many themes such as dreams, sleeping, frailty, and anxiety in both powerful and moaning tones that match the instrumentals perfectly. This album features Wolfe’s best songwriting with harrowing lines such as, “You said you won’t break my heart, unless you do, you said you won’t fall apart, until the end” on Survive. She does a truly excellent job outlining and explaining her malaise which is rooted in debilitating sleep paralysis. The lyrical themes of the album seem like something Wolfe has been inching toward with each release, but the profound honesty and maturity of this collection of tracks show a songwriter comfortable with being honest to the point of vulnerability.
The two monoliths that this album stands on are “Iron Moon” and “After the Fall” which Wolfe released as early singles for the album. The tracks feature ethereal soundscapes, reverb and distortion soaked guitar, and a metallic industrial tone that shifts and crescendos as the songs progress creating tension and drama. At their climaxes, the songs are transitioning from ballad to post-rock mastery. The only track resembling her folk roots is “Crazy Love” which serves as a nice resting point about three fourths of the way through the album before it drags you back into the harrowing depths of Wolfe’s psyche.
In a way this album feels like a risk that paid off for Chelsea Wolfe. She just about completely abandons her folk roots and is largely exploring new territory. The wall of sound and texture is still there at times, but she does not allow herself to be masked behind the sonic explosions, rather she puts her unaffected voice at its forefront. This is also the heaviest we have heard Chelsea Wolfe’s music be yet the tracks still feel about the Wolfe’s feelings, experiences, and the songwriting. On “Abyss” the album’s title seems to juxtapose the music in that everything seems expertly crafted and meticulously calculated to create this dark reflection of her mind. Yet the music is so easy to feel completely consumed by that when you come out the other side you’re not quite sure if you really have escaped.
8/10
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Tom Kliebhan
8/4/2015
Stream "Abyss" here: http://www.npr.org/2015/07/29/425892446/first-listen-chelsea-wolfe-abyss
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