Artist: Chelsea Wolfe
Album: Hiss Spun
Year: 2017
Genre: Alternative / Doom / Gothic
I fiercely dove into the world of Chelsea Wolfe around three
years ago and have not come back up for air since. Her wonderful album Pain Is Beauty instantly drew me into her doom-laden, dispirited
shoegaze, quasi-goth-industrial web.
From that moment began the conquering of her previous catalogue and the
anticipated wait for new material. Since
that time, two of her best records have been unleashed upon the world in 2015’s
Abyss and the relatively new Hiss Spun. Although her other works hinted at her
potential, the last two records see Ms. Wolfe truly forging an individualistic
approach that leads listeners down a twisted, bleak tunnel of experimentally
pensive instrumentation and beautifully solemn vocals.
With each album, Chelsea Wolfe’s songwriting becomes more
chaotic, extreme and abstruse, but she never loses sight of her mission. She and her band flow between jarring, Melvins-heavy
dirges into minimalistic, captivating elegies.
The whole album is laced with emotional power and frailty. If you listen closely, the complex nature
of the composition shines through, and with metal/hardcore master Kurt Baulou
on the production end of things, the tones are abrasive and imposing. This is not a typical singer-songwriter album
and has dynamics for days as there isn't a moment on this record that doesn't feel absolutely intentional and gone over with a microscope. Although the album is a roller coaster of ambiance and emotion, it is all quite calculated with intent to bring the listener joy or suffering. I’ve read
elsewhere in many publications calling this a metal record, and I could not
disagree more. This record does get heavy,
much more that her previous recordings, but there is just a different feel in
the same way bands like Tool, Nine Inch Nails or Deftones use a heavier, more aggressive
sound. I haven't stopped listening to Hiss Spun since it hit my turntable. It is easily up there for top album of
the year for me. Siouxsie Sioux, Diamanda Galas, Gitane DeMone and Eva O need
to move over and make some room for Chelsea Wolfe.
Listen to "16 Psyche" here.
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