Chelsea Wolfe: More Than Queen Of The Goths by Kevin M. Hibshman

The darkly enigmatic singer/songwriter Chelsea Wolfe has been gaining more and more interest from music fans across the globe. She is a captivating presence whether on stage or appearing in any of her innovative videos. She has released six albums, beginning with The Grime and The Glow, in 2010. It serves as a fine introduction to the ever-evolving artist's musical capabilities and fierce imagination.

The material ranges from tuneful neo-folk:“Cousins Of The Antichrist” to distorted, electronically enhanced dirges: “Moses” to songs that defy easy description because they genre-hop within themselves. Wolfe creates her own musical language much the same way Kate Bush and Robert Smith (The Cure) do. Her voice can be subdued, almost like a hushed whisper one moment and soar into piercing soprano wails the next. She employs reverb and odd guitar tunings frequently to great effect, enhancing the haunted atmosphere of the songs.

        Wolfe's 2013 release, Pain is Beauty is her most pop-friendly album thus far, although her lyrics retain the usual subject matter: heartache, survival, and

torment. Synthesizers and sequenced beats augment her already wide stylistic approach. I find, to date, her most engaging album to be 2017's Hiss Spun. It was recorded, appropriately, in Salem, Massachusetts and features guest appearances from members of Queens Of The Stone Age, Isis, and Converge. These players helped Wolfe to actualize her first foray into dark metal/noise rock. The lyrics were inspired by health problems she has suffered including sleep paralysis and  chronic insomnia. She also delves into her family's often troubled past and romantic relationships that ended bitterly. Wolfe has often talked about how her numbing stage fright kept her from wanting to perform for years. She performed early gigs with a black scarf covering her face. 

      

Wolfe's latest offering 2019's Birth Of Violence, is a return to her folk roots and features mostly acoustic instrumentation. There are videos for a few tracks, including “Deranged For Rock and Roll” and “The Mother Road” both of which are steeped in pagan imagery. She has cited Aliyah, Nick Cave, Suicide, Hank Williams, Fleetwood Mac and Townes Van Zandt as musical influences and Sylvia Plath, Marcel Proust and Louis Ferdinand-Celine as her literary heroes. From blistering sonic dissonance to haunting acoustic folk ballads, Chelsea Wolfe is more than just Queen Of The Goths, she is a singular artist sharing a unique vision with whoever wishes to enter her lair. I urge you to do so.

Birth of Violence is on Bandcamp.