Chelsea Wolfe has been a ubiquitous character in metal circles for a while now. She’s collaborated with artists like Converge, Deafheaven, Emma Ruth Rundle, and so many more. Her 2017 record Hiss Spun featured performances from Troy Van Leeuwen of QOTS and the one and only Aaron Turner of Isis, Old Man Gloom, and Sumac.

And if this is your point of reference to her catalog—as it was mine—her newest record, She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out could come as quite a shock. While Wolfe’s delivery and songwriting are mostly familiar, the sonic palette is almost entirely electronic, replacing thick guitar riffs with bristling synths and aggressive drum machines a la Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails.

Of course, this isn’t exactly new territory for Chelsea Wolfe. Before the doom metal of Hiss Spun (where I started), she had played folk, gothic, post-punk, dark wave, and more. As such, she sounds entirely at ease among the industrial soundscapes on this disc. Her otherworldly wail weaves between the mechanical churning of synth arpeggios and metallic drum machines like a gothic angel. But the palette here isn’t monochrome. Besides the obvious comparisons to Depeche Mode and NIN, there are moments that recall Bjork, Massive Attack, and Third era Portishead.

But as easy as it is to go through and spot the sonic references, the record sort of defies easy categorization. Its influences are so fully integrated that finding the dividing lines are a fool’s errand. Instead, the elements sparkle like various gemstones crushed into a cement mix and used make bricks for the gorgeous cathedral constructed by Wolfe and her collaborators (including the ever-present Ben Chisholm at her right hand).

And at the choir loft of this cathedral, Wolfe offers up a collection of songs inspired by watching a friend leave a thirty-year toxic relationship and her own sobriety. The subject matter offers some silver linings around her usual gothic gloom. While this is still a dark record, the tints of its mood are just as multifaceted and complex as the sounds. That complexity makes She Reaches Out… great for repeat listens, revealing new shades each time. It might actually end up getting more time on my turntable than Hiss Spun when all is said and done.