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.
When Punk exploded in 1977, the dam burst so hard it left a crater. It didn’t take very long for the maelstrom of no-frills sonic intensity to suck up other elements. Post-punk emerged almost immediately, deconstructing punk into unrecognizable shapes. Post-punk in turn splintered into its own series of subgenres—most notably, new wave and gothic rock.
If it accomplished nothing else, God, Get Me the F*** Out of Here proved that shoegaze and hip hop aren’t entirely without overlap. Cold Gawd plugged their reverb pedals into their fuzz boxes and played with the spirit of hip hop. Only two years later, the SoCal outfit is back with a record that turns that concept up to eleven.
“We are re-applying for the job of the best band in the world.”