Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe is an American singer-songwriter from Sacramento, California. Born November 14th, 1983, she started her career in 2006 and has just released her fifth album Abyss on August 7th, 2015.

Her unique style is a beautiful combination of folk, rock and electronic music bath in a gothic/doom atmosphere. Besides singing, Chelsea Wolfe also plays guitar and piano.

In 2006, after composing an album titled Mistake In Parting, she decided not to release it and took a break from writing music for several years. She started performing live in 2009. A year later, she published her first album: The Grime and the Glow.

Her second album, Apokalypsis (stylized as Ἀποκάλυψις), came out in 2011 and it gained her an underground following. She started touring extensively in North America and Europe, even though she initially suffered from extreme stage fright. In those days, she would cover her face with a veil.

These first two albums sound close to indie/alternative rock and feature prominent bass lines, dark tones, and gritty, electronically layered vocals. My favorite track, which happens to be in both albums –albeit in two different versions,– is "Demons."

In 2012, she released her third album Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs. This one features a more folk-oriented sound, as opposed to her earlier work. Her voice sounds cleaner as well. It contains the song that is probably my favorite by her: "Flatlands."

A year later, she published Pain is Beauty, which features more use of drone and electronics, as well as a much more intense production opposed to the early lo-fi one of the first albums. This album contains the song "Feral Love," which was included on the fourth season of Game of Thrones.
The album also served as the soundtrack of her film Lone, which was released in 2014. My favorite track here is "House of Metal."

She has collaborated with dark folk artist King Dude, with whom she has released two EPs. And she has also paid homage to British anarcho-punk/deathrock band Rudimentary Peni by releasing a tribute EP of five songs.

In her newest work Abyss, Chelsea Wolfe continues the trend started on her previous album, but taking it to new heights, embracing the drone and evoking the dense atmosphere of doom metal. At the same time, she seems to bring back some of the folk elements from previous recording, resulting on her finest album to date in my opinion. My favorite track, so far, is "Dragged Out." I also love her newest video for the song "Carrion Flowers."

I had the chance to see live this wonderful artist for the first time in Chicago on September 21st, 2013. I had discovered her that same summer and her style totally appealed to me. I cannot wait to see her again!
Although I prefer listening to songs with a more positive message, I like listening to melancholic music like hers from time to time. One has to feel comfortable with the shadows in order to appreciate well the light, right? And, to me, she is currently one of the best when talking about the dark side of the human being.


You can listen to her music on her BandCamp.