Written by Mark McConville
Album cover of The Dark by Chelsea Wolfe
Emotion riffles through this masterwork by Chelsea Wolfe and it sticks in the mind after the final swan song has been played, which in truth, shows the effect the music has on the listener. Through time, the songs all collect urgent dreams, and the surge of pain is real for this musician and her fanbase.
The lyrics on The Dark are fundamental too, providing sequences of a poetic nature, pushing the written word to its limits. While they do, the vocals are serenely put, often dreamy and soothing, even in the darkness. And from the start, it’s easy to fall into the trance, that pull of straight-up emotive songwriting.
There is nothing fake or pretentious about this LP nor is there an urge to lose it all in the fire. And Wolfe breaks her silence at the beginning, and it doesn’t end until the final statement, the crescendo. She’s also a starlet in the grey, and her mission is to tell tales of sorrow.
‘Cold’ is the first track and it’s an angelic one, well in terms of Wolfe’s vocals. The rest of the song magically interweaves well developed riffs and melodies. Wolfe tracks her past and lets us know there is a lover in the back, trying to breakout.
‘Halo’ goes the same way putting in perspective Wolfe’s pain. She embarks on designing a better life, programming a solution which may take her to sweetness within the sour. The instrumentals here are divine, almost dropping off and then becoming even more apparent.
‘The Dark’ begins as a service to melancholy. Wolfe sings about darkness and the lack of light, adapting to the swollen world. She puts together a strong line of words, too, which quickly becomes her prize. These acoustic lines turn into an electrifying dream.
Chelsea Wolfe expertly provides tracks which have the urgency to take on the world. And The Dark is an album, perfect in its execution whilst being born from hurt.
9/10