SHE REACHES OUT TO SHE REACHES OUT TO SHE

Brimming with electronic sounds and engulfed within a particularly ominous ambience, with a sound that is inherently contemporary, the latest offering from Chelsea Wolfe, an interesting female artists whose music is often described as a mixture of gothic rock with element of folk music and doom metal (a description I find somewhat vapid), is the album 'She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She', quite a tight and self-contained release that is a slight stylistic departure for the artist who is usually more prone to heavier sounds that incorporate elements of industrial and folk rock. And this album does that, of course, but with a very heavy reliance on electronica and effects, seemingly almost entirely focused on the building up of a particular mood, with the occasional use of distorted guitar patterns and subtle percussive parts.

This album is quite "fluid" in many ways, precisely because of the aforementioned aspects. I do hear a very strong influence from industrial artists as well as some resemblance to the music of Massive Attack and Radiohead, and while the album impresses with the brittleness and almost ghost-like qualities of the vocals, the music generally seems to be less intricated than a Massive Attack and less zealous than a Nine Inch Nails. The use of electronics does take away some of the gothic appeal of the usual Chelsea Wolfe sound, which is not necessarily a bad thing - it just allows the album's overall effect to wash away rather quickly. I believe significant songs that depict the ambition and homogeneity of the record are 'House of Self-Undoing', 'Everything Turns Blue', 'The Liminal' and 'Unseen World', which are all tracks that are unfolding gradually and have a more appealing, dynamic and unhinged nature. Among the album's strengths one shall find the contrast between the haunting and sometimes aggressive soundscapes, and the vocal tone, which always remains quite somber, ethereal and occasionally really sensual. Good stuff!