Band: CONVERGE feat. CHELSEA WOLFE and also
contributions from Cave In man Stephen Brodsky Who: Longtime metalcore noiseniks from Boston
featuring the Goth heroine Active: Since 1990 / 10 studio LPs
Kerrang! said: “Converge have long been rightfully revered as hardcore trailblazers, expanding the scene’s vocabulary through a questing spirit and willingness to experiment. Even within this ever-evolving context, however, Bloodmoon: I is so different to the rest of the Salem slammers’ oeuvre that it feels like a glimpse of an alternative timeline… You’ve never previously been able to describe a Converge record as mystical, but such is the arcane allure that defines this unique album, especially on Coil and the title track. Chelsea’s distinctively haunting contributions are inevitably a major factor here, but Stephen also makes his melodic presence felt throughout, with Jacob Bannon’s harsher throat completing a vocal triptych that never fails to thrill, their very different but complementary styles weaving together as if they were always supposed to co-exist.” Full review here. Score: 5/5.
Turn Up The Volume: Don’t expect that his album turned into something totally
surprising because Wolfe and Brodsky were invited by Converge to their sacred
studio.
But the colluding collaboration generates even more darkness to Boston‘s noise
freaks’ trademark pitch-black darkness with Chelsea‘s spellbinding vox adding an
obscure sensuality. The ghostly gathering is a grueling marathon of almost one
hour. It’s a celebration of all things gloomy and doomy with prog-rock textures.
A quiet-loud-quiet-very-loud rollercoaster of clashing, slashing and trashing
with a satanic sound as towering as the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.
At the start of this year, the South London gunslingers
released their second top album called Drink Tank Pink.
On this brand new single it’s guitars all over the place again.
Not their best effort, but a hefty hammer nonetheless.
“The whole song came together on the day we recorded it at the studio.
It’s also the first live recording we’ve ever done, we didn’t want it to sound
overworked. It’s a pure banger, listen with a piña colada in your left hand.”
The two-man drill machine out of Kalamazoo, MI nails it again.
This rumbling rollercoaster bulldozes its way in slow motion,
forth and back, while producing an ominous vocal brouhaha
that causes a creepy nightmare experience. Whatever the song’s
protagonist’s ilk is, it doesn’t sound like you want to be friends
This striking stroke is part of the soundtrack for Mark, Mary & Some Other People, a new indie rom-com
about a young married couple trying out an open relationship.
Billie Joe Armstrong and his buddies do what they did throughout
their whole career, rockin’ and rollin’ without thinking too much.
Hardcore noiseniks Angel Du$t mellowed their sound a bit lately,
but still kick-ass, like here with the title track of upcoming album A Collection Of Truck Songs, out 29th October.
Tripp(songwriter): “This is one of my favorite recordings of a song that
I’ve written. Plus, all my best homies got all up in this track’s ass and sent
it home. Was listening to Tom Petty a grip. If you don’t know who that is
check him out, I guess.”
With the snarl of the punk scene and the swagger of the mods, The Chelsea Curve often earn comparisons to The Pretenders and Husker Du (personal favorites of the trio). On their new single, the
band shows a deeper emotional side, setting a lovely mood of
autumnal longing.
Expect a twinkling tune that gets under your skin without asking.
Repeat buttons were invented for catchy corkers like these.
The New York-based rockers’ new single is about broken-heartedness,
mournfulness and sadness following the passing of one of the most
beloved and closest person we all have, our mother.
Travis Johnson (the band’s songwriter) about the song: “My mom passed
away in February. I still can’t process it honestly… I was going through old stuff
and found it and started singing the verse melody. Then we all added our parts
and subtracted others, etc. It’s not a very ‘live’ song but we all came together
on it still.”
Text The Dead is a disturbing, confusing, strangely
infectious, and fascinating grief processing song…
The wonderful singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett from down under,
unleashes her new longplayer Things Take Time, Take Time
Barnett: “It’s a song about darkness but also about friendship. I found
a deeper communication with people in my life — deeper conversations.
And a new level of gratitude for friendships that had been there for so
long that I had maybe taken for granted.”
Besides having a great band name these siblings from Toronto score big time with their new steaming single. A song “about what hides behind the smiles for social media. It can be described as a cry for help, disguised as an upbeat dance floor banger.”
Pithy, swirling, and as sticky as first-class glue. Add glamorous vocals and a glittering, full-on wall-of-electrical sound and the final result is an instant hit.
The imperishable Stones have shared a previously unreleased cover of ‘Troubles A’ Comin’, a golden oldie hit of American soul legendsThe Chi-Lites. The song will feature on the upcoming 40th-anniversary reissue of their Tattoo You LP.
Goth heroinCHELSEA WOLFE shared the short documentary about her 2019
tour following the release of her sixth, critically praised LP BIRTH OF VIOLENCE.
Wolfe: “It’s not my natural inclination to want cameras around when I’m in my head or doing vocal warmups before a show, or when I’m with friends or family backstage, but Bobby asked, and in the spirit of pushing myself to document that era of my musical life, I welcomed him along. Then, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I had to fly home from the European acoustic tour before I got to play a single show of it, I was so grateful that he had this footage and was putting it together. I wanted to share this documentary for that reason as well, for those who had tickets to cancelled shows (I love you!), and as a sort of wave goodbye to the time I spent focused on Birth Of Violence, as I’m now making plans for and in the headspace of the next new album.”
Although she wasn’t at the historic three-day Woodstock festival
in 1969, singer-songwriter legend JONI MITCHELL wrote a song
about it. It appeared as B-side to her single Big Yellow Taxi. Several
artists, including her friends Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young covered it.
“While preparing for the ‘Birth Of Violence’ tour, I was watching a lot of Joni Mitchell videos.
One night after working on the live set I was just letting the Joni videos roll. “Woodstock” came on and I started singing along. After that I simply asked Ben if he’d be into covering it with me for the tour. The cover came together quite naturally and it was a treat to play on stage every night. Joni is obviously such a big inspiration to this side of my music, so it felt right to pay tribute to her.”
A doom and gloom jam that will feature on an all-star soundtrack album for
a comic-book series called Dark Nights: Death Metal. The compilation includes
comics-inspired songs by artists like Soccer Mommy, IDLES,, Show Me The Body,
and the Mastodon. The LP will hit the streets on 18th June.
When iconic Goth diva Chelsea Wolfe and arresting singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle(Red Sparowes / Marriages) join forces you’ll expect a moonstruck wall-of-dark-sound but none of that here.
Their first collaborative duet, a track called ANHEDONIA is a gripping goosebumps ballad. A soul-stirring exploit with two startling heart and soul voices – although at times it feels like PJ Harvey and Angel Olsen are somewhere in there too – exploring dark dimensions.
Put your headphones on, dim the lights, close your eyes and dream away…
Bloodcurdling shrieks / Firework in Goth-hell / Schizophrenic nightmares / Underground hysteria / Doom & gloom eruptions / Sisters of darkness in crime / Bone-chilling frenzy and industrial drones / Defintely a top ten album on Turn Up The Volume‘s 2020 list
The line-up of the participating artists features among
others: TV Set, Metz, Qui, Zeis! feat Mike Patton, and Daugthers.
The one that did and still does my head in is the darktastic performance by doom and gloom priestess CHELSEA WOLFE turning SHEENA’S IN A GOTH GANG into a back-breaking industrial juggernaut. Really excorsistic music for really excorsistic.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 