Chelsea Wolfe greets us with a wash of fuzz on the start of "Vex" (and bids adieu with some growling but we'll get to that later), her second single from upcoming album Hiss Spun, out on September 22 via Sargent House. The song was recorded/produced by Converge's Kurt Ballou and features QOTSA's Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar. Both singles suggest that this will be her most metal album yet, but they're still drenched expertly in her singular silky haze of reverb.
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"Vex"'s driving, free-form evolution makes it fly by as if it's only a minute long. Wolfe's bewitching vocals drift seductively (somebody please tell me what that smooth-as-butter reverb is) over anarchic guitars and pelting drums, all awash in some kind of charcoal-sparkled fairy dust, and soon enough you're not sure where you are anymore. The weight and power of this sonic potion match both the dire inner monologue and the strength that she sings from. Towards the end, Aaron Turner's (Isis, Old Man Gloom) subterranean growls compliment Wolfe's towering vocals and bring the song even further into the depths that it has so splendidly conjured.
Oh and on top of all that, the wickedness (in the truest sense of the word) of the entire range of imagery for this album is to die for.
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