Converge and Chelsea Wolfe – Bloodmoon: I
On Converge's tenth studio album, the band enlist goth-rock artist Chelsea Wolfe to create a record unlike anything they've produced before
The concept of the "collaborative album" has thrown up mixed results in the past, but sometimes a combination comes along that makes so much sense, you wonder how it hasn't been done before. Converge passed their 30th anniversary last year, during the pandemic, and just last month marked the 20th anniversary of their game-changing, incendiary, landmark album Jane Doe.
On the Salem, Massachusetts quartet's tenth full-length, the band enlisted goth-rock artist Chelsea Wolfe and her writing partner/bandmate Ben Chisholm along with Stephen Brodsky (Cave In) to create a seven-piece supergroup. The results are unlike anything the band has produced before, operating at Wolfe's gloomy, more considered blues-rock tempo, such as on Scorpion's Sting, while Brodsky's input is very much felt on Failure Forever.
On the album's opener and title track, we're introduced to this haunting world created by vocalist Jacob Bannon, with a devastating climactic riff that is sure to knock for six when performed live. Bar a brief blast of Converge's signature chaos on Viscera of Men, Bloodmoon: I has otherwise pushed the band out of their comfort zone with only Wolfe and Brodsky's voices to guide them through the dark.
Listen to: Blood Moon, Scorpion's Sting, Failure Forever