The heavy rock end of the post-Black Metal spectrum continues to grow as a genre, encompassing melodicism and atmospheres lifted from Shoegaze and Spacerock punctuated by blistering eruptions of Metal drumming, riffs and noise. A sound reflected in the fuzzed-out blast of Nothing and their fusion of metal drumming and Spacerock blur as heard on the "Guilty of Everything" album of last year. On the fringe of the genre, taking the sound down more melancholy paths, there's the crushing Shoegaze blues of True Widow. What may be the epitome of this sound and where it's currently headed can be heard in the dynamic solar magma of guitar riffs and rhythm-play of Deafheaven. There is no better encapsulation of this scene than Brad Sanders' piece for The Quietus, "Untrue And International: Living in a Post-Black Metal World". The article acting as an excellent opening into the dark passageways of this genre's multitude of representations. With labels like Hydrahead, Ipecac, Deathwish, Sargent House, Profound Lore and Relapse playing host as purveyors of all things heavy. Touring with True Widow, with a date at Barboza next month, the music of Chelsea Wolfe embraces all of the facets of this growing scene while further plumbing of the depths of contemporary Neo-folk, Gothic Rock and electronic gestures. Her most recent album for Sargent House, “Pain is Beauty”, dives deeper into the fusion of these genres, creating a dark fluid in which her songwriting is immersed in Doom guitar riffs, angular electronic beats and a plodding Shoegaze-like swirl of sound. Its encompassing embrace of these varying shaded forms is highlighted for NPR in Lars Gotrich's, “Viking's Choice: Chelsea Wolfe is Just Dancing in the Dark”.
