It took daring to marry two seemingly irreconcilable worlds. On one side, Converge, tutelary figures of American mathcore and metalcore, a band of pure fury since the 1990s; on the other, Chelsea Wolfe, a singer of dark, gothic folk, whose voice evokes mists more than blazes. Bloodmoon: I, the fruit of this long-matured encounter, aroused a curiosity the critics have largely rewarded (an 84 average across nine reviews).
The project is no mere featuring: it is a recasting. Converge, augmented by several musicians, slow the tempo, abandon hardcore urgency for a shadowy, broad, cinematic post-metal. Chelsea Wolfe unfurls her spectral singing there, while Jacob Bannon brings his customary eruptions. The contrast between the two voices becomes the record’s engine.
The press hail the coherence of an object that could have turned to patchwork. The long, progressive compositions build dark architectures in which caress and clamour alternate. One thinks of a pagan mass, of a ritual where sweetness and brutality conspire toward the same vertigo.
This ambition has its flip side: Bloodmoon: I is an austere, at times monolithic record, favouring atmosphere over immediacy. Lovers of the frontal early Converge may feel disoriented here, even frustrated.
Verdict: 8.5/10. A courageous, successful collaboration proving that the borders between genres are made to be crossed. A record of the night.
