Live at Blå in Oslo, Norway on November 4th 2015
Photos by Marie Solheim.
Today has been an unusually foggy November day in Oslo, creating a fitting atmosphere for tonight’s spectacle. Touring on the back of her brilliant new album Abyss, ice queen Chelsea Wolfe has Oslo’s frigid citizens emerging from their shells. The evening’s concert is completely sold out, and the charmingly situated venue Blå is already about to burst under the sheer amount of people in attendance waiting for the opening act.
For her European tour, Wolfe has brought along a relatively unknown New Zealand duo calling themselves A Dead Forest Index. Although they are billed as indie rock, their stripped down approach bears the haunting mark of Wolfe herself. Consisting of brothers Adam and Sam Sherry, the Auckland-born duo play minimalistic art rock, with Adam’s haunting voice and guitar bearing stark contrast to Sam’s often ominous or outright penetrating drums. A mix of dark dreamy folk and atmospheric rock, A Dead Forest Index put on a convincing and honest, albeit somewhat monotonous show.
If the venue was full for A Dead Forest Index, it is absolutely cramped before the main attraction emerges from the shadows. In a masterstroke that can only be chalked down to cryptic magic, Chelsea Wolfe cuts a figure that seems simultaneously both fragile and immensely powerful. A bleak and harrowing masterpiece, Abyss is performed almost in full tonight, with only the title track and “Crazy Love” left out. Add the occasional dip into Apokalypsis and Pain Is Beauty, and you’ve got the pieces lined up for a memorable evening. The oppressive industrial tinge of Abyss is magnified significantly in the live setting, with the rumbling bass pushing the sound system almost to its breaking point. Shining brightly above the wall of sound, however, Wolfe’s voice is a haunting light in the consuming darkness. Broken and unbearably melancholic, her vocal chords nevertheless command massive control.
Even though Wolfe herself is the obvious centerpiece on stage, credit must be given to her excellent backing band. Not content with simply blending into the scenery, the group absolutely crushes with every note, leaving the audience slack-jawed. It’s clear that word of Wolfe’s talent has been getting around, and in the heterogeneous crowd one can spot a couple of guys headbanging, some fist-pumping, while others are drying their eyes or slowly nodding along as if hypnotized. The spell is broken as Wolfe and her group end their set with “Feral Love”, and as the audience snaps out of their collective trance we have a moment of silence. Then there’s thundering applause, culminating as they return to grace us with an encore of “Color Of Blood” and “Pale On Pale”. There’s still a palpable hunger for more in the air, but the musical intensity and the cramped interiors have been both emotionally and physically draining. Wolfe’s music is sure to linger for weeks for anyone lucky enough to witness this performance, a loving display from an artist on top of her game.
