lifting above the dark concoction like a siren’s song piercing through the rumble of an oncoming storm.
Deranged For Rock & Roll could almost be a Lana Del Rey-styled lament but its melancholy pop structure is subverted by its vaguely clattering drums and that omnipresent yet almost subliminal hum of noise that is heard throughout the record.
Arguably the purest moment of beauty on the album is the unashamedly gorgeous Be All Things, Wolfe’s voice soothing like a crystal clear lake, backed by quietly plucked acoustic guitar and a subtly building string arrangement.
What is ultimately most striking about the album is how Wolfe has returned to a more acoustic sound without it feeling like an attempt to recreate past atmospheres. The sonic heaviness may be absent, but Birth Of Violence is as vivid and memorable as her experiments with industrial, metal and gothic elements. That she can achieve this with so much less makes this one of her most intoxicating and beautiful records to date.
- Matt Thrower.