Abyss may seem dark and impenetrable at first glance, but Chelsea Wolfe's musical sensibilities and singing make it her most fulfilling and worthwhile album yet.
Chelsea Wolfe's latest throws her helplessly into the abyss, where she's buried under the sheer mass of her band's fearsome noise and her own paralyzed fatalism.
The year's best new and emerging artists range across the musical spectrum from forward thinking R&B to classic soul, from a bevy of exciting new hip-hop talent to great new hopes for indie rock and Americana. 2011 shows that music is always pushing forward even as it dips into the past.