Chelsea Wolfe is truly something demonic. In her follow up to her 2010 debut The Grime and the Glow, ?????????? (pronounced ‘Apokalypsis’), Wolfe engages in a forlorn study of absolute darkness in all of its many aspects. The result is a gripping, deep, and mature piece of work that improves on all aspects where her previous faltered.

Graduating from a mere 8-track self-recording technique used on her debut, Wolfe has the luxury of an actual studio, which she uses to great effect. The recordings are much cleaner and concise, with every track coated in a constant, subtle reverb. This could be worrying, as it has become commonplace for artists to distract from a lack of song writing ability with glossy and expensive sounding echoes. The worries are unfounded, however, as a mastery of the songwriting craft is demonstrated admirably on every track of the LP.

?????????? begins with a twenty-four second introduction (“Primal/Carnal‰Û) which features solely Wolfe, snarling and producing horrendous death metal growls entirely unexpected due to their ferocity and animalism. Though the growls never return in the coming nine tracks, the introduction sets the dark tone for the entirety of the collection. Immediately after is the eerie “Mer,‰” a single-ready writhe of a song laden with a precise amount of gloom. “How can you live with yourself?‰Û, Wolfe breathes in the chorus, backed with subtle howling winds, as if she’s directing the question directly at the listener.

The songs continue in this vein, evolving the theme past mere gloom on tracks such as “Demons,‰” which boasts tribal drums and pseudo-psychedelic instrumentation that compliment Wolfe’s wispy vocals. Chelsea wears her inspirations on her sleeve throughout, with a clear nod to shoe-gaze in the use of reverb as well as on the appropriately titled “The Wasteland,‰” and a presence of Nick Cave that I cannot put my finger on exactly, but is there undeniably. The seven-minute epic “Pale On Pale‰” is a smoldering burn of a track which takes clear inspiration from the doom or drone genres in bands such as Earth or Boris and seems like some giant metal beast, lurching across a vast, cold and dead landscape.

The album ends with the haunting “To the Forest, Towards the Sea,‰” a sonic collage of the most nightmarish sense shows her affinity for Norwegian black metal artists such as Burzum. Despite no real song or melody to speak of, the effect of the track is gripping, plunging the listener into an unsettling void of darkness, but one that you want to dive back into the moment it concludes.

Chelsea Wolfe views the apocalypse not as a fiery explosion of terror which will come immediately and painfully, as many metal artists seem to believe from their immense volume and lyrics. Rather, she views the apocalypse as something that will come slowly and visibly, ending with a silent and icy cold whimper of despair. In this, she is darker and more sinister than even the most extreme black metal groups. In ??????????, Chelsea Wolfe has lovingly constructed a beautiful and bleak portrait of darkness that will remain listenable for repeat experiences, begging to be deconstructed. ?????????? is gorgeous, bold, and, above all, absolutely pitch-black like no other release this year. It is worth your time. Embrace it.