Converge recruit Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm and Stephen Brodsky for new collaborative album, Bloodmoon: I

Converge have announced their first studio album in four years, Bloodmoon: I – a collaborative effort for which they’ve recruited Chelsea Wolfe, her bandmate Ben Chisholm and Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky.

To celebrate the news, Converge – which features Jacob Bannon, Kurt Ballou, Nate Newton and Ben Koller – have shared the album’s lead single, Blood Moon.

Eerie piano lines and ominously produced vocals introduce us to the new age of Converge, with Wolfe making her first lyrical appearance atop of some moody electric guitar soundscapes.

The tension finally releases at the 1:35 mark, thanks to some booming riffs that refuse to relent throughout the track’s seven-minute run time, save the two stripped-back sections that merely precede heavier-than-before guitar-laden exchanges.

Due November 19, Bloodmoon: I is described as a “harrowing and atmospheric collaborative effort” that sees those involved venture beyond the boundaries of their respective musical comfort zones.

The idea for a collaborative record between Converge and the three aforementioned artists originated during 2016’s Roadburn Festival, where the specially formed seven-piece performed material under the moniker Blood Moon.

Fast-forward two years, the crew coaligned their schedules to begin working on a studio effort proper, with preliminary sessions occurring at Ballou’s God City Studio in Salem, Massachusetts.

As was the case for many musical projects, the emerging pandemic jeopardized the recording process, which was forced online and subsequently completed remotely.

Bannon commented that the effort was born from a desire to “do something grander than the typical four-piece Converge music”, with Brodsky saying, “I feel like everyone just kept the music in mind and wanted to do what’s best for the song.”

Of her latest musical outing, Wolfe – who recently shared two never-before-heard cuts from her Birth of Violence sessions – mused, “The project stretched my vocals in new ways. It’s so different than what I normally sing over that I was able to open up and be vulnerable with my vocals."

Bannon, meanwhile, added, "Our dynamics are pushing and pulling in all different directions on this record, and I find that to be creatively rewarding."

The tracklist for Bloodmoon: I is as follows:

1. Blood Moon 
2. Viscera of Men 
3. Coil     
4. Flower Moon 
5. Tongues Playing Dead 
6. Lord of Liars   
7. Failure Forever           
8. Scorpion's Sting         
9. Daimon          
10. Crimson Stone           
11. Blood Dawn

• Bloodmoon: I is available to preorder now via Epitaph Records.