Birth of Violence

Birth of Violence is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Chelsea Wolfe. Announced on June 18, 2019,^[17] the first single, "The Mother Road", was released the same day.^[18] The second single, "American Darkness", was released on July 17.^[19]

Birth of Violence
Physical cover. Digital editions exclude Wolfe's name.
Studio album by Chelsea Wolfe
Released	September 13, 2019^[1]
Genre	Folk
Length	43:46
Label	Sargent House^[2]
Chelsea Wolfe chronology
Hiss Spun (2017) Birth of Violence (2019) Bloodmoon I (2021)
Singles from Birth of Violence
"The Mother Road" Released: June 18, 2019^[3] "American Darkness" Released: July 17, 2019^[4] "Deranged For Rock and Roll" Released: September 5, 2019^[5] "Highway" Released: March 4, 2020^[6]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.8/10^[7]
Metacritic	81/100^[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[9]
The A.V. Club	B-^[10]
Austin Chronicle	^[11]
Consequence of Sound	B+^[12]
Exclaim!	8/10^[13]
Paste	9/10^[14]
Sputnikmusic	4.1/5^[15]
Under the Radar	7.5/10^[16]

The album was written and recorded in seclusion at her home in Northern California, with Wolfe describing it as having more of a "folk leaning sound" in an effort to return to her folk roots. It was released by Sargent House on September 13, 2019.^[20][21]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
Gigwise	Top 51 Albums of 2019	22	^[22]
Kerrang!	Top 50 Albums of 2019	21	^[23]
Revolver	Top 25 Albums of 2019	13	^[24]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chelsea Wolfe^[25][26]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Mother Road"	4:20
2.	"American Darkness"	4:48
3.	"Birth of Violence"	4:20
4.	"Deranged for Rock & Roll"	3:31
5.	"Be All Things"	4:20
6.	"Erde"	3:31
7.	"When Anger Turns to Honey"	3:09
8.	"Dirt Universe"	4:36
9.	"Little Grave"	3:22
10.	"Preface to a Dream Play"	3:52
11.	"Highway"	2:50
12.	"The Storm"	1:07
Total length:		43:46

Japan bonus track^[27][28]

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Night of the Vampire (Roky Erickson cover)"	2:50
Total length:		46:45

Personnel

Credits adapted from Discogs.^[29]

• Chelsea Wolfe - vocals, guitar, production
• Ben Chisholm - guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers, piano, mandolin, production, mixing
• Jess Gowrie - drums (tracks 1, 2, 4-7, 9)
• Ezra Buchla - viola (tracks 1, 2, 5, 10)
• Heba Kadry - mastering
• John Crawford - art direction, photography
• Nona Limmen - cover
• Cathy Pellow - management

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)^[30]	18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[31]	162
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[32]	84
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[33]	77
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[34]	60
US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[35]	10
US Independent Albums (Billboard)^[36]	5

References

1. "Birth of Violence, by CHELSEA WOLFE". CHELSEA WOLFE.
2. "Chelsea Wolfe". Sargent House. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
3. "Chelsea Wolfe – "The Mother Road"". June 18, 2019.
4. Shaffer, Claire (July 16, 2019). "See Chelsea Wolfe's Aimee Mann-Inspired Video for 'American Darkness'".
5. Munro, Scott (September 5, 2019). "Watch Chelsea Wolfe in video for haunting new single Deranged For Rock & Roll". Louder Sound. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
6. Munro, Scott (March 4, 2020). "Chelsea Wolfe shares video for her new single Highway". Louder Sound. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
7. "Birth Of Violence by Chelsea Wolfe reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
8. "Reviews and Tracks for Birth of Violence by Chelsea Wolfe". Metacritic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
9. Phares, Heather. "Birth of Violence – Chelsea Wolfe". AllMusic. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
10. Rife, Kate (September 12, 2019). "Chelsea Wolfe goes back to the land on the starkly beautiful Birth Of Violence". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
11. Toland, Michael (November 8, 2019). "Austin Chronicle Review". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
12. Pementel, Michael (September 11, 2019). "Chelsea Wolfe Presents an Ethereal Experience on Birth of Violence". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
13. Mohammed, Jenna (September 10, 2019). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
14. Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (September 18, 2019). "Paste Magazine Review". Paste. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
15. "Sputnikmusic Review". Sputnikmusic. September 12, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
16. Michael, Jordan (September 17, 2019). "Under the Radar Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
17. "Chelsea Wolfe announces new album Birth of Violence, shares folk-leaning single "The Mother Road": Stream". June 18, 2019.
18. "Chelsea Wolfe Announces New Album Birth of Violence, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork.
19. "Chelsea Wolfe Unveils Single 'American Darkness' + Video". UnderTheRadarNZ.
20. Shaffer, Claire (June 18, 2019). "Chelsea Wolfe Announces Witchy Return With Forthcoming Album 'Birth of Violence'".
21. "Chelsea Wolfe". Chelsea Wolfe.
22. "Gigwise's 51 Best Albums of 2019". Gigwise. December 20, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
23. Carter, Emily. "The 50 Best Albums of 2019". Kerrang!. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
24. Epstein, Dan (November 25, 2019). "25 Best albums of 2019". Revolver. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
25. "Birth of Violence by Chelsea Wolfe" – via music.apple.com.
26. DiVita, Joe. "Chelsea Wolfe Announces 'Birth of Violence' Album, New Song, Tour". Loudwire.
27. "「Birth of Violence / バース・オブ・バイオレンス」 | Daymare Records". Daymare Records (in Japanese). Retrieved September 10, 2020.
28. "Birth of Violence CD Album". Retrieved September 10, 2020.
29. "Chelsea Wolfe-Birth of Violence". Discogs. September 13, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
30. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
31. "Ultratop.be – Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
32. "Offiziellecharts.de – Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
33. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
34. "Swisscharts.com – Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
35. "Chelsea Wolfe Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
36. "Chelsea Wolfe Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.