DVNE – Voidkind
Release Date: 19th April 2024
Label: Metal Blade
Bandcamp
Genre: Prog Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive, Doom, Sludge.
FFO: Psychonaut, Avkrvst, Tool, Cult Of Luna.
Review By: John Newlands
I first heard about Dvne when I fell down a random rabbit hole on the good’ole interwebs and ended up reading a random interview with Robin Staps from The Ocean. He was talking about a wee album called Etemen Ænka that he thought was damn good and was really worth checking out.
So, on Robins order, off I went to pull on my stillsuit and dive into the wonderful post-metal sci-fi world of Dvne. Of course, I began with 2021’s Etemen Ænka and became enthralled with the science fiction story telling that depicts an alien world with god like creatures that use technology to extend their lifespan while the proletariat struggle to maintain existence. The artwork is fantastic and, to be honest, the most exciting and inspiring post-metal stuff I had heard since Tool released Lateralus. Going further back in the bands catalogue, I found 2017’s Asheran, another epic gem that follows the story of the rise and fall of a civilization and ultimately the consequences of the return of an empire.
As a total sci-fi geek, this stuff has me whipped into a frenzy of excitement and the fact that I hear influence from the likes of Cult Of Luna and TOOL, put my wee Scottish brain into a headspin and required a change of underpants.
So, as you can imagine, after finding these new albums I was totally blown away discovering they were based in Edinburgh, Scotland. How had I never heard of this band?!?! I was just waiting for Septa Unella (the shame nun) from Game Of Thrones to knock on my door and parade me naked down the street, ringing a bell. Thankfully that didn’t happen and as an act of redemption I immediately bought the LPs on vinyl and some other merch!
So ladies and gentlemen and giant worms, the sands of time slip through the glass and take us forward to 2024 and the arrival of Voidkind, probably one of my most anticipated releases of this year.
Since news of the release, I have been equal measures excited and anxious to hear the new material. I intentionally avoided the singles and didn’t read the press statement until I had listened to the album and had made a basis from my review. So the big question, could, and would it live up to its predecessors?? Quite simply, HELL YES!!!
Voidkind is 10 songs in 59 minutes, so not a quick listen, but every minute is worth the attention of the listener. I have listened to some 36 min long albums recently that feel longer than Voidkind. It is a hypnotising, enthralling and intricate piece of work that engages and draws the listener into the new world that they are depicting. From what I understand, the album explores religious themes based around a religious group and a godlike entity that lures its followers on a journey to reach their god dimension. Fucking awesome stuff!!
The thing I really like on Voidkind, and other Dvne releases, is that you can take what you want from it. You can be like me, in for the full deal, engaged in the lyrics and overarching theme and enjoying how each of the albums progressively weave a story. These stories allow the listener to create their own mental image of the world, and picking at the lyrics to unlock aspects previously unnoticed is a whole bunch of fun. Or alternatively, you can listen to Dvne, and just appreciate the great music and bow to the riff! (present thy devil-horns!).
Voidkind sees the band taking an intentional step towards accessibility and being able to cherry-pick songs from the album that are standalone bangers (such as Plērōma) that are more direct and don’t require the listener to fully engage the brain and wade through 10 min epics with huge intros and outros.
The production here is more open, less dense and sludgy than previous albums, perhaps less layered and thick than before. This provides space for the individual instrumentation, creating a notably more punchy and clear production that really suits the evolving sound of the band.
Vocals on the album are also fantastic, guitarist /vocalist Victor Vicart, delivers impeccable cleans and a screamed tone in a higher register (perhaps along with new permanent keyboardist Maxime Keller) and second guitarist Daniel Barter is strategically used to provide pummelling lower register screamed vocals.
This clever use of vocal deployment helps to punctuate the album and create intensity, when required, and further play into the impeccable use of dynamics that Dvne play with. The band skilfully show restraint when required and know when less is more, there are quitter passages and phrases within the tracks that make the heavier parts feel crushingly heavy.
With Voidkind, Dvne have not reinvented themselves or produced something that we have never heard from them before, however, what they have done is expertly refine and define what makes the band sound better. By tweaking their sound and making tracks slightly more focused, yet without compromising on musicality, storytelling or artistry, Dvne truly have “levelled up” with Voidkind. This is an exceptional release that I am sure I will continue to enjoy throughout 2024 and for many years to come. Well done Dvne.
(5 / 5)
