The words ‘back of the net!!’ must have been reverberating through the cobbled and pub strewn streets of Edinburgh, when post-metal five piece Scottish/French band Dvne (and not DVLA as my handy spellchecking AI ghost would like you to believe) landed a invitation to the big time with a step up into the majors signing with Metal Blade Records off the back of their remarkably accomplished first two albums, especially 2021’s ‘Etemen Ænka’ which was rightly heralded as a proper Bobby Dazzler of an album, that redefined the strictures and parameters of the alt/post rock landscape and gave Dvne a seat at the top table. But as with all bands that come storming out of the gate early doors, the trick is to not simply rinse and repeat, but to further expand your sound, develop and masticate the ideas you had before and grow new tendrils into concrete walls, to extrapolate, to explore and to always seek to improve on what has come before. And this is the crux of the issue, that you’re dammed if you do, you’re dammed if you don’t. Stray too far from the path well-trodden and you run the risk of alienating your existing fans, stay too close to what has come before and nasty, sticky fingered and miserable bastard critics will accuse you of lacking ideas, scope and ambition. I have said this before in previous reviews, but it remains as true today as it did then and this is where Dvne find themselves, in somewhat of a no man’s land.
This genre of music is so slap bang in my Venn diagram of things that get my innards bubbling (in a good way and not in a bad way such as, say on a journey I endured whilst travelling in Nepal as I suffered a prolific bout of gastroenteritis on a twelve-hour bus journey from Yamuna Bazar to Kathmandu via Delhi Majnu ka Tila. A true story, spread over many dusty tomes that involved goats, an empty (not for long) soup can and suffering on a galactic scale). Voidkind has all the key components to really get my heart galloping, soft, soaring vocals, caressed in enough reverb and sound effects to render them soupy and delicious, which segue into ferocious, pissed off territory, growling and mournfully caressing your heart as they soar alongside stereophonic, hyper processed guitars that are anchored with some impressively dextrous drums. It’s the perfect marriage of Black Peaks, The Ocean and SOM. Wonderfully intricate at times, melodies that swoon over you like a cat you have rescued from a well after being stuck in said well for ten days, coexisting with alongside concrete heavy, sludgy walls of guitars, that add grit, spite and ballast to the more ethereal elements of Dvne’s musicality.
Despite the band’s previous recorded efforts having featured plenty of instrumental asides, the band seem to have taken a conscious decision to reign these tendencies in a touch, the album still comes in at a one hour running time despite protestations to the contrary about trying to keep things more concise and controlled but Voidkind, does feel a little more directed, to the point and refined. It’s as if Tool are jamming with Bossk with a side order of Conjurer. Time will tell whether this new album is judged and lauded alongside Etemen Ænka as a comparable piece of work, and for me it may take a bit of more time for the album to sit, digest and marinate to fully appreciate the layers at play here.
Having ploughed my way through Voidkind a few times, in summary, this feels like a more considered, polished, reflective and (I hate to use this phrase) grown up collection of songs, that build on and extrapolate upon previous motifs and ideas. The issue the band have, is that they set the bar pretty high in regards to their back catalogue and my immediate reaction is that Voidkind, doesn’t quite reach the heady heights and musical ejaculate of their last album BUT, if you’re judging this against other post metal/alt metal/sludge metal (definitely less sludge on this release) protagonists currently out there, you have to say that Dvne are at the very least eating at the top table from a nomenklaturas perspective because in isolation, this is a very competent, engaging and professionally written, produced and played body of work. But, compared with their previous efforts, it feels a little on the safe side, possibly a little diluted and if any of you reading this want to conflate that with the band’s move to a major label then by all means, be my guest.
(6.5/10 Nick Griffiths)
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