On the scene for about ten years, i DVNE they remain a little-known band to this day. The public following, however, does not do justice to the quality of their music, which in fact took off quite quickly. I didn’t listen Asheran2017 album, but if Omega Severer – EP of just under twenty minutes – had left me quite indifferent, it’s with the next album, Etemen Ænka (2021) that this Scottish team hits the target. According to many, that is the Mastodon album we’ve all been waiting for long since. Roughness of the guitars, broken and unhealthy rhythms and the right amount of grandeur tragica gave DVNE’s music an air of epic grandeur, without being pompous, but fitting into the tradition post of Neurosis-iana memory through a sick and labyrinthine, but not bizarre, sound.
This Voidkind, therefore, takes up the challenge launched by the previous album, definitely managing to keep its promises. A record with a decidedly successful cover, it presents DVNE in truly dazzling form. The sounds, it must be said, partially recover those of full previous one, but in this case the stoner component is slightly less present, in favor instead of the more purely post metal one. However, it is a genre far from the one played by the latter Isis, and therefore, although there are keyboard components, the music is mainly guitar-centric and free of electronic inserts. The album, compared to the previous one, is decidedly more direct and the production, if possible, even dirtier. From a mixing point of view, it seems to me that the voices occupy too much of the musical spectrum to the detriment of the instrumentation and especially the drums, which seem a little too spread out in the background. In terms of dynamic range, Voidkind it’s certainly not the worst thing you can hear, but I think it’s unfortunately another victim of loudness war. On a compositional level, in Voidkind I seem to find a fusion between the two paradigmatic eras of Mastodon, that of Remission and that of Crack the Skye, since in my opinion the typology of sounds it seems to relate more to the first, but the structure of the pieces is particularly reminiscent of the second.
Anyway, DVNEs do not softenas happened to the American band with Crack the Skye, and indeed they remain faithful to the granite rhythms of uncompressed guitars and the gaping razors of the soloists. The band proposes the alternation of different vocal styles and the juxtaposition of multiple voices, as can be seen immediately during the first seconds of the opening, Summa Blasphemia, who has a truly exceptional shot. Furthermore, in some moments a female voice also appears which contributes to giving further depth. Eleanor it is a piece that closely resembles i Mastodonthe best ones of Aqua Dementiafor example, given that a very tense initial arpeggio then flows into a riffing massive and powerful, but also allows itself the luxury of a more atmospheric central part. Even solos, like that of Reliquariesare spot on, and above all they integrate perfectly into the magmatic and constant flow of the music. Sarmatæ manages to alternate riffs played in the lower registers, alternating them either with higher-pitched sabers or with frenetic rhythmic additions and, moreover, apart Abode the Perfect Soul there are no pieces built around the build-up sonorous. Plērōmawhile not as heavy as previous tracks, manages to keep the adrenaline high which flows through all the pieces of the album and, what’s more, at a certain point it unleashes a spectacular rock riff, from Baroness in great form. Cobalt Sun Necropolis closes the disk. The introduction is decidedly, and unnecessarily, very long but when, after two minutes, the actual piece begins, the music changes. Literally. The piece is interesting: although less bombastic than the previous ones, this lack is made up for by the inclusion of much darker and more melancholy veins in the musical phrases, also thanks to the choirs that counterpoint and alternate them until the final crescendo.
Voidkind it’s a good record but, above all, it’s not a boring record. It manages to keep your attention high, it’s entertaining and, believe me, gas a lot of: try putting it in the car with the window down and the volume turned up. After a quick review of the accounts, and although we are only at the beginning of June, I feel like saying that Voidkind fits perfectly into mine top ten 2024. Will she be able to stay there until December? I could go out on a limb and answer: yes. (Bartolo da Sassoferrato)
