Scottish progressive post-metal act Dvne will release their new full-length, “Voidkind”, on April 19th via Metal Blade Records.
Formed in Edinburgh in 2013 by Frenchman Victor Vicart and native Scot Dudley Tait, progressive post-metal/sludge artisans Dvne have been building a powerful head of steam since their second album, 2021’s kaleidoscopically mesmerizing “Etemen Ænka.” Their first release for the legendary Metal Blade Records label, the LP was a concerted hike up the greasy pole for this enigmatic outfit, enabling Dvne to embark on UK and European headline tours and win spots at such discerning festivals as Hellfest, ArcTanGent, Desertfest, Damnation, and Resurrection.
A live EP of reimagined album tunes, 2022’s “Cycles Of Asphodel,” kept up their profile while satiating demand from a rapidly mushrooming fanbase, and now in 2024, stunning third album “Voidkind” looks set to propel this expanded five-piece line-up (welcoming Maxime Keller on keyboards) to the top of their game.
Vicart elaborates on the themes driving “Plerõma,” the first single from “Voidkind”, and its accompanying video, which was directed by Vicart, “Plerõma is a concept that has appeared in Gnosticism, Greek Philosophy, and Judeo-Christian religions. In Gnosticism, it is the spiritual universe as the abode of God and of the totality of the divine powers and emanations. It is also the ultimate source of transformation. Plerõma is a key moment of the album narrative where religious followers are consuming the essence of their deity and reaching a new sense of awakened existence. It is the first step in their transformation. Musically it also represents something similar to us, as it is a song that is bringing new elements that we didn’t explore musically until that point.”
“Voidkind” succeeds in finding new modes of expression for Dvne. The songs are more pointed, direct, and memorable, but the soundscape still has a radiant, evolving, hypnotic flow, the effect achieved with fewer layers of sonic ornamentation, consciously urging closer to Dvne‘s incendiary live sound. And despite the addition of a full-time keyboardist, Vicart has no doubt about the album’s defining feature, “We wanted very distinct left and right guitars, and punchier drums and bass, which would transcribe better live. And the synths needed to be clearer; it’s very easy to put five guitars on each side, loads of different vocals and keys, but then you end up watching a band with an album you really like, and the songs sound nothing like the record. That’s what we wanted to avoid. As soon as the song starts, we want people to immediately recognize the riff.“
Conceptually, the lyrics continue the band’s overarching narrative – “following a religious group through the generation line from the beginning to its end” – while “Voidkind”‘s extraordinary sleeve art depicts the main theme of this chapter, namely, “a godlike entity seducing and luring followers through their dreams and these followers’ multigenerational journey to reach their god dimension.”
Pre-order the album HERE.
