DVNE: Exploring The Outer Worlds
The distant planets and mind-bending futures of science fiction are explored within the realm of metal just as much as they are explored through books and film. Whether it is the expansive Amory Wars series weaved by COHEED AND CAMBRIA or the cold grey future of Metropolis explored by CULT OF LUNA in their opus Vertikal. Sci-fi has become as much a staple in heavy music as its cousin horror. “I think as a genre it is a very good way to tell a compelling story with a lot of meaning while allowing the audience and artist to escape,” announces Victor Vicart, vocalist and guitarist of UK post-metal outfit DVNE.
“With science-fiction, you can create these crazy, big stories of epic proportions while saying something that still has some sense.” Whilst some acts deliver messages directly DVNE convey theirs through the universes they craft on each album, their second and latest record Etemen Ænka is a shimmering opus of complex metal movements weaving a tale of power and immortality.
“The general plot of Etemen Ænka,” Vicart summarises. “It’s a civilisation that comes across or discovers a way to reach eternal life but that technology isn’t easy to use. They end up keeping it for a smaller group of people rather than spreading it with everyone.” He goes on to explain what the plot means to him. “The whole premises was an opportunity for us to talk about our relationship to power and social conformity. For us, it was a way of talking about people who’re buying into this narrative and role that they’ve got in society.” Vicart clarifies that this allegory talks of a ruling class but it doesn’t go too far down the rabbit hole. “We’re not conspiracy theorists, it’s not lizard people kind of shit. It’s something that happens through generations and generations and it’s a human flaw we have where when someone has power, they keep it. It’s understandable to a degree.”
These themes have been explored throughout science fiction over the years, especially in the 1965 Frank Herbert novel Dune from which DVNE take their name. Despite this, they clarify that they are not a Dune themed band. “The Dune story is always in the back of our minds but it’s not something we go back to and refer to. It’s an influence the same as NEUROSIS, MASTODON, TOOL and OPETH.” He does also admit that Dune has more of an aesthetic influence on the new album rather than on its narrative. “We use Middle Eastern and oriental elements on the album which are present in the book. It has this feel and colour that the David Lynch movie captures really well. You watch it and it’s those yellow oranges, it’s a warm vibe. I think Etemen Ænka has that warmth in a way.” But Vicart also cites Altered Carbon (by Richard Morgan) and Terminal World (by Alistar Reynold) as heavier influences for the story. “We all read lots of sci-fi, we play lots of video games, we watch loads of anime we end up having a giant collective knowledge of stories and it’s always in the back of our head.”
To paint this vast golden landscape that is Etemen Ænka, we see DVNE vastly expand their the addition of more synthesisers, a complicated instrument to master but one which is synonymous with science fiction. “I think adding synths was the best idea we had,” Vicart tells us. “My first instrument is the piano and have always wanted to bring it into metal and use it to do conceptual albums.” The haunting drone filling in gaps of tracks like Court Of The Matriarch is reminiscent of 80s horror whilst the synths on Weighing Of The Heart rings with the same synth-laden nostalgia found on the Stranger Things soundtrack. “We’re all huge fans of sci-fi soundtracks as well of course. Dan‘s a big fan of John Carpenter but also I listen to a lot of CARPENTER BRUT. Also video game soundtracks are a big influence.” When DVNE began incorporating these synthesisers they found it completely shifted the dynamics and opened a whole world of opportunities. “The techniques of curiosity and wanting to put these elements into our music happened really naturally. Instead of putting a guitar doing some kind of lead or vocals, we would resist and just keep space for the synths or we would make sections longer because we knew could add some keys to build sounds. As for the low end, we used the keys like subs just to have some extra heaviness which was super cool cause it freed a lot of space for the bass to be free.”
The synths truly help the new record flourish as we also hear DVNE come into their own in terms of song-writing, Vicart explains. “When we were writing Ahseran [the band’s 2017 debut] each song had a reminder of another band. This didn’t happen with Etemen Ænka. It was all us rather than us trying to do other peoples stuff. It really felt like it was all DVNE songs this time around. More original and unique. This is our record.”
More sure of themselves, with a whole new dynamic of sound in their arsenal, and more sci-fi influences than you can shake a kris blade at, DVNE have shined the light of Etemen Ænka on to the UK metal scene, and it is blinding beautiful.
Etemen Ænka is out now via Metal Blade Records.
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