Dvne reveals details for new album, 'Etemen Ænka'

Dvne reveals details for new album, 'Etemen Ænka'

Launches video for new single, "Sì-XIV"

On March 19th, Dvne will release their sophomore album, Etemen Ænka, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of the record, a video for the new single "Sì-XIV" can be viewed at: metalblade.com/dvne - where Etemen Ænka can also be pre-ordered in the following formats:

- digisleeve-CD
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- raisin rouge marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 400 copies)
- grey / yellow-green marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- gold / black dust vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- clear / black dust vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- dark goldenrod marbled vinyl (US exclusive)
- clear ash gray marbled vinyl (US exclusive)

Dvne comments: "With the context of covid and the strong travel restrictions we've had in the UK and Europe, shooting 'SI-XIV' was a real challenge, but we're glad we could make it happen.
The video was split between two shoots: we worked once again with our close friends Just-Aurèle Meissonnier, Louis Macéra, Gilles Garniers and Michel Jocaille for the creature part of the shoot (shot in Paris); the rest of the video footage was shot in Edinburgh by Calum McMillan and our light tech Sam Jones.
We've always loved prosthetic effects and wanted to use our own creations in the video, but the overall aesthetic takes no small amount of inspiration from some of our favourite 70/80s sci-fi horror films. We had this concept of a weird humanoid-type creature facing the overwhelming harshness and the hopeless nature of its existence.
The video symbolically follows the narrative theme of the track within the new album, with the creature attempting to escape its nature through metamorphosis throughout the video. It was an incredibly fun few days setting up and shooting all the creature parts in Paris."

Dvne are a band of great contrasts, weaving titanic heaviness and intricate gentleness together, complex lyrical ideas with engaging storylines, and this has only been expanded upon and concentrated on second album Etemen Ænka. "It's an album that has a narrative musically, and we hope that will encourage the listener to explore the universe we've created around it," states guitarist/vocalist Victor Vicart. "It is a very dense and layered album which will reward multiple listens, and while this is becoming a recurring aspect of our music, we feel that we went further with it this time. It's also a very polarizing album, emotionally speaking. The heavy sections are, well, very heavy, while the clean sections are much more intricate and delicate - and in a way wouldn't be out of place in a Studio Ghibli anime soundtrack." Exploring everything in greater depth in every way, it is a profound step forward from 2017's Asheran, starting an exciting new chapter in the existence of one of the most thrilling and imaginative metal bands active today. "We knew we wanted to include keys and synths in the equation. We wanted to be able to add new textures and new sounds that weren't on our previous releases, and we felt that this was something that will give us more options creatively. Looking back, that was a great decision because we've used synths for everything, with ambient sounds, heavy subs and actual leads, which really added a new dynamic to this album. We've also kept this balance between down-tuned heavy riffs and clean movements, which were already present in 'Asheran', but we really wanted to make sure we could capture more details and subtleties once recorded," explains Vicart. Synths are in fact so present, and at times so unapologetically 80s, that they sound like the soundtrack to a classic sci-fi, which may well surprise fans, the band confident in every step they took musically.

Etemen Ænka is also Dvne's second collaboration with producer Graeme Young in Edinburgh's Chamber Studio, having developed a great working relationship with him on Asheran - "he acts like an extra member of the band and really pushes us to do better takes." This made for a smooth and productive recording process, the challenging part coming before they entered the studio. "The composition was challenging because we second guess every riff that gets written. We want to keep things fresh, and we want to keep the energy high too, so the initial creative stage can become intense. Then, because our tracks are pretty big and dense with ideas and movements, we didn't finalize each track structure until we started laying down the drums. But I think it's what made the whole recording process so much fun too, because it allowed us to really think about the different options available without committing to a final structure too early in the process." The record also features guest vocals courtesy of Lissa Robertson, who sings on "Omega Severer" and "Asphodel" and contributes spoken word on "Weighing Of The Heart" - her voice adding yet another depth to the heavily layered collection.

Etemen Ænka track-listing
1. Enûma Eliš
2. Towers
3. Court of the Matriarch
4. Weighing of the Heart
5. Omega Severer
6. Adræden
7. Sì-XIV
8. Mleccha
9. Asphodel
10. Satuya

Dvne online:
https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk
https://twitter.com/songsofarrakis
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com
 

HULDER stream IRON BONEHEAD debut album at NoCleanSinging.com

Today, US-via-Belgium black metallers Hulder stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, at heavily trafficked web-portal NoCleanSinging.com. Set for international release on January 22nd via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Hulder's Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry in its entirety exclusively HERE.

One of the black metal underground's best-kept secrets, Hulder formed in 2018 as the sole work of the selfsame Hulder. A native of Belgium but currently residing in the United States, she quickly went to work on Hulder's first demo, Ascending the Raven Stone, released during the summer of 2018. Ancient and regressive but with no shortage of technicality, Ascending the Raven Stone set forth a rigorous discipline that Hulder would expound upon with the more dungeoned Rehearsal 8/13/18.

Word began to build about the band, and successive tape editions as well as the De oproeping van middeleeuwse duisternis compilation a year later ensured Hulder's momentum was worth reckoning. Arguably, it was the release of the Embraced by Darkened Mysts EP where Hulder crystalized her aesthetic, both in sheer sonics as well as visuals: full-color cover art featured her in medieval warrior regalia surrounded by a dense forest - classically black metal in its composition, sword included - neither emphasizing her femininity nor denying it. Along the way, Hulder piqued the ears of Iron Bonehead, who first released De oproeping van middeleeuwse duisternis on vinyl and then collected that as well as the two demos onto digipack CD.

Now aligned with Iron Bonehead, Hulder make their boldest statement yet: Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, the band's full-length debut. Just like debut albums properly should, Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry straddles both Hulder's past as well as unearthing new paths. Within the eight songs comprising the 40-minute record, Hulder spans myriad generations and idioms of black metal, but all deeply rooted in '90s classicism: from the paganisms of earliest Enslaved, Ulver, Isvind, and Kampfar to the hypnotizing grit of classic Judas Iscariot and Grand Belial's Key, on to the mystical majesty of unsung Greeks like Zemial and Kawir and even over to the woodland wonder of old Opera IX. Which is all to say that Hulder here not so much mimic their forebears so much as meld the idiosyncrasies inherent to each into a masterclass in all-caps BLACK METAL songwriting: dynamic, engaging, nuanced, and transportive, but undeniably physical in its pulsing vistas of darkness and mystery. Likewise, Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry is structured like a true album, with Side 1 kicking in an utterly feral manner and cresting along to vicious wanderlust and ending on the eerily restrained near-ambient hymn "De Dijle," and then Side 2 furthering the synth mysticism and maintaining a more triumphant aspect, with the closing magickal march of "From Whence an Ancient Evil Once Reigned" sounding not unlike a lost relic from Grieghallen circa 1994. And all this is encased in a production that's rich, robust, and rounded; only the rawness of the performances bleed into the soundfield, a clear division from Hulder's earlier demo days.

The past is alive because the present is dead. With the glorious birth of Godslastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, long live Hulder!

Witness the full birth exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com. Also see & hear the previously revealed video for "Upon Frigid Winds" HERE at Iron Bonehead's official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Hulder's Godlastering Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry
1. Upon Frigid Winds [3:22]
2. Creature of Demonic Majesty [3:33]
3. Sown in Barren Soil [4:43]
4. De Dijle [6:33]
5. Purgations of Bodily Corruptions [4:23]
6. Lowland Famine [5:26]
7. A Forlorn Peasant's Hymn [6:03]
8. From Whence an Ancient Evil Once Reigned [5:07]




MORE INFO:
www.hulder-official.com



www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

 

ATER – VILLIGHIED ( Review by Varg The Mighty )

Today’s review is of Belgian Black Metal band Ater’s EP “Villighied”.

These 5 tracks are raw and uncompromised Black Metal at its most old-school purity, with sort of catchy riffs of continuous tremolo picking, typical vocals and a bad recording, this is a really common yet enjoyable EP.

There is also some early Burzum feeling to some songs, like in “Valkennacht” or “Oes Vorvoadern Vochten” that adds some different concepts and makes the release more diverse. You shouldn’t really put this on expecting anything new, only if you love raw and unholy Black Metal. All these songs have some interesting feeling to them that create some nice atmosphere evading all sorts of innovation.

I recommend this to fans of Unholy Black Metal. My rating is of 8,5/10.

Review by Varg The Mighty