Dvne EA, 4/26//2021
I found Elder, Mastodon, and Dvne within the last 5 years, always knowing about Mastodon but not really diving in until later in my 30s. Leviathan and Crack the Skye REALLY opened my eyes to bands like Elder and then Dvne. Asheran blew me away but seemed to bore people I would recommend it to. Asheran still holds a special place for me and was one of the first few reviews I wrote and posted. A lot has changed since that first Dvne review!
I am pretty sure I have yet to write about this before, but in all my years in sales, and especially towards the end, I have been trying to get out of sales. I am grateful for what a sales career has afforded me to this point, but I wrestled constantly with the desire to do something more meaningful. Was I really put on this Earth to be a corporate salesman, working for a company I felt no passion for, for much of my work life? So, I am taking a huge risk, and trying to reinvent myself, as a fucking junior high and high school math teacher! I am stressing pretty hard on passing these CSETs but I think I am on the way to having a chance, but DAMN! This test is not easy. That is goal number one this summer and I have til August 31st to pass em. Next up, selling the Benicia condo that I have come to love during this pandemic. I will always remember it, and Primo and I did a damn good job on the patio garden. It goes on the market this weekend! I may be moving to Oakland in July but will relocate as much as I can to Tahoe in the coming weeks. Claire starts Kindergarten in the fall! Summer of 2021 will go down as the summer of change for me. I’m either going to be on the way to becoming a Math teacher, or if that fails, a Tahoe local and go find some environmental job. Both seem like they would be more rewarding options for me. Tahoe ski season is over and Claire totally can hang now. I am going to love looking back on all those videos and pictures remembering how great the first real season was with Claire on skis! It was also season 1 for Primo and he is already ripping. I can’’t wait to see where the skiing and snowboarding hobby leads. This also marks the beginning of mountain biking season. Solo adventurism+photography+summer+nature+weed+adrenaline+lakes+a technical sport+exercise+freedom….awww yeah it’’s all back for Tahoe MTB season 2!
Anyway, back to Dvne. I think EA flows as a full album but after about 100 listens, I have started to mentally break it into three distinct sections because this is a full 67 minutes with a rare dull moment. (1) The first three tracks are all so strong as “dust falls on the old…BLACKENED!” Wow, what a start. Fans are going to go nuts if they open with that song live. Three minutes after that lyric, and after an incredible first ride, Towers then takes off. Holy shit…these guys know how to pack a heavy punch with what I am going to call their incredibly creative “riff journeys.” Towers gives a nod to the sludge gods for about 90 seconds and then gets down to business. By grooving a full minute with that high hat dominant drum beat, the chorus comes through powerful with the lyric “an undertaking for my kin…we build castles to the sky…flourishing!” Then Dvne introduces a huge breakdown while telling us about the Ziggurats, leading into some truly epic riffs and “as towers reach up to the stars” and the finish to the song (3 minutes of instrumental goodness). There are 7 full tracks on this album all with a distinct sound and so many pleasurable moments and three carefully placed atmospheric segway tracks that add so much to the beautifully spacey feel of the album (see Asphodel). Section (2) includes Omega Severer & Si-XIV (both solid) and section (3) the incredible 3 song finish of (Mleccha+Asphodel) + Satuya (checks the box for a finisher to an all time metal album). EA offers so much, just sit back and listen. Escape into another world with DVNE! They are one of those rare bands that can take a listener elsewhere.
Anyway, thanks for reading this, and I wish you ALL the best!