I’m not saying you’ll be telling your grandkids about it however many years from now — though one never knows — but DVNE‘s onstage debut in the US seems to me the kind of thing that you want to see if you can help it. They’ve got two — count ’em: one, two — dates booked Stateside. One is Psycho Las Vegas, which comes first, and second is a Psycho-affiliated San Diego gig at Brick by Brick with Elder and Red Fang. Nothing like being made to feel welcome in a new place.

Oh, and speaking of Psycho-affiliated, DVNE are also the first client for the fest-promoter’s new management wing. They’ll have a new album out in 2019 to follow-up last year’s much-lauded Asheran, which was released by Wasted State Records.

The PR wire brings tales of things to come:

DVNE: Progressive Metal/Sludge Collective To Make First-Ever US Appearance At Psycho Las Vegas; New Album In The Works

In just a few short weeks, Edinburgh-based progressive metal/sludge behemoths DVNE will make their way stateside to play Psycho Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, followed by a special show at Brick By Brick in San Diego, California with Elder and Red Fang. The two shows will mark DVNE’s first-ever US live performances!

Comments guitarist/vocalist Victor Vicart, “We’re gearing up for the US and couldn’t be more excited to play our first shows over there. Psycho is going to be mental; loads of bands we love and it looks like we’re going to have a three-day non-stop party too. We also have a show in San Diego with Elder and Red Fang the following Monday so our post festival blues are sorted!

“Following those shows,” he continues, “we’ll be back home in Edinburgh and the plan is to lock ourselves in the practice room and finish our next album. We’re really excited to enter the studio again and explore with new sounds and instruments; it’s going to be a blast!”

DVNE recently completed a UK tour supporting New Orleans icons Eyehategod. Lauded The Moshville Times of their performance in Glasgow, “I’ve seen [DVNE] a handful of times now, they’ve always impressed me live, and tonight they were at their best, flying through an absolutely blistering set focused on the Mastodonian Asheran. On yet another uncharacteristically hot Glasgow evening, Audio was stiflingly clammy so as the mellow segue music from Asheran filled the short gaps between songs the guys caught their breath and wiped sweat from their gear. On occasion, vocalist/guitarist Victor Vicart used these pauses to switch between his nine-string and six-string guitars. During the likes of ‘Thirst’ Victor’s vocals and guitar parts acted as lighter, emotive counters to Dudley Tait’s growled hollers and chunkier riffs. All the while Dan Barter’s swift fills and Allan Paterson’s rolling basslines kept the songs driving forward. The local(ish) boys done great!”

DVNE:
8/17/2018 Psycho Las Vegas @ The Hard Rock Hotel And Casino – Las Vegas, NV
8/20/2018 Brick By Brick – San Diego, CA w/ Elder, Red Fang

DVNE (pronounced dune) released the critically-lauded debut full-length, Asheran, last year via Wasted State Records. A sixty-minute epic narrative following the tale of the rise and fall of civilizations, the return of an empire thought millennia lost, and the world-spanning events that consequently unfold, Asheran is steeped in themes of science fiction, environmental issues, and both dystopic and utopic visions for the future of mankind. Asheran was captured at Chambers Studio in Edinburgh, and mixed and mastered by Tom Dring of Vagrant Studios (Dragged Into Sunlight, Venom Prison).

A special orange clear 2xLP edition of Asheran is currently available at THIS LOCATION where the record can be streamed in its stunning entirety.

DVNE features Victor Vicart (guitar, vocals, keys), Daniel Barter (guitar, vocals), Dudley Tait (drums), and Allan Paterson (bass). Forged in 2013, DVNE’s Scottish roots lie with Tait and Paterson, with Vicart hailing from France and Barter from England. DVNE’s debut EP Progenitor was released in December 2013 and was followed the next year by a second EP entitled Aurora Majesty. Both offerings were released via Wasted State Records. Thanks to the excellent critical reception, DVNE quickly began to tour the UK and around Europe sharing stages with the likes of such scene household names as Crowbar, Eyehategod, Inter Arma, Dragged Into Sunlight, and Black Tusk. DVNE unleashed their most ambitious album to date in August 2017. Titled Asheran, the offering was released on 2xLP vinyl, CD, and digitally again via Wasted State Records. Since Asheran’s release, DVNE took on a month-long European headlining tour and recently partnered with Psycho Entertainment, curators of the esteemed Psycho Las Vegas festivals, for management. The union marks Psycho Entertainment’s first ever management venture. DVNE will release their follow-up to Asheran next year with details to be announced in the coming weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://twitter.com/SongsOfArrakis
https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/album/asheran
http://www.wastedstate.com/

DVNE, Asheran (2017)

Scottish heavy progressives DVNE are on the third vinyl pressing of their 2017 album Asheran. That they’d have sold through two is little surprise, considering the breadth and weight the band puts into their material. That should make an interesting pairing when they play with sludge magnates Eyehategod in July in the UK in preparation for their US debut this August at Psycho Las Vegas, where there’s little doubt they’ll turn even more heads in their direction. Every fest has that one band that surprises people, and it’s easy to think DVNE will be that band for many. I hope very much to find out for myself by, you know, being there to see them.

The PR wire brings all the latest on all the latest, and it goes like this:

DVNE: Progressive Metal/Doom Collective Issues Third Pressing Of Asheran On Limited Orange Clear 2xLP; UK Dates With Eyehategod Confirmed + Band To Make US Live Debut At Psycho Las Vegas

Edinburgh-based progressive metal/doom collective DVNE are pleased to unveil the third vinyl pressing of the critically-lauded Asheran full-length debut.

Released last year via Wasted State Records, Asheran is a sixty-minute tapestry of sound; an epic narrative following the tale of the rise and fall of civilizations, the return of an empire thought millennia lost, and the world-spanning events that consequently unfold. Steeped in themes of science fiction, environmental issues, and both dystopic and utopic visions for the future of mankind, Asheran was captured at Chambers Studio in Edinburgh, and mixed and mastered by Tom Dring of Vagrant Studios (Dragged Into Sunlight, Venom Prison).

The orange clear 2xLP edition of Asheran will be released on June 4th via Wasted State Records and is currently available for preorder at THIS LOCATION where the record can be streamed in its stunning entirety.

Since Asheran’s release, DVNE took on a month-long European headlining tour and recently
partnered with Psycho Entertainment, curators of the esteemed Psycho Las Vegas festivals, for management. The union marks Psycho Entertainment’s first ever management venture.

DVNE will bring their psalms to UK stages this July supporting Eyehategod. From there, the band will make their way stateside for their first ever US performance at Psycho Las Vegas followed by a special show at San Diego’s Brick By Brick with Elder and Red Fang with additional live dates to be announced soon.

Comments guitarist/vocalist Victor Vicart of the Psycho appearance, “We’re so stoked to play Psycho this year. It’s the kind of festival we’ve always wanted to be part of because it pushes bands to do something special and different from their regular live performance. We’ve played a lot of small venues and squats in Europe and love the DIY part of the scene, but with Psycho, we have the opportunity to do something with our show we’ve had in mind for a long time. We can’t wait for people to see what we’re working on for the occasion.”

DVNE w/ Eyehategod:
7/01/2018 The Exchange – Bristol, UK
7/02/2018 Brudenell Social Club – Leeds, UK
7/03/2018 Audio – Glasgow, UK
7/04/2018 Rebellion Rock Club – Manchester, UK
7/05/2018 The Underworld – London, UK
8/17/2018 Psycho Las Vegas @ The Hard Rock Hotel And Casino – Las Vegas, NV
8/20/2018 Brick By Brick – San Diego, CA w/ Elder, Red Fang

DVNE (pronounced dune) consists of Victor Vicart (guitar, vocals, keys), Daniel Barter (guitar, vocals), Dudley Tait (drums), and Allan Paterson (bass).

https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/album/asheran
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://twitter.com/SongsOfArrakis
https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
wastedstaterecords.bandcamp.com

DVNE, “Thirst” official video

Edinburgh-based four-piece DVNE have been playing shows steadily around the UK since the 2014 release of their last album, Aurora Majesty, so they haven’t been completely absent or anything like that. Their name tends to pop up in all-dayer lineups and things like that. Still, with three years between that record and the forthcoming Asheran, which the band touts as being an hour-long concept piece set to a story about a lost empire (about which you can read more below), the sense I get is that maybe this record took longer to come together than the standard “well, we’ve got eight songs and here they are”-type release might. Call me crazy.

With just over two months to go before the July 28 release through Wasted State Records, there’s no audio unveiled as yet, but you can see the Eli Quinn cover art and the tracklisting here, courtesy of the band’s Bandcamp page, where both Aurora Majesty and the prior Progenitor EP (review here) are streaming. Dig it:

DVNE – Asheran

Asheran is a 60 minute tapestry of music, an epic narrative following the tale of the rise and fall of civilisations, the return of an empire thought millennia lost, and the world-spanning events that unfold as a consequence.

Rich with themes of science fiction, environmental issues, and both dystopic and utopic visions for the future of humanity, listeners can expect the album to bring the pure heaviness vaunted during Aurora Majesty, whilst at the same time being tempered by the combination of more mature progressive, genre-spanning, and often at times melodic song-writing the band are quickly making their hallmark approach.

Releases July 28, 2017.

— I —
The Crimson Path
Viridian Bloom

— II —
Thirst
Descent Of The Asheran

— III —
Sunsets Grace
Rite Of Seven Mournings

— IV —
Edenfall
Scion

Recorded and produced by Graeme Young at Chamber Studios
chamberstudio.co.uk

Mixed and Mastered by Tom Dring at Vagrant Recordings
vagrant-recordings.co.uk

Artwork by Eli Quinn
Facebook.com/eliquinnart

DVNE is:
Victor Vicart – Guitar, Vocals, Keys
Dan Barter – Guitar & Vocals
Dudley Tait – Drums
Allan Paterson – Bass

Jenni Sneddon – Vocals (Edenfall)

Release date: 28 July 2017 by Wasted State Records
wastedstaterecords.bandcamp.com

https://songs-of-arrakis.bandcamp.com/album/asheran
https://www.instagram.com/dvne_uk/
https://twitter.com/SongsOfArrakis
https://www.facebook.com/DvneUK
wastedstaterecords.bandcamp.com

DVNE, Aurora Majesty (2014)

Space Witch, Hey Colossus, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Dune, and others will take part in the Sonic Mass weekender, a two-night space/sludge freakout happening in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Feb. 20 and 21. The deal is put on by Pisschrist Promotions (one imagines they’re wondering where their savior is now) and Echoes and Dust, and since it looks like a solid way to spend what I’m sure will be some lovely weather in Scotland in February, it seemed prudent to post the info for anyone who might happen to find themselves out that way at the time. So that’s why we’re here. In case it wasn’t obvious.

Which I’m sure it was.

Okay then, off to the PR wire:

Pisschrist Promotions & Echoes and Dust present Sonic Mass Weekender – 20th/21st February – Bannermans Bar, Edinburgh

“Some of us like riffs so much we not only want them to completely destroy our minds but but also conjure new worlds and let us explore them. Luckily, we’ve entered golden age of heavier bands becoming increasingly progressive, pushing new boundaries and delivering on the above in a variety of weird and wonderful ways.” – Rich Collins, Cosmic Carnage co-founder & Echoes and Dust writer

Established doom promoters Pisschrist Promotions are teaming up with Echoes and Dust’s metal team to present the inaugural Sonic Mass Weekender – 2 days of space-rock, prog, sludge, doom and noise in the infamous surroundings of Bannermans Bar in Edinburgh.

Headlined by Hey Colossus on Friday and Space Witch on Saturday, with Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Dune, Voe, Ommadon, BRITNEY, Buried Sleeper and Star Turbine all making appearances, you can expect a full assault on all your senses. Tickets are available at just £13.50 for the whole weekend from here. More info is available on the Sonic Mass Facebook event page here.

“This is a breakthrough event which is more than worth hopping on a train, plane or space craft for. It’s co hosted by Pisschrist Promotions, the most prominent doom promoter north of the border and Sander, the Metal Editor for Echoes and Dust who’s owed a pint by pretty much every heavy band on the planet for his services to the scene.” – Rich Collins

Pisschrist Promotions online:
Facebook

Echoes and Dust online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Psychopomp (2014)

Click Here to Download

[mp3player width=480 height=180 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot42.xml]

Tomorrow here in the US it is Thanksgiving, which has some questionable origins but in practice is actually one of our less-abominable holidays, with a focus on togetherness, good food, and enjoying the company of loved ones. Today, the day before, is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year while people get to wherever they’re going. Even if you don’t manage to find it until after the holiday is over, it seemed only fitting to make a new podcast so that anyone who might want to take it along for the ride would be able to do so.

My head has started to get into year-end wrap-up mode, so don’t be surprised if one or two or three of these bands show up in subsequent “Best Of” coverage. Maybe even four, looking at the list. It’s been a crazy good year, and as it starts to wind its way down and we make our way into the next one, I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to these podcasts and hopefully discovered something you wouldn’t have heard otherwise. That’s really the whole idea.

If you’re traveling by road, rail, or air, I wish you a pleasant journey, and even if you’re staying put, the same applies.

First Hour:
Stubb, “Heavy Blue Sky” from Cry of the Ocean
Murcielago, “Way too Far” from Murcielago
Dune, “Of Blade and Carapace” from Aurora Majesty
The Skull, “Send Judas Down” from For Those Which are Asleep
Elephant Tree, “Attack of the Altaica” from Theia
Renate/Cordate, “Laudanum” from Growth
Mothership, “Serpents Throne” from Mothership II
Space Guerrilla, “Event Horizon” from Boundless
Monster Magnet, “End of Time (B-3)” from Milking the Stars
Memnon Sa, “Megalith” from Citadel

Second Hour:
Soldat Hans, “Meine Liebste; Sie Zerbricht Sich” from Dress Rehearsal
Atavismo, “Meeh” from Desintegración
Øresund Space Collective, “Remnants of the Barbonaeum” from Music for Pogonologists

Total running time: 1:53:26

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 042

On their debut EP, Progenitor, Scottish four-piece Dune successfully meld the varying impulses of metal and desert rock, creating a sound both vast and ambient that shifts smoothly into movements of big-toned crunching aggression. The resulting tracks are not quite stoner metal, which would seem to imply a Sleep influence — there isn’t one here — but a kind of desert metal which finds its variety furthered through the liberal implementation of interludes, particularly on side A of the transparent red, limited-to-300-copies Wasted State Records 12″ vinyl. Out digitally in December 2013 before this June 2014 pressing, it is a short release, topping out at just over 29 minutes, but in that time Dune showcase not only stylistic nuance, but a commitment to standing out in the vinyl form as well, both through the packaging, thick stock and including a liner the aesthetic of which matches the band’s sci-fi thematic, and through the curious division of the interlude “Pillars of Eternity” between the end of side A and the start of side B.

“Pillars of Eternity” is one of three included instrumentals on Progenitor, the other two being the intro, “Gravity Signal,” a building cosmic pulse and noise wash that leads directly into the Kyuss-meets-swirl opening riff of “Protostar,” and the closing linear build of “Orbital Remains,” which caps side B on an engagingly spaced-out note. Maybe because so much of the platter is dedicated to atmospherics it seems surprising when Dune give so much attention to vocal arrangements throughout. The band is made up of guitarists Victor Vicart and Dan Barter, bassist Simon Anger and drummer Dudley Tait, and everyone adds vocals in one form or another, though Anger is credited with backing vocals and Tait with “voice,” so there’s likely some distinction there. In any case, for “Protostar” and “Oscillations of Color,” Dune‘s riffy largesse is met with early-Mastodon growls, giving the EP a feel that would stand in line with sludge if the songs weren’t also so crisply produced or varied in themselves, “Protostar” breaking before its midpoint to a guitar-led ambient section and building back up to full-boar and an impressive solo from there as it rolls on past six and a half minutes. It feeds directly into “Oscillations of Color,” which uses guitar triplet gallop as a central riff around which a memorable chorus and proggy-feeling midsection (topped with distorted outer space spoken word, likely by Tait) circle.

The second vocalized track might be the most accomplished on Progenitor, but side B’s “When Planets Die” and “Red Giant” stand up to it — as did “Protostar,” for that matter — the subdued echoes of “Pillars of Eternity” leading the way out of side A and then, for just a few seconds, building into the drums and sparse guitar at the start of “When Planets Die.” A faster rush and churningly insistent, “When Planets Die” still holds to Dune‘s depth of arrangement and sense of overall control, also proving more straightforward without a break in the middle like the pair comprising the meat of side A, though a few last minute turns are head-spinning before the song ends cold and “Red Giant” picks up with a swell of feedback. I don’t want to spoil, because the arrival makes for Progenitor‘s most glorious payoff, but when the music slows and all the vocals come together on “Red Giant,” it’s reminiscent of the swaying that makes Hull‘s material so triumphant, and Dune might be the only other band I’ve heard do it so well. A driving chaos ensues, and they cap stomping before feedback rings out and fades, letting effects noise give way to “Orbital Remains,” the quiet guitars of which move into a satisfyingly desert-hued progression that gets an apex not overblown — there’d be no point in competing with “Red Giant” anyway — but still enough to make the finale more than an afterthought amidst all the pummel before it.

Dune have such a firm grip on their presentation, it’s easy to forget Progenitor is their debut EP, but there’s still room for them to grow as well. The peaceful vibing of “Orbital Remains” and the subtlety of its linear progression in particular speak to the potential for Dune to do more in their songwriting than offset clobbering riffs with guitar-effects interludes, and indeed, taken as a whole, Progenitor shows that evolution is already underway. It’s a righteously heavy two sides that the Edinburgh foursome have conjured to announce their arrival, and should be welcome for anyone who longs for a few meaner stretches than most heavy rock is willing to provide. Topped off by the Ross McKendrick cover art, whether you’ve read Frank Herbert or not, Dune‘s first vinyl has plenty to offer those who’d set needle to wax.

Dune, Progenitor (2014)

Dune on Thee Facebooks

Dune on Twitter

Dune on Bandcamp

Wasted State Records