DVNE

Etemen Aenka METAL BLADE

Sublime post-metal splendour from highest peaks of Scotland

There’s been precious little in the way of hype for this Scottish quintet, which is why Etemen Aenka is such a delightful surprise. Seemingly from nowhere, Dvne have struck gold with their second album – a sprawling, emotional and superbly dynamically vast set of songs that work both individually as riffy progressive metal bangers and, even more so, as part of a breathtaking whole. To hear a metal band lean in hard on the synapsebreaking power of Isis’s post-metal before launching skyward to ape the spine-tingling euphoria of Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig In The Sky, as on Omega Severer, is a jaw-dropping moment. But it’s one of many moments of brilliance on what is surely going to be one of the very best metal albums of any description in 2021. ■■■■■■■■■■

FOR FANS OF: Isis, Mastodon, Deftones STEPHEN HILL