Hey there tech fiends, it's that time of the week again. Before we dive into today's focus, here's the usual weekly reminder that if you're looking for even more sick bands to hear, all prior editions of this series can be perused here.
Today’s focus is an early exclusive stream of Divinization from the Indiana-based studio project Dream Void. Divinization comes out this Friday, June 14th. If you’ve been checking in, Dream Void is a group you may know, as I’ve helped do early streams for their initial 2016 EP, Deceptive Dreamscape, and their 2017 second EP, Sanctimonious. This is a fun group who plays a deathcore and brutal death metal inflected form of tech-death that’s evolved considerably into something more serious and unique with the release of Sanctimonious. That release saw them take a considerable leap forward by way of re-molding their sound around an atmospheric approach inspired by Fallujah. The result of them doing so still stands out to me as one of the finest efforts inspired by Fallujah to date because it's an exercise in dynamics and contrast, not just trying to make something pretty and ethereal overall.
All of that prior backstory is worth mentioning because this shift in sound that saw Dream Void tackling an atmospheric form of tech-death on Sanctimonious continues to play a big role once again on Divinization. Albeit, further refined and aided by new elements and influences most noticeably from Archspire both instrumentally and vocally. Divinization favors quality over quantity with five compact songs clocking in at just over twenty minutes. The opener, “Believing The Lie” sets the stage for what the release consists of as it cycles from lush opening passages to blinding speed and heaviness at just the right pacing, with frenzied shotgun-style vocals upping the brutality while sprinkling in some interesting piano layers and djenty grooves within latter portions of the song.
I wouldn’t say that the songs following the opener are formed in the same mold per se, but, there is a distinct shared similarity in how they are also built on contrasting calm and murderous destructive tendencies with ease and those shifts always being introduced in an impactful way. Additionally, there is more of an emphasis this time on the atmospheric part of Dream Void’s sound being woven into the background of their heavier, brutal, and groovy parts outside of it's separate purely atmospheric focused sections.
I asked the duo if I could get some more information on Divinization and vocalist Drew Keedy shared that “Divinization is an album about a religious cult whose prophecy entails tricking a man into thinking he is world’s savior, when in fact he is the vessel for the bringer of the apocalypse. This EP has been written over the course of the two years since the release of Sanctimonious and we have received input and assistance from highly respected peers and other members of the metal community. We are honored to have names such as Michael Alvarez, Riley McShane and Ben Duerr help us bring this EP to its fullest potential. Riley is the first clean vocalist on a Dream Void recording and his work on Son of Aurelius – Under A Western Sun has been inspirational for years.
This EP brings the apex of our abilities, and while it may very well be our last release, we hope you enjoy it knowing that we put our all into every track. We have both moved on to other projects and would love for you to take the time to listen to Bodhi and Emulsified and join us in what the future brings.”
Between the impressive quality of the five songs on Divinization that guitarist and songwriter Justin Seymour and vocalist Drew Keedy have crafted, sick guest spots from Flub vocalist Michael Alvarez on “Believing The Lie”, Allegaeon vocalist Riley McShane adding clean singing on “Immuration” and Shadow of Intent’s beastly vocalist Ben Duerr guesting on closer “Permeation” all add even more exciting moments to an already sonically rich experience. There’s a lot to love throughout the whole release, so check out our early stream of Divinization below. If you’re into it, pre-orders can be placed through the Dream Void Bandcamp Page. You can follow the group over on the Dream Void Facebook Page.
