Dvne, 19th June 2024, Gehenna, Copenhell Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark

Photo: Zoran www.sonic-shot.com

In 2021 Scottish Dvne released Etemen Ænka which ended up being one of the strongest releases of the year and in fact an album that helped define progressive metal in this time and age. Few months ago Dvne released the difficult follow-up Voidkind, which was more than a worthy successor and much as expected the new album was heavily represented in the setlist at their Copenhell debut. Perhaps a bit too much.

It rarely happens that the band is on stage in minutes prior to their concert working on sound by playing some of hew songs from the setlist of the day. It kind of seemed odd, but it’s one of the hurdles of being a small band at the big festival, I guess.

But taking into the consideration that majority of the crowd at the festival’s smallest stage Gehenna was not familiar with the band, it didn’t matter all that much.

And it was for sure all forgotten as the band opened their show with a live-must “Si-XIV” from aforementioned Etemen Ænka. Despite that soundcheck, the first song was marked with substantial sound issues, so much so that the band had to take some time to fix them before continuing the show. Dvne managed to adjust the sound and from then on, the band sounded good, with additional uneven balances between the vocals. But that’s what sometimes happens, especially when there are three singers in the band.

Etemen Ænka might have been a monumental record for the band, but in terms of general reach the new album looks like a step-up. It seems like the album is getting reviewed more, so lots of focus on it in live setting makes sense. Still, playing basically an entire show with only songs from one album is hard to pull off. What helped the band get away with it was, ironically, the fact that most of the crowd were not familiar with the band.

The band delivered an intense and blistering performance, with especially the guitar work (and that guitar tone) coming across as creative and sharp. Hopefully the band will play one of their clubs shows in Copenhagen soon, where existing fans and those who became curious about the band because of this solid performance, could see the band in their right element. A headlining show at a club where they can focus on three albums worth of material and where the intensity of the band truly shines through.