“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m so lonely without you.”
Being an instrumental project, their themes will pass many listeners by, but those in the know understand that Divide and Dissolve are ostensibly anti-colonialist. Their music is the sound of Taikaya Reed’s struggle to exist, overcome, and find joy in a world which has continually spurned the lives of Black, Cherokee and Two Spirit people. It’s a curious collision of looped woodwinds and drone guitar vignettes, intent on embodying the struggle and triumph of Indigenous people against the ever-propagating colonial machine. In an era where progress is becoming blurred and increasingly “two steps forward, three steps back”, no corner of the art would can be unconscious.
Insatiable is very much aligned with Divide and Dissolve’s existing output, namely their prior LPs Gas Lit and Systemic, a third chapter very much in the style of its siblings. The debut immediately put the project on the map as a visionary experience of avant metal, chamber classical, and noise. The use of simple motifs, repetition and gear plays out in an unusually hypnotic manner. You become transfixed between the gaze of Reed and the drummer as they spar. Systemic further cemented their sound and songwriting approach, offering with stronger production which Insatiable now inherits.
For such thematically charged music, many will find the lack of conventional voices to be the missing element. Perhaps there are simply no words for our current times, as so many have been tried. Previously the poet Minori Sanchiz-Fung featured on moments of Gas Lit and Systemic but in this case, the meaning will largely be communicated outside of its actual sound. Once armed with this context, the power becomes undoubtable.
Once again, the tracks which merge Reed’s woodwinds and guitar that leave the biggest impression, wrapping up Divide and Dissolve’s concept in a single punch. When the massive chords smash through the drifting winds on “Monolithic” and “Provenance”, the air is charged with victory and self actualisation – like a meticulously kept flowerbed is inverted by its own gardener. On these tracks the guitar cuts with the sound of a sawblade, and the duo become intagible, lost in the fog of distortion. Other tracks are fully focused on the guitar and drum duo. “Holding Pattern” is a muted guitar dirge with bass that swells to swallow the whole piece. Guitars are a throbbing ache on “Dichotomy” where all the takes feel completely live, retaining every incidental scrape and beautifully imperfect mute. Reed has worked with two drummers, Scarlett Shreds and Seth Cher, both of whom keep it simple and steady across Insatiable.
It’s rare to find drone guitar music that is succinct – every idea persists for long enough to get lost in, and absolutely no more. The most indulgent sequence is the very, very gradual slowing of “Disintegrate” which finishes the record’s heaviest segment. “Grief” follows with necessary reprieve and a beautiful interlude, introducing (for the first time) Reed’s hushed voice over heavy bass. The record closes with “Death Cult”, a purely woodwind piece conceived as a rejection of forgone suffering for Indigenous peoples worldwide.
Pondering the existence and liberation of Indigenous people, it’s easy to take the bleak view, and Insatiable brings darkness in spades. The quieter moments such as “Hegemonic” and “Loneliness” feel tense and morose. When it’s loud, it’s terrifying – the guitars are sheer and discordant on the likes of “Monolithic” and “Dichotomy”. However, this is only one reading of the sound: Insatiable is in fact motivated by positivity, arguing for this in its own language of sonic supremacy.
Divide and Dissolve wield tremendous power, but unlike the power colonial-capitalism, it’s amplifier wattage, drumstick trajectories, and patience. It’s never been more important to disentangle the sound of the distorted guitar from the type of musician we typically see wielding it – one must enjoy Insatiable picturing the smiles on Reed and her drummer’s faces as they smash out chords and cymbals toward a future of love and liberation.
7/10
Insatiable releases through Bella Union on the 18th April and can be pre-ordered here. Also check out our review of Systemic here, and our coverage of their live show in London.