Band:	Divide And Dissolve
Album:	Systemic
Style:	Drone metal
Release date:	June 30, 2023
A review by:	RaduP

01. Want
02. Blood Quantum
03. Derail
04. Simulacra
05. Reproach
06. Indignation
07. Kingdom Of Fear [feat. Minori Sanchiz-Fung]
08. Omnipotent
09. Desire

Divide And Dissolve keep protesting in a loud yet silent manner.

My least favorite type of review is the one for a follow-up of an album I already reviewed where nothing fundamentally changed and I feel like my review of the older album already encapsulates most of what I'd say about the newer one too. Feeling like having to rewrite basically the same thing but with different phrasing feels a bit disingenuous, even if there is some merit in using that review to bring people that may not have read the original review unto this new album. And I do feel like what Divide And Dissolve do is worth people's attention, even if I also feel like a lot of what I appreciated about Gas Lit was the entire novelty and excitement of the concept due to that being the first Divide And Dissolve album that I got into. I'm not sure if I'd have been that enamored with the album if I got into the band with any of the two records that preceded it. So now, arriving at Systemic, it feels like more of the same.

So, to reiterate: Same lineup of saxophonist/guitarist Takiaya Reed and drummer Sylvie Nehill? Check. Anti-imperialist/colonialist themes? Check. Instrumental except for one track that has a spoken word poem? Check. A more abstract and transcendental but nonetheless present emotional baggage in the music? Check. Loud fuzzy sludgy drone interlaced with chamber orchestral music and saxophones? Check. A bit over 30 minutes in runtime? Check. Production by Unknown Mortal Orchestra's Ruban Neilson? Check. What worked for Gas Lit works for Systemic and what didn't work for Gas Lit doesn't work for Systemic either. Scolding Divide And Dissolve for basically releasing the same album twice also doesn't feel very fair considering that this is a niche they carved for themselves and they have every right to continue to work within the box they themselves created.

But for what it's worth, I do feel there are some slight changes on Systemic that might be small but I'm choosing to overstate their significance to grasp at straws. For one, it feels a bit less formless than its predecessors in the way that drone sometimes can be. The riffing can drag on and it does drag on, but it also feels a little bit more direct in its heaviness, and the structure is a lot less loose as a result. There are some moments like "Simulacra" where the pace picks up considerably, moving things into a sludgy grind territory that feels pretty exciting. The classical elements have a bit of a stronger pull, but some of its motifs from "Want" and "Desire" are repeated a bit too much to enjoy the sustained impact they're going for. And, as a result it still feels like there's more potential to the sound than what was actually achieved so far.

Systemic, despite some of its flaws, still showcases why Divide And Dissolve work in this instrumental protest doom, full of emotional resonance and loud dirge riffs.