The title for Divide and Dissolve's new album, Insatiable, came to Takiaya Reed in a dream. The multi-instrumentalist and composer had a vision of a better world, one that gelled seamlessly with the optimism of her take on doom metal: “I saw people committing great acts of harm never being happy, and people committing great acts of love, always being happy,” she says. “People are constantly feeding into this genocidal energy, depleting all of these resources in the name of so-called power, just to end up powerless. Whereas people feeding into pathways of love and decolonial energy, honouring loving and benevolent ancestors, experience such a deep sense of fulfilment.” For Takiaya, this is what it means to be “insatiable”; it’s the way we choose either a path of destruction or one of compassion, and experience it to its fullest. “The album’s title hits on so many levels,” she continues. “It’s an album about love, and it feels important to tap into that, now more than ever.”
If all of this sounds a bit heavy, wait until you hear Divide and Dissolve’s music. Already legends on the international doom metal scene, they are able to build upon the genre’s trademark sludgy guitars and thundering drums with Takaiya’s deft and wondrous saxophone, adding a layer of intricacy rarely seen in doom. Over Insatiable’s 10 tracks, Divide and Dissolve run the gamut of doom metal - from the ear-splitting depths of lead single “Monolithic”, to contemplative, dare we even say softer moments, like on the aptly titled songs “Loneliness” and “Grief”. Divide and Dissolve are a band that have honed their sound to a fine point, and yet continue to find new ways to evolve, both musically and conceptually. Like all of Divide and Dissolve’s music, Insatiable is almost entirely instrumental, but is able to convey deep resonance and complexity.
“Most communication is nonverbal,” she explains, laying bare her songwriting process, “we do not need words in order to convey our emotions. The fact that oppressive systems need to end—those emotions can be felt by so many people without explicitly saying it. People know it deep within themselves. I think there's a deep knowing, and hopefully the music explores this.” A prime example of this universal emotionality baked into Divide and Dissolve is “Monolithic”, a song that begins with a wafting, almost soothing saxophone melody before shuddering into a dinosaur-sized guitar riff, spiralling downwards into chaos. While there are no words, you feel the immensity of the band’s intention, an urgent call to imagine a better world before it’s too late.
“It’s an exploration of what people perceive as permanent,” says Takaiya about the inspiration behind “Monolithic”. “I want to debunk this idea of permanence, as if ‘We're permanently going to experience the impacts of colonisation,’ or ‘My ancestors are permanently going to be erased.’ Racism is not permanent - though its effects are lasting // felt deeply. If it is to be permanent, that is a really hard thought to have. The idea of it not being forever is great for the liberation and healing of Black and Indigenous people.” “Monolithic” kicks off a sequence of songs that all seem to mirror each other, passing through quiet fields of ghostly horns and roiling thunderstorms of crashing cymbals and crunchy feedback. This repetition throughout the album acts like a mantra, the same feelings and ideas coming back again and again in a mind-expanding, 30-minute composition. “The music I wrote for Insatiable is definitely a series of repetitions,” states Takaiya. “I see it as a repetitive motion of love: love of self, love of other people, love of community. Repetitive prayers, repetitive hopes and dreams, reinforcing themselves over and over and over again in hopes that something will change. Because that's all we have.”
Being a trailblazer can be difficult sometimes though, and on “Loneliness”, Divide and Dissolve take stock of the ways carving out a life for ourselves in the modern world takes an inevitable toll. Starting with a low horn that almost resembles something out of a desolate horror film, Takiaya interjects with a high pitched, plaintive saxophone, which stretches and blooms into a wailing chorus. It’s powerful and arresting, and not quite like anything the band has released in the past.“I think loneliness is a mechanism of oppression,” says Takaiya.
While the sheer grandiosity of Insatiable represents an evolution in Divide and Dissolve's sound, it also marks the very first time that Takiaya has ever lent vocals to a D//D song. On “Grief” her distorted voice echoes atop a vibrating bass tone, repeating the lyrics: “I don't know what I'm supposed to do/ I'm so lonely without you.” “The voice is such a mysterious instrument, this album feels different, and I wanted to honour that,” says Takaiya.
Insatiable’s last track is titled “Death Cult”, a soul-stirring send-off to the emotional whirlwind the record has taken the listener on. The song speaks to rejecting the narrative that the world has prescribed to us, fighting to live the life we want to live, and the beauty that can be found in the midst of that struggle. “I’m Black and I'm Cherokee and get told all the time that I am predisposed to certain death and suffering. I refuse to accept this as my only reality. I will not be dominated and defined by this fear that the colonial project has presented as my only option. It's time to create new possibilities, new pathways in order for survival to happen—not just survival, but a great life.”
The fact of the matter is, the world needs Divide and Dissolve. Not just because they’re an incredibly astute and heavy-as-hell doom metal band with stomach-churning riffs and neo-classical inflections, but because what they’re saying with their music needs to be heard and acted upon. By design, their music cannot be ignored, and thus, its message will always be there to be echoed // to call us into being. Listen to it, digest it, and become insatiable.
