Dool – The Shape of Fluidity
Prophecy – 2024
Rock, Metal, Doom, Prog
Rated: *****
Today they will be playing Roadburn… But I believe it was 2006 when I had the pleasure of interviewing Raven van Dorst, who was then known under the name and fronting the punk band Elle Bandita. The band was one of the few guitar driven acts on an otherwise mostly dance and electro based line-up of that years STRP Festival in Eindhoven. The festival has since then changed into a totally different animal and so has Raven. And where there’s definitely a miniscule bit of sadness for the loss of the music performance side of the STRP Festival, we can only rejoice at everything Raven has become. Now fronting Dool, the band featuring Nick Polak on guitar, Omar Kleiss on guitar, JB van der Wal on bass and Micha Haring on drums, Raven seems exactly where she should be as they release their third full-sized album The Shape of Fluidity. This doesn’t mean that the overall theme of the album is lighthearted. Where debut album Here Now, There Then might have already been touching the subjects on this album it felt to diverse to completely come across in the way they must have meant it. Following Summerland told the lore of an afterlife tailored to each’s own desires and sense of beauty. The Shape of Fluidity is about one’s identity in this fast moving society. About personal growth and all the psychological strife, one might go through existing in this day and age. Musically, we hear an even opener and bigger sound than on the already huge Summerland record. Like a storm approaching in the distance, you can hear the sound pick up when the song demands for it or Raven’s vocals, which are like a tempest onto themselves. Or more subdued when needed like on the title track. And that’s perhaps the main theme on this album, that the band has found their own sound and that the album sounds more like team work in comparison to earlier albums. The way the guitars are intertwined to such a degree its hard to tell who is who or how the bass and drums weave themselves through it all and never over or under it. It sounds so perfectly balanced, like all of it, every note, every phrase and every beat was found and arranged together. There is still some of that dream like mist floating across these almost fifty minutes, which was so prevalent on Summerland, but all of it has become hookier and with so many layers, that The Shape of Fluidity will keep opening up new scenes for you. The Shape of Fluidity will undoubtedly change for you over time and grow with you, and there aren’t that many albums that have that ability…
(Written by JK)
Homepage
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram