About this artist
Unrelenting and dynamic, Australian duo Divide and Dissolve create an avalanche of sound that combines the creeping dread of sludge metal, blasts of noise, and tension-building passages of avant-classical ambience. Their primarily instrumental sound was inspired by charged sociopolitical ideologies, and their 2020 album Gas Lit explored themes of dismantling white supremacy and oppressive power dynamics.
Divide and Dissolve was formed in 2017 by drummer Sylvie Nehill and saxophonist/guitarist Takiaya Reed. Both players also used effects to manipulate their sound in a live setting. The band’s first recordings surfaced shortly after they formed with Basic, released in March 2017. Their drony, ambient metal sound was joined by the human voice only on Basic’s final track, when spoken word artist Minori Sanchiz-Fung recited a text they’d written over Divide and Dissolve’s caustic outpourings. Second album Abomination surfaced in 2018, and in 2020, the group released the two-song 7″ single TFW with Saddle Creek. In January 2021, the band issued the full-length album Gas Lit, with production help from Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson. ~ Fred Thomas