Review Summary: The best black metal album I've yet to come across.
Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane
Dissection is a black metal band that hails from Sweden. They have become fairly famous over the years and have gained a rather large fan base. They rank among other large black metal bands as Emperor and Darkthrone. The thing that separates this band from the other two is that their production value is much better (it doesn’t sound like it was recorded on an answering machine.) All Dissection fans I have ever come across agree with me in that this is the band’s best album.
The band is:
Vocals, guitars: Jon Nodtveidt
Guitars: Johan Norman
Bass: Peter Palmdahl
Drums: Tobias Kjellgren
What was good about the album:
-- My favorite part about this entire black metal experience had to be the guitar riffs. They always impress me, whether they’re playing beautiful melodic parts or low end chugging parts. I’m always stunned by Jon and Johan’s work in this album. While solos aren’t as important on this album, the impressive and technical riffing certainly make up for it. It’s something every metal fan should listen to.
-- The drumming. Black metal is notorious for having really fast and difficult drum parts, and Dissection lives up to this. Tobias will make you sweat with his unrelenting blast beats and wicked fast double bass drumming. He’ll also stop from this all the time and have some really cool tom fills, too. Drummers and metal heads alike will like the drumming.
-- The vocals. They’re raw, evil, and everything else that black metal vocalists should have. If you’re a fan of black metal vocals then Dissection is a great band to check out. They’ve got one of the best black metal vocalists around.
-- My favorite song has to be Night’s Blood. There is never a dull moment and the riffs just keep getting better and better. The song is also loaded with pummeling drums and evil vocals. The lyrics are also really awesome, although really hard to understand without having them in front of you. There are also some time changes which will impress the musicians out there, and an acoustic break! And to conclude it all, the riff at 5:33 is just pure, unadulterated awesomeness. It’s a killer track and quite possibly the best black metal song to date.
What was bad about the album:
-- The fact that the bass doesn’t stand out that much. I’m sure that Peter is a very accomplished musician, but the band just doesn’t give him any real time to mess around and show off. Bass has never really stood out all that much in the black metal genre, but it would be nice to see something different.
-- The album is rather short. It only spans over eight tracks, so it won’t be that long before the album is over and you find yourself saying “That’s it! Crap! I wanted more!" For the short time it plays, it’s great. But it would have been better if the band put a few more songs on the album.
-- Some people may not like the heaviness of this album. It’s pretty rough if you’re not used to the metal genre.
Recommended Tracks:
In all honesty, there isn’t a bad track on here. I fully recommend all of them.
This album is a black metal masterpiece, plain and simple. It ranks right up there with Emperor’s In the Nightside Eclipse and Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger. If you’re a fan of metal or a musician, I highly recommend this band. They play some really awesome riffs and beats that would impress most listeners. I really suggest that you all check this album out A.S.A.P. It will be worth your while and money.
Final Rating: 5/5
I really like black metal and I love melodic stuff, so melodic black metal should logically be a musical orgasm for me.
