Dissection was formed in 1989 by frontman Jon Nodtveidt in Sweden. In 1993, he had recruited a full band, and 'The Somberlain' was released. Two years later, in 1995, Dissection released the classic 'Storm of The Light's Bane'
The band came to a halt in 1997, when Jon was convicted of being an accopmplis in the murder of a homosexual man. He recieved a seven year sentence for this, he was released sometime last week (August 04). Dissection's lineup is totally revamped (with the exception of frontman Jon) for the new material, a new single is expected sometime in September.
The lineup for Storm of the light's Bane is...
Jon Nodtveidt - Vocals, lead/rhythm guitars
Johan Norman - Rhythm Guitars
Peter Palmdahl - Bass
Ole Ohman - Battery (Drums)
At the Fathomless Depths - This is an opening track, the guitars get going with a rhythm part of just chords, then in comes the lead guitar, playing an eerie lead part. This sets the stage for the rest of the album.
3/5 Good Intro track
Night's Blood - Starts off with a nice drum fill, then into the blaring guitars that Dissection is known for. Right off the bat, there is a solo which leads right into the verse, full of technical yet melodic guitars. Jon's voice echoes through this track beautifully. The song continues this melodic tone up through the chorus, along with incredible drumming. The interlude between the chorus and the second verse fits perfectly, it's just a stop with tremelo picked guitars and building drums, then back into the chaos that is known as Dissection. About three minutes in, the song changes direction with an acoustic part, i like this part alot. I especially like the riff after the guitar part, full of harmony, melody, and speed, this harmony and speed weaves itself in and out of the rest of the riffs in this song which weaves itself in and out of the verse and chorus riffs, ending with the solo from the beginning of the song.
4.5/5 Great track.
Unhallowed - This song takes more of a raw black metal approach, atleast at the beginning of the song it does with tremelo picked chords. They break from this shell in the chorus, with somewhat of a thrashy riff turned melodic, they do it extremely well before they return to tremelo picking. There is a complete pause, before returning to the verse again. The rest of the song consists of more tremelo picked chords, this part is also less melodic black metal. After this tremelo picking, a lead fill appears, it's slow but fits perfect with the song, i love this part, then the song returns to it's tremelo picking forms. The song then, basically, repeats itself from here, with the addition of an acoustic part about five and half minutes in to the song.
3.5/5 I usually skip this track because it repeats itself alot.
Where Dead Angels Lie - Song starts with an eerie acoustic part, then blasts into a distortion part. The bridge to this song, is like the calm before the storm, a harmony part, that fits perfect. Then into the verse, one guitar doing lead, the other playing chords along with Jon's epic voice. Another interlude before the chorus, more lead guitar action here. The chorus is incredible, even though it is simple. Blasting guitar chords with lead guitar action and Jon's voice. Perfect here, before returning to the verse and the chorus once again. At the end of the second chorus, there is a solo that emerges from the lead fill, it fits perfectly with the song. Right from the solo, into an acoustic part, with drums still going in the background (though softer). From this clean part, comes a blast of energy with the guitars, tremelo picked perfectly, right into a part in 3/4 before returning to the first distortion riff, ending on the harmony part from the beginning of the song. This song is Brilliance, 5/5. Best track on the album.
Retribution - This song starts off fast, full of melody, Before going into a somewhat thrashy riff for the verse, the chorus is also melodic. This pattern repeats with drumming that 'speeds up' the song without the tempo changing. About halfway through, the song slows down with a nice riff, with leads into a melodic thrash riff full of harmony parts, this leads right into a solo incorporating riffs from earlier in this song in the rhythm. Now the song is really picking up, with lots of harmony here. The song then ends on the verse.
4.5/5 Excellent
Thorns of Crimson Death - Starts off clean (not acoustic) with delay on, the opening to this song is absolutely beautiful. This is broken by guitars coming at you from everywhere, the lead here is not as distinct but it sets the tone for the song. The song pauses for an interlude, broken by a drum fill, into a typical Dissection type riff full of palm mutes and chords with lead guitars over top accompanied by Jon's shrieks. About halfway through, the song pauses for a bassline, which is followed by guitars, this song really picks up here for a bit, this speed is broken by tremelo picked guitars and blasting drums.The song suddenly slows down a bit, for more of Jon's vocals. I especially like this part. About five minutes in, there is a clean part, very eerie with thunder and lightning in the background. This doesn't last long as slow guitars come back in to the mix, along with another lead fill/solo. The song then picks up again to finish, more tremelo picking with harmony parts all over the place, this time with simple drums.
5/5 Great track
Soulreaper - This song is more raw black metal than the rest (though it's not raw like Darkthrone). Only Dissection can pull off Harmony parts with black metal. The sound slows down for some tremelo picking, with harmony before returning to it's black metal state. Soon in comes a lead guitar part, this part is exceptionally good, leading right into Jon's vocals. The next part is full of tremelo picking, with an acoustic guitar played over it, making for a very interesting sound. After a brief interlude, the song returns to the beginning riff and repeats itself.
4/5 Good stuff here.
No Dreams Breed in Breathless sleep - This is an outro track, all it is piano. The song is sad and depressing, and played very well.
3/5 A Good outro.
This album gets 5/5. Great stuff here, the guitars blend together perfectly, every aspect of musicianship here is top notch (Especially the drumming.) I highly recomend this album to anyone in death/black/melodic metal, it combines all three of those elements.
