SilentScream213 The legendary Storm of the Light’s Bane is considered perhaps the greatest Meloblack album ever put to record, and for good reason. Every track is chock full of dark and icy riffs, thanks in part to its heavy Melodeath influence. You see that beautiful cover art with the reaper on horseback amongst a nocturnal tundra mountain scape? Yeah, this album just sounds like that. The beauty of cold, night, and death are all emanating from the electrifying songwriting here.

Black Metal tends to be a bit one note, and Meloblack is a much more purposeful aversion of that, but even among Meloblack, Dissection give us progressive, complicated, ever changing songwriting with weaves and turns up and down the mountains and through the evergreens. Even some acoustic passages give reprieve from that arctic assault. The vocals are fantastic, quite intelligible and death-touched shrieks. Drumming is lightning quick, but flows like a stream, full of smooth transitions and interesting fills, liberal use of double bass, a perfect mix of interesting and challenging. I need not go on about the guitars; awe-inspiring.

Dissection seem to love sandwiching their masterpiece compositions between useless intros and outros, so unfortunately bookending the album with the weakest and most boring tracks damages its listenability. Other than that, no flaws.

SilentScream213 Yes, this brand of sombre Melodic Black Metal is absolutely to my taste. It also helps that this has huge Melodeath influences, enough so that you could easily give this album the accolade of being at the forefront of both genres. Mixing two genres still in infancy and managing to ace that combination is quite an incredible feat!

That’s what makes The Somberlain unique, but certainly not what makes it good. Every song is packed with excellent riffs that dance the line between evil, sombre, and folky. The drums have an incredible amount of diversity for a Black Metal album (the Melodeath influence is very strong here rhythmically) and you can expect much more than constant blast beats. The rhythm section is always changing, usually quite energetic but slowing down surprisingly often to allow riffs and atmosphere to marinate in a calmer zone.

The vocals sit right between Death growls and Black Metal shrieks, having a nice weight to them but maintaining a raspy enunciation that works very well. Most of the lyrics/themes are standard BM fare, focusing on occult darkness, but they’re well written. I will say, the acoustic interludes really don’t add anything to the album, and would have been more effective if interwoven into the songs. Unfortunately, they hurt the momentum because they aren’t strong enough to stand on their own. Otherwise, a great dark triumph that still stands above a vast majority of the hundreds of attempts at this sound since.

UMUR "ReinkaΩs" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death/black metal act Dissection. The album was released through Black Horizon in April 2006. It´s been quite a few years since the release of "Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)", but that is due to the incarceration of bandleader/vocalist/guitarist Jon Nödtveidt after he was convicted as an accessory to murder in 1997. After his release from prison in 2004, Nödtveidt resurrected Dissection with a new lineup. In addition to Nödtveidt playing guitar and singing, the lineup consists of Set Teitan (guitars, backing Vocals), and Tomas Asklund (drums). The bass is handled by session musician Brice Leclercq. "ReinkaΩs" would be the last Dissection album as Nödtveidt committed suicide in August 2006 only a few months after the release of the album.

None of the above real life chaos can be heard or detected on "ReinkaΩs". Sure the lyrics are dark and occult themed and Dissection aren´t exactly happy campers, but the material on "ReinkaΩs" are tightly delivered and cleverly contructed. Compared to the two predecessors "ReinkaΩs" is only partially black metal oriented. To my ears the music in fact has more in common with melodic death metal, than it has with black metal. Early In Flames often comes to mind, although the use of melody is generally a bit more restrained on "ReinkaΩs", than what their fellow melodeath countrymen produced in their early years. There are also both thrash metal and traditional heavy metal traits featured on the album, and the sound on "ReinkaΩs" is overall an intriguing combination of various stylistic elements. The occasional ethnic Scandinavian folk melody also creeps in.

The quality of the 11 tracks on the 43:01 minutes long album is high throughout. This sounds quite different from the first two albums by Dissection, but the band have managed to create a new sound which is both powerful, sophisticated, and intriguing. "ReinkaΩs" is a pretty riff heavy release, and several of those riffs are killer. Their former ultra melodic black/death metal sound has been toned down a bit, and and while there are still melodic leads, and some quite brilliant melodic guitar solos featured on the album, the use of melody is a bit more restrained here and heavy riffs have taken over. Nödtveidt´s snarling raspy vocals have to great effect been placed high in the mix.

"ReinkaΩs" features a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits the music perfectly. So upon conclusion this is a high quality release in all departments and a great comeback for Dissection. I can understand those who feel that the sound on "ReinkaΩs" is too far removed from the sound on their two 90s albums and that they almost sound like a completely different act, but to my ears the high quality of the album is a major redeemer. If you set your expectations right, and don´t think too much about the band´s past releases, this is a great quality release and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Storm of the Light's Bane" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish black/death metal act Dissection. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in November 1995. There´s been one lineup change since the release of "The Somberlain (1993)" as guitarist John Zwetsloot has been replaced by Johan Norman. Dissection was formed in 1989 and in their original run existed until 1997, when they had to disband as a consequence of lead vocalist/guitarist Jon Nödtveidt having to serve his prison sentence for being convicted as an accessory to murder.

Stylistically the music on "Storm of the Light's Bane" continues the blackened death metal style of "The Somberlain (1993)", but it leans a bit more on the black metal side of the band´s sound than was the case on the predecessor. It´s still a very melodic type of black/death metal with heavy use of guitar harmonies (and the occasional acoustic section and use of folk melodies). There are a few thrashy riffs featured on the album too, but the dominant style is melodic black metal. The vocals are raspy black metal type vocals.

Dissection masterfully create a cold yet epic atmosphere and paired with their considerable playing skills, it´s not hard to understand why so many people hold "Storm of the Light's Bane" in such high regard. It´s one of those albums where they hit the right balance between rawness and melody, which means they don´t go overboard with any of them but instead the listener is treated to both very melodic and very harsh parts, which combined creates the high quality material featured on the album.

It doesn´t make things worse that the album also features a clear, professional, yet raw sounding production, which does the music a lot of justice and helps make it shine. So upon conclusion "Storm of the Light's Bane" is a high quality release and while "The Somberlain (1993)" was certainly a great debut album, I think this sophomore release is just a notch more focused and the songwriting a bit more memorable. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Somberlain" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish black/death metal act Dissection. The album was released through No Fashion Records in December 1993. Along with acts like Unanimated and Necrophobic, Dissection are widely considered among the most prolific Swedish blackened death metal/melodic black metal acts from the 90s.

The music on the album treads the fine line between melodic black metal and blackened death metal. The vocals are mostly raspy and belong in black metal territory, while the riffing style is a bit of both worlds with both fast tremolo picking and more brutal riff based sections. Always layered with ultra melodic lead guitar work though. Often with folk influenced themes. Occasional use of keyboards help bring an epic atmosphere to the album and the classical inspired acoustic guitar interludes that appear a couple of times on the album, work well as breathers. The album is drenched in a melancholic atmosphere, but still quite aggressive and raw.

The musicianship are generally on a high level, although drummer Ole Öhman at times has a clumsy playing style that could have been a bit more imaginative. The classical acoustic guitar interludes played by John Zwetsloot also feature a couple of playing errors, but it´s not a major deal, and the rest of the music is very well played.

The sound production is powerful and suits the music well. Again it´s a feature on the album that sits in the borderland between black and death metal. Too high end sounding to be a "regular" death metal production from those days, and too "low end" to sound like a contemporary black metal release. No matter how you describe it, it´s a suiting production for the music, and that´s what probably matters to most people.

"The Somberlain" is overall a high quality debut release by Dissection, and right off the bat, they spearheaded the Swedish melodic black/blackened death metal scene. While the other artists I mentioned above are also quite prolific in their own right, Dissection has a cult following that those two and other similar size acts can only dream of, and it´s obvious to hear why when you listen to "The Somberlain". It´s simply more convincing on all parameters than most other contemporary releases in the same style and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.