DISSECTION — Storm of the Light's Bane (review)

DISSECTION — Storm of the Light's Bane album cover Album · 1995 · Melodic Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
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 There´s been one lineup change since the release of "The Somberlain (1993)" as guitarist John Zwetsloot has been replaced by Johan Norman.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.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I´m actually not a huge fan of Dissection (in the respect that I don´t listen to them often at home), but their albums are high class and I can rate something high even though it´s not something I personally listen to that often, if I think it has something speciel to it.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
It took me a while to get into this band. I have to say though that this second album is much better than the first for my ears at least.

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