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As a fan of The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane, I had mixed feelings about the prospect of a new Dissection album, especially after hearing "Maha Kali" last year. It was quite a departure from the Dissection of old. The MP3s of "Xeper-I-Set" and "Starless Aeon" were good, but something was missing. I bought the album anyway, and while it's certainly not the same Dissection I remember, it's not bad at all, despite some of the negative comments I've read on various message forums.
First of all, the black metal elements of the past are practically absent from the music. Lyrically, ol' Jon Nodtveidt's laying his "anti-cosmic" concept on pretty thick, but anyone buying this album was probably expecting it anyway. Some of it starts to get pretty redundant, but no surprises there. Back to the music, it's straightforward for the most part. Minimal traces of keyboards in a couple of places, and some female vocals on the final track (the aforementioned "Maha Kali"), but other than that it's refreshingly simple. Quality riffs and classic Nodtveidt melodies. Asklund is no Ole Ohman in the drum deparments - for better or worse, Ole was one of my favorite drummers among the Swedish bands - but he's solid.
I didn't buy this expecting anything extreme. Dissection was never a flashy band or heavily technical. I've read the In Flames comparisons, and they're valid only in that Reinkaos is closer to old melodic death metal than the black-death hybrid Dissection once was. Dissection songs were always melody-based anyway, and that hasn't changed. Good production, not exactly raw and yet not overly polished in my opinion. The guitars sound excellent, and the drums are a happy medium, neither clicky nor boomy. No bass credits were listed in the booklet, and if there is bass in the mix, it's lumped in with the guitars, although the low end didn't seem lacking.
As Dissection studio albums go, it unquestionably ranks behind the others, but compared to what I've heard from other bands so far this year, it's one of the best. I'm satisfied, and if this is truly Dissection's final release, then it was good enough for me.
First of all, the black metal elements of the past are practically absent from the music. Lyrically, ol' Jon Nodtveidt's laying his "anti-cosmic" concept on pretty thick, but anyone buying this album was probably expecting it anyway. Some of it starts to get pretty redundant, but no surprises there. Back to the music, it's straightforward for the most part. Minimal traces of keyboards in a couple of places, and some female vocals on the final track (the aforementioned "Maha Kali"), but other than that it's refreshingly simple. Quality riffs and classic Nodtveidt melodies. Asklund is no Ole Ohman in the drum deparments - for better or worse, Ole was one of my favorite drummers among the Swedish bands - but he's solid.
I didn't buy this expecting anything extreme. Dissection was never a flashy band or heavily technical. I've read the In Flames comparisons, and they're valid only in that Reinkaos is closer to old melodic death metal than the black-death hybrid Dissection once was. Dissection songs were always melody-based anyway, and that hasn't changed. Good production, not exactly raw and yet not overly polished in my opinion. The guitars sound excellent, and the drums are a happy medium, neither clicky nor boomy. No bass credits were listed in the booklet, and if there is bass in the mix, it's lumped in with the guitars, although the low end didn't seem lacking.
As Dissection studio albums go, it unquestionably ranks behind the others, but compared to what I've heard from other bands so far this year, it's one of the best. I'm satisfied, and if this is truly Dissection's final release, then it was good enough for me.