Dissection "Reinkaos (Enhanced CD, Digipak, Mexico, Scarecrow Records, SC 06264)"

Reinkaos (stylised as REINKAΩS) is the third and final studio album by Swedish black/melodic death metal band Dissection. The album was released through the band's own label Black Horizon Music, which they had formed "out of the need of taking charge of our own business and making things our own way, without compromise". Reinkaos is also available as autographed limited first edition: CD packed in exclusive embossed slipcase, limited to 1,001 hand-numbered copies signed by the band members; including the music video for "Starless Aeon" and a sticker.

The album is less influenced by traditional black metal and closer to Gothenburg metal or traditional heavy metal than Dissection's former albums, but, according to Decibel journalist Chris D., still "very much Nödtveidt and very much Dissection". The lyrics reflect the occult tenets of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order and are "based on invocations and formulas that have been linked into the lyrics to evoke the powers that they represent. Occult musical theory has been applied in the song writing process as a means of symbolically charging their structures. They have also been written inspired by scientific ideas such as string theory etc. The songs have all been written with the intention of using sounds and vibrations as an Anti-Cosmic tool and they have all been consciously created to be the vessels for these powers."

Tracklist:

1. Nexion 218 01:32   
2. Beyond the Horizon 05:20
3. Starless Aeon 03:59   
4. Black Dragon 04:48  
5. Dark Mother Divine 05:44
6. Xeper-i-Set 03:08   
7. Chaosophia 00:41  
8. God of Forbidden Light 03:42
9. Reinkaos 04:43  
10. Internal Fire 03:20   
11. Maha Kali 06:04   

Time:  43:01  

Enhanced content:

- Starless Aeon (Video)

All songs written by J. Nödtveidt and Frater Nemidial.

Esoteric expressions taken from the book Liber Azerate by Frater Nemidial and the teachings of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order (now known as the Temple of the Black Light).

The album title is stylised as "REINKAΩS", with a Greek uppercase omega.

Also available as limited enhanced autographed and numbered first edition:

CD packed in exclusive embossed slipcase, limited to 1001 hand-numbered copies and signed by the band members; includes video for "Starless Aeon" and a sticker.

Also available as a limited enhanced numbered second edition:

CD packed in exclusive embossed slipcase with red hendecagram on front cover, limited to 999 hand-numbered copies, includes video for "Starless Aeon" and an iron-on patch.

Official tape-version released by Satanic Propaganda Records.

Official music video:

- Starless Aeon

Recording information:

Produced by Dissection with Nightmare Industries.

Recorded at Black Syndicate Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.

Mastered at Cutting Room, Solna, Sweden.

Dissection "The Somberlain (Remastered, Japan, Victor Entertainment, Inc., VICP-5491)"

The Somberlain is the debut studio album by Swedish black metal band Dissection, released on 3 December 1993 by No Fashion Records. It went on to become a highly influential release in black metal as a foundational work for the subgenre known as melodic black metal. It is the only studio album with guitarist John Zwetsloot, who was fired a year later.

The band dedicated the album to Euronymous, who had been murdered in August the same year. This is the only album that features the band's original lineup. The artwork was created by Kristian "Necrolord" Wåhlin. The album was composed and arranged between 1989 and 1993, and was recorded between 1 and 6 March 1993.

Noticing similarities to death metal bands At the Gates, Sentenced and Necrophobic, Deathmetal.org stated that Dissection utilizes black metal's technique, but embraces a different aesthetic from that genre, lacking its "flow and inscrutability." According to No Clean Singing, "Dissection made their name by infusing their black metal with a layer of melody which ensured that each song was memorable, together with strong musicianship and compelling lyrics and imagery. By keeping most of their NWOBHM-isms in the minor scale, they maintained a sense of darkness and foreboding over the blasting, thrashing framework of technically-proficient black metal.

Kyle Ward of Sputnikmusic argued that "Dissection is known for combining intricate, harmonized guitar leads with the raw force of Black Metal", and that "while each song has its own melodic riffs respectively, there are some where the song is full of these melodic riffs, and vocals just as epic and melodic." He also noted the significant stylistic differences between this album and Dissection's following album, Storm of the Light's Bane. Metal Injection's Atanamar Sunyata wrote that "Dissection drew deeply from Bathory's legacy. Unlike their peers, however, Dissection looked beyond the atonal seethings of Under The Sign of the Black Mark, taking direction from Quorthon's later, more epic leanings." He described the album as "steeped in the sinister miasma of black metal's ethos", while noting that the band "discarded less of metal's traditional tropes than their contemporaries. Classical constructs guide the album's course and teeming thrash provides its foundation."

The album was reissued in 1997 by Nuclear Blast Records and again in 2004 by Black Lodge. Black Lodge also released a special edition set in 2005 limited to 666 copies, packaged in a wooden box along with a T-shirt and a sticker. The album was re-released most recently in 2006 by The End Records in a two-disc set, containing the original album, an unreleased live recording from 1995, the Into Infinite Obscurity EP from 1991, a demo from 1992, The Grief Prophecy demo from 1990, a rehearsal from 1990, and the Satanized rehearsal from 1990. All content is remastered, packaged in a slipcase, and is touted as the "Ultimate Reissue". The album was remastered from the original tapes by Håkan Åkesson at Cutting Room Studios in Stockholm.

Though often overshadowed by the band's following album Storm of the Light's Bane, The Somberlain has been well received by music critics and fans. Blabbermouth wrote that the album was released "to critical acclaim and today the power and passion of that release still resonates as bright as it did back then", calling it an "instant classic".

Metal Injection called it an "essential" black metal album, writing that the album "is exploding with addictive, memorable hooks. Singular, unforgettable melodies overlay sinuous, quick-draw dynamics. Dual harmonies are perfectly executed in rapid-fire waves." They singled out the album's title track as "one of metal's greatest moments", describing the song as "delivering transformative, metal-thrashing transcendence." Kyle Ward wrote a detailed review of the album for Sputnikmusic, describing it as "unrelenting, epic, melodic, heavy, somber, brutal, emotional, and technical all in one". He also argued that "For most band's [sic], a CD like this would be their masterpiece, but with Dissection, it's just another album, not to mention their debut."

Deathmetal.org, however, asserts that the album's rock and roll moments keep it outside the "black metal canon", stating that although The Somberlain manages to create an atmosphere, it "falls short of finding a synthesis of feeling and action as underground black metal in its inventive era did."

Tracklist:

1. Black Horizons 08:12
2. The Somberlain 07:08   
3. Crimson Towers 00:50
4. A Land Forlorn 06:40   
5. Heaven's Damnation 04:42  
6. Frozen 03:48   
7. Into Infinite Obscurity 01:06  
8. In the Cold Winds of Nowhere 04:22
9. The Grief Prophecy / Shadows over a Lost Kingdom 03:32  
10. Mistress of the Bleeding Sorrow 04:37   
11. Feathers Fell 00:41
12. Son of the Mourning 03:13  

Time:  48:51  

Part of Victor Entertainment's "Pure Metal" series.

This album is eternally dedicated to the memory of Euronymous and the cursed Mayhem.

The introduction to Black Horizons starts with a phrase being played backwards, that phrase is "Frost is spreading across the plain to welcome the eternal night". This phrase is later used as a lyric on their song Where Dead Angels Lie, on their next album Storm of the Light's Bane.

Recording information:

Recorded March 1-6 1993 at Hellspawn/Unisound studios.

Produced by Dissection, engineered by Dan Swanö.

Dissection "Storm Of The Light's Bane (USA, Nuclear Blast America, NBA 6129-2)"

Storm of the Light's Bane is the second studio album by Swedish black metal band Dissection, released on 17 November 1995 by Nuclear Blast Records. It is the first album with guitarist Johan Norman, who replaced John Zwetsloot.

This would be the band's last full-length album before frontman Jon Nödtveidt's 1997 incarceration for the felony murder of Josef ben Meddour. It would not be until 2006 that they would release their third and final album Reinkaos, which was followed by the breakup of the band and Nödtveidt's suicide shortly after. As with the band's debut album, Kristian "Necrolord" Wåhlin created the artwork.

Several publications have called the album a "masterpiece" and "one of the best black metal albums ever written".

The album is notable for being one of the earliest and most successful examples of a band combining black metal with the melodic death metal sound that was developing in Gothenburg around the time of this album's release. Metal Hammer said "While Sweden's Dissection were very much black metal in terms of ideology and atmosphere, they also featured noticeable elements of the melodic death metal movement exploding in their home country, as well as classic '80s heavy metal." Dave Schalek wrote that "the songs are cold, dark, evil and extreme." OC Weekly have described the album as "extreme and aggressive but also primeval and classically orchestrated with heavy echoes of drums and haunting melodies hidden throughout the darkness."

In an interview, Jon Nödtveidt said that though "everything we do is connected through death in one way or another. This is not an album where all the songs follow a story. On this record, all the songs and music are different but still have that death theme within them to tie them in some form or another." He also added that "We never limit ourselves even if we feel we play dark, death metal. We don't write our music to fit into a certain pattern."

In 1995, Nuclear Blast released a Europe-exclusive special digipak version of the album limited to 500 copies, which upon unfolding formed the shape of a cross with the song's lyrics printed on the sleeves. It was re-released in 2002 as a digipak (catalogue number: NB 646-2), this time with the 1997 EP Where Dead Angels Lie as bonus tracks. The Japanese edition features the bonus track "Feathers Fell" as track 5, in between "Where Dead Angels Lie" and "Retribution – Storm of the Light's Bane". The album was re-released once again in 2006 by The End Records in a two-disc set, and includes the Where Dead Angels Lie EP, an unreleased EP from 1994 featuring two songs from the album, and an "alternate mix" version of the full album, all remastered from the original master tapes by Håkan Åkesson at Cutting Room Studios in Stockholm, and packaged in a slipcase. This version is touted as the "Ultimate Reissue".

The album is routinely cited as a landmark album in the history of black metal, and as one of the earliest examples of a band blending black metal and death metal, more particularly, melodic death metal.

In his review of the album for AllMusic, William York described all of the album's songs as "expertly crafted mini-epics" with thematic unity and memorable melodies, adding that the album is "deservedly hailed as a landmark" of the genre.

Sputnikmusic mentions the attention to detail in the music and the "meticulous structure" of each song, naming the album the legacy of the band.

Metal Hammer named it one of the 20 best black metal albums of the 90s, noting the influence of melodic death metal, and describing it as "a melodic, majestic and gloriously epic listen that features a measured, bombastic tone yet also makes use of furious, high-paced delivery when necessary."

Loudwire describe it as a "milestone in extreme metal" and "one to chill the bones and the only one of its kind."

In 2023, Andy O'Connor of Spin wrote: "It’s nothing short of breathtaking: Melodies are deliberately labored for optimal resonance, yet they feel as natural as wind and sunlight. [...] It’s totally possible to recognize someone who did what [Nödtveidt] did was also capable of making highly affecting music, though it doesn’t make it easier to stomach. Every artist’s dream is to live forever through their work, right? Nödtveidt got what he wanted: His melodies will always be bigger than him. Even if we can’t fully untangle Dissection from its creator, it’s not impossible to liberate those melodies in some way. They’re too good to be shamefully chained."

Tracklist:

1. "At the Fathomless Depths" (instrumental) Nödtveidt 1:56
2. "Night's Blood" Nödtveidt Nödtveidt/Zwetsloot 6:41
3. "Unhallowed" Nödtveidt/Tony Särkkä Nödtveidt/Norman 7:28
4. "Where Dead Angels Lie" Nödtveidt Nödtveidt 5:53
5. "Retribution – Storm of the Light's Bane" Nödtveidt Nödtveidt/Zwetsloot 4:51
6. "Thorns of Crimson Death" Nödtveidt Nödtveidt/Norman 8:06
7. "Soulreaper" Nödtveidt Nödtveidt/Norman 6:56
8. "No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep" (instrumental) Alexandra Balogh 1:26

Total length: 43:16

Comes with an 8-page booklet with English lyrics.

Features an EastWest logo on the back cover.

The first press does not feature "Manufactured in Germany" on the back cover above the barcode.

According to a 1995 interview with Jon Nödtveidt, the title means "the end of light", or "the light's damnation", which is "the main concept of [their] music and lyrics, and so it fits really well".

"Composed and arranged during hours of darkness between 1993 and 1995."

  

Recording information:

Recorded at Hellspawn / Unisound Studios between the 17th and 30th of March 1995.

Composed and arranged during hours of darkness in 1993-95.

Produced by Dissection.

Dissection – arrangement and production

Dan Swanö – recording, engineering and mixing

Håkan Åkesson – mastering and remastering (2006)

Necrolord – cover artwork

Oscar Matsson – photography