### Dissection: Reinkaos

#### 06/05/11 || Habakuk

I don’t enjoy weird, satanicosmoccult beliefs involving a lot of cool number codes. I don’t think killing people is very cool. Killing yourself for some religious ritual is something I consider full-on retarded. I could go on, but good thing I’m not reviewing Jon Nödtveidt here. I must admit I wouldn’t have known him too well anyway, but based on the above he’d probably clock in at something like 1.

I do claim for myself however that I do know some things about my metal, which shall be the basis for this review, not so much the main persona behind it. And you see, I don’t even like melodic death metal. Which is what this is, plain and simple, and far far away from the death/black endeavors of “The Somberlain” and “Storm of the Light’s Bane”. And that remoteness to Dissection’s early stuff is the main gripe I gather from most people’s negative reviews of “Reinkaos”, but this album being my first real contact with the band I can say that hasn’t bothered me in the slightest. I think this is damn good.

With a sincere thank you to ex-staffer Trauma who, obviously a man of his word, sent me an mp3 collection containing this album across the Atlantic after coming over here himself, let’s now see why exactly:

Three things stand out as especially awesome: Firstly, the razor-sharp and tight guitars with countless hooks, lead sections and efficient, to-the-point riffs that propel the songs fabulously. Secondly, Nödtveidt’s absolutely flawless vocal performance. To me, his lyrics may be nothing more than your standard evil metal fare about whatever number represents Satan best, but apparently this shit meant something to him (hence the self-killing and all), and every syllable shows his conviction. From a pure musical perspective, the result is fantastic. And last but not least, the songwriting. Catchy, no-frills tunes from start to finish make sure the 43 minutes this album lasts are time well-spent. There are no moments where the music loses focus and wanders off. Melodies are not thrown at the listener for the sake of complexity, gayness or show, but come across as purposeful and logical. In a balanced mix, everything flows into place perfectly, and watching this meticulous assembly culminate in fantastic tunes like the brilliant “Starless Aeon” and “Maha Kali” is pure, undistilled awesomeness.

This obviously comes at a cost: “Extreme” this album is not. Drumming and bass take a definite back seat to what’s happening up front with throat and six-strings. And you can count the shits I give about that on one hand. Please refer to your local double arm amputee.

- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Black Horizon
- Website: www.dissection.se
- Band
- Jon Nödtveidt: vocals, guitars
- Sethlans Teitan: guitars
- Tomas Asklund: drums
- Brice Leclercq: bass

- Tracklist
- 01. Nexion 218
- 02. Beyond the horizon
- 03. Starless aeon
- 04. Black dragon
- 05. Dark mother divine
- 06. Xeper-I-Set
- 07. Chaosophia
- 08. God of forbidden light
- 09. Reinkaos
- 10. Internal Fire
- 11. Maha Kali