I discovered Dissection through Pandora Radio. It is played some on the station I listen to when I work out. Storm of Light's Bane is supposed to be their best album, so I decided to review it.
Album: Storm of Light's Bane
Artist: Dissection
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Rating: 8.25/10
I can understand why this album has so much hype about it. Although this album was strong in the elements of Black Metal that I find less appealing, I very much enjoyed it. There was a very large contrast between some of the more elegant and beautiful melodies and the dark atmosphere, simple but heavy drumming, and the harsh vocals. Although some may find that the melodies are out of place due to the contrast, I found it rather enjoyable and very interesting.
The guitars on this album are amazing. As I said before, there are many beautiful melodies. Melodies that would not be expected to be played over the fast paced blast beats on this album or beside the shrill screams and shrieks that are present. Sometimes they are played on acoustic guitar without the other elements which just shows how truly beautiful they are. There is only one guitar solo on this album, on Thorns of Crimson Death, but it is beautiful and melancholic. The short intro and ending were excellent. The intro had a sense of foreboding about it and the ending was very sad and mournful with a bit of haunting.
The drumming on this album was very simple and straightforward. There wasn't anything fancy or elegant about it, but it did it's job extremely well. It held the pace of the album in a firm grip. Although the rest of the music may have stayed the same pace, a change of pace in the drums tempo controlled seemed to slow everything else down as well.
The vocals weren't anything extraordinary, but fit the music. The semi-typical black metal shriek with a hint of growl in it went along with the music. The lyrics though were amazing. They matched the melodies in that the subject matter was often dark and aggressive, but had eloquent lyrics.
Overall this was an incredible album. Definitely one of the best semi-straight forward Black Metal albums I have heard. I highly recommend this to fans of Black Metal or Melodic Metal. My favorite songs were Night's Blood, Where Dead Angels Lie, and Thorns of Crimson Death.