Dissection – POLL of the Light's Bane

It's a toss-up between 'Night's Blood' and 'Soulreaper' for me, possibly the latter on account of Nötveidt's vocal performance.

*Nödtveidt

C'mon, there's gotta be a bunch of other Satanist degenerates who still enjoy this album in spite of everything.

Satan weeps.

Aww, cheer up Satan! perrybible-lordgloom-smile.jpg

Not listened to this in aaages! You really were one of the kvlt kids if you knew the lyrics by heart to this, when I was in high school at least. I think I'll have to vote for 'Thorns of Crimson Death'. But it could well be 'Retribution' or, indeed, Soulreaper. Mammoth of an album.

Thanks for keeping the unholy flame alive. One of the reasons I think this album remains a perennial marvel is because none of its innumerably many imitators have managed to reproduce what makes the songwriting tick here. This is going to sound insane and specious and pretentious but the melodic contours occasionally remind me of Stenhammar’s minor key string quartets and I feel like the Romantic sonata form shadows the music throughout in that every song undergoes a dramatic harmonic shift at some point before pivoting back to its incipit. That the whole thing ends on a solo piano fragment is no accident, of course.

Or maybe I’m just making all of this up, idk. But it rules.

You didn't "make it up" and it might sound pretentious but I think you're absolutely right! So many of the imitators - albums I was told I'd love but didn't - fail because their melodies aren't anywhere near this good. Which sounds like a huge cliché but how else do you describe the ever climbing melody of 'Thorns' until it collapses into itself? You have a better theoretical understanding of harmony but the sonata form enforces the pull into the dark, it's extremely seductive to me in a way nearly no other album 'like it' does. Tl;dr: yes, it rules :)

ps. came across this piece abt separating art from the artists while playing the album last night and googling a bit, but that's perchance best suited for that other thread ;)

My knowledge of music theory is extremely approximative and to be taken with a grain of salt, but I've listened to this album so many times that it makes me feel like I'm not talking out of my ass, even though I probably am.

Anyway, thanks for the link. I'll check out that piece in a bit.

I'm surprised no-one else from the ilx metal massive has replied? It's not exactly a novelty record, it's up there in most 'top-x-bm-albums-of-all-time' lists.

Yeah, idgi either. Maybe Nödtveidt is too toxic for comfort in 2020? To his credit, however, he is dead.

Found dead in a circle of candles no less! Not sure if it's the toxicity, or the fact they never became as big as, say, Darkthrone or Mayhem.

You're probably right. Meloblack also tends to be viewed with some amount of suspicion, or so it seems to me.

Personally I understand the suspicion tbh! It's just... this will blow anyone away I think.

Hey I missed this. This is of course a great record - Night's Blood for me, it's a fantastic opener that immediately lays all the cards on the table what you're going to get. I think now after 25 years of loving both, this one's better than The Somberlain, not so much for the riffs/melodies but because of the much faster songs, there's just way more energy here. As with many of these grandiose sounding albums, it's pretty amazing just how young Nödtveidt was when this (and The Somberlain) was written/recorded.

its innumerably many imitators

As a latecomer to the metal scene, I defer to your judgment on this, obviously. I suppose it’s a retrospective impression more than anything: on RYM, for instance, SOTLB falls two spots short of the all-metal top 50, whereas The Somberlain isn’t even in the top 100 despite being #2 on the meloblack chart, followed by... Windir.

Btw I completely agree with you as regards tempo. I’m fond of the debut’s comparative doominess, but it does lag a bit at times.

That Windir record is fantastic tbh.

I think meloblack got a bit of a bad rap around that time (1995-1997) since there were so many of these bands around and this style didn't have the inherent badassery that Sunlight-sound Swedish DM and Norwegian BM sound had, but there was a lot of quality stuff made in that short period even if it all blends together at some point. Dissection mainly stood out for the really good hooks I think.

I actually haven’t heard it yet, but I’m slowly getting there.

xp

Don't listen too much of this stuff or you'll start to hate it as much as everyone else did at the time.

Heh, I feel like I’ve reached my limit already with melodeath and I haven’t even heard that much of it, so I’ll keep that in mind.

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