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Nov 17, 20225 min read

Dissection - Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)

FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…



On November 17, 1995, Dissection released their second full-length studio album Storm of the Light's Bane via Nuclear Blast.


This would be the band's last full-length album before 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 Jon Nödtveidt's suicide shortly after. As with the band's debut album, Kristian 'Necrolord' Wåhlin created the artwork. The album is widely considered a masterpiece and one of the best Black Metal albums ever written. It has had significant influence on the development of Extreme Metal, inspiring many bands such as Watain, whose frontman played bass live with the band during their final shows.



Background:

Following the release of the bands debut The Somberlain, the band members "would find themselves rehearsing more and more without John Zwetsloot showing up" and "even had to cancel gigs because he didn't show up for the preparing rehearsals", they "felt they had their hands tied behind their backs with John still in the band and that they could do nothing but kick him out". The last concert with Zwetsloot was performed in Oslo, Norway, on April 13, 1994. The day Zwetsloot was fired, Dissection called Johan Norman from Satanized (a short-lived project Nödtveidt was involved with), who showed up one day later and "proved to be a worthy replacement for John, having the motivation that John was lacking". Dissection (continuing to playing live) wrote songs for their second album, and entered the studio twice to record demos of new songs and their contribution Anti-Christ for the Slayer tribute compilation album Slatanic Slaughter, which was released via Black Sun Records. In November 1994, Dissection signed a deal with Nuclear Blast and focussed on their second album. In March 1995, the band returned to the Hellspawn/Unisound Studios to record the second full-length album Storm of the Light's Bane, followed by a three date tour through the UK with Cradle of Filth and a few concerts in Sweden.



During the summer of 1995 Nödtveidt and Norman joined the newly formed Satanic organization Misanthropic Luciferian Order (MLO).



In September 1995 drummer Ole Öhman left Dissection and was replaced by Tobias Kellgren (ex-Satanized). He was introduced to the Swedish fans at a show with Morbid Angel at Kåren in Gothenburg, October 10, 1995.



Following the November 1995 release of Storm of the Light’s Bane, the band went on a two-week European tour through Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Sweden in December 1995.



By the beginning of January 1996, Dissection were playing shows in Sweden before leaving for a UK tour with At The Gates in February, followed by a vast US tour with At the Gates and Morbid Angel in March. Back in Scandinavia, Dissection played at the Rockefeller in Oslo together with Darkthrone and Satyricon, marking the start of a co-headlining European tour. With the World Tour of the Light’s Bane covering Europe and America, it came to an end in 1997.



More About Storm of the Lights Bane:

Storm of the Lights Bane 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. According to Metal Hammer, "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;

"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."

Critical Reception:

As previously noted, 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."



More Accolades for Storm of the Lights Bane:

LA Weekly’s 10 Metal Albums to Hear Before You Die.


About.com’s Best Metal Albums of 1995.


Terrorizer Magazine’s Most Important Albums of the Nineties & Top 40 Black Metal Albums.


IGN’s 10 Great Black Metal Albums.

Album Release History:

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.



Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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