June 11, 2019

Dissection - The Somberlain (1993) ☠

Country: Sweden
Language: English
Genre: Black Metal
Style: Melodic Black Metal
.FLAC via Mega (Link)
.AAC 256 kbps via Mega (Link)

☠: Selected by Buccaneer
© 1993 No Fashion Records
Review by Atanamar Sunyata for Metal Injection.net
By 1993, the Norwegian black metal scene was engaged in an all-out, lo-fi war with mainstream death metal and the society that condoned it. Dissection, forming in Sweden, didn't have much choice but to fraternize with death metal's royalty (they shared a practice space with At the Gates). Like many of the second wave's constituents, 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. On their debut album, Dissection would channel the ineffable Blood, Fire, Death, transcending its glory with malignant melody, preternatural songwriting skill and some of the finest riffs ever penned. The Somberlain is a life-altering invocation of rage.
While steeped in the sinister miasma of black metal's ethos, Dissection discarded less of metal's traditional tropes than their contemporaries. Classical constructs guide the album’s course and teeming thrash provides its foundation. Led by the inimitable Jon Nödtveidt, Dissection composed titanic riffs of piercing perfection. Prone to outbursts of articulate, tremolo picked rampage, The Somberlain is exploding with addictive, memorable hooks. Singular, unforgettable melodies overlay sinuous, quick-draw dynamics. Dual harmonies are perfectly executed in rapid-fire waves. Steeped in Gotherburg’s burgeoning death metal scene, Dissection’s bold melodic character feels like an organic, osmotic development.
The album’s title track is one of metal’s greatest moments. Soaring, entwined leads convey a longing for peace and freedom from pain and suffering. Even as the song delivers transformative, metal-thrashing transcendence, we are reminded that the answer does not lie in the Promised Land. “I have found what I wanted, tranquility. I'll thrive on evil, eternally.” Jon Nödtveidt 's harrowing screams tell tales of infernal annihilation, resting firmly in black metal's Satanic milieu without over-explicit orthodoxy (this would come later in his career). The Somberlain is a call to arms for those who have crossed the threshold of darkness. “We’re the march of profanity. The darkest breed, again we’ll rise forth against the flocks of the weak.”
The Somberlain sports a concise, ripping production that speaks of tonal warmth; this is no stripped down, icy affair. To my ears, the album sounds like a Ride the Lightning to the Norwegian scene’s Kill ‘Em All . It’s no surprise that one of black metal’s best albums is also incredibly accessible; I was a Dissection fan years before black metal laid claim to my soul. The Somberlain has aged incredibly well, retaining every ounce of its malevolent, timeless perfection. Life ends, good riffs live forever. Revel in the cold winds of nowhere.

tags: dissection, the somberlain, 1993, flac,

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 18, 2019

    The metadata of songs are missing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First off, which of the 2 links? FLAC or AAC? This is the reason why comments like yours are sent to the spam folder. You and others need to be specific.

      Second, no. Neither the FLAC or the AAC files have missing metadata/tags. Below is a screenshot and a video showing both the FLAC and the AAC metadata/tags. Everything is in proper order. Next time this happens, our "Spam Detector" bot will deal with your comments. Good day.

      - Video (FLAC metadata)
      https://imgur.com/WjcLhVf

      - Screenshot (AAC metadata)
      https://imgur.com/ZYAY3TK

      Delete
    2. AnonymousJune 19, 2019

      I'm so sorry, I meant the FLAC one. And the comment was not meant to be spam!

      I have a screenshot of the property of the flac file.

      Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CoEYAT3hM-Zy4iyDv8uqfYBGN9Vbp172/view?usp=sharing

      My computer may not have detected the metadata of the song. I'm sorry for the inconvinience.

      Delete
    3. The metadata/tagging system for FLAC is called "FLAC tags" and it's identical to that of Vorbis. Sometimes it's called "vorbis comments" becasue of this and it's not always possible to view them via the Windows Properties tab like you would for ID3 tags (MP3, AAC)

      If you would like to view the tags for FLAC, you can use a media player that plays FLAC like Foobar2000 or drag the files into your mobile device provided it has FLAC support. If you would like to view, edit or change any of the metadata like genre or the album cover, you can use a program like MP3Tag. Below are some screenshots.

      Also, for future reference - if you would like to post screenshots in the comments section, use imgur.com It's free and requires no registration. This will make it easier for you as you won't have to login to your personal cloud storage each time. Cheers!

      - Screenshot (Foobar2000)
      https://imgur.com/PXwMJIL

      - Screenshot (MP3Tag)
      https://imgur.com/Q9vutiY

      - Link to imgur.com
      https://imgur.com/upload

      Delete
    4. AnonymousJune 20, 2019

      Yeah sure, thank you so much ^_^

      Delete

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