I remember the first time that I heard Dissection’s Storm of the Light’s Bane. A couple of guys that I had been jamming with were playing through a bunch of metal riffs. One second you would hear some Wintersun. Then some Emperor. Then I heard some great riffage that I was unfamiliar with. I prayed that he made it up so that we could make a song out of it. Then he told me that it was Dissection.

How could I have missed out on such a band? I had been into black metal for years at this point and thought that I had most of the heavy hitters completely figured out. Mayhem… Burzum… Darkthrone etc. you know the drill. I quickly went on Youtube and the first song that came up was Thorns of Crimson Death. I immediately bought the album from Amazon and waited impatiently.

What I got was a mouth watering slab of delicious black metal. Progressive in structure and sad in tone. It represented all things heavy metal. Iron Maiden influenced and Venom fuled, Dissection's Storm of the Light's bane is a pinnacle in the genre of heavy metal.

That was two or three years ago, but Storm of the Light’s Bane quickly rose into my top ten black metal albums of all time. A few more months and it went into my top five. There just seems to be something otherworldly about it. Something sets it apart from the rest of the old black metal scene. Obviously the musicianship is top notch, something that most of the old school cannot claim. The production as well does not succumb to the lo fi quality that is associated with the genre. The drums boom with reverb and the guitars boom with reverb and the vocals… well just about everything on the album is reverb. Luckily, this works in the favor of the songs. It creates a chilling atmosphere while never shifting focus from the music.

The album is incredibly melodic. It’s astonishing simply for the time that it came out. This was before the Dark Tranquilities and Opeths of the world had a chance to shine. The guitar is always at the front of the mix and with leads like those in Night’s Blood it’s very easy to tell why. One can easily see where bands like Children of Bodom really got their influence from. Most of the songs are instantly catchy. Where Dead Angel’s Lie continues to be the most popular song from the record and it’s easy to see why. It changes mood and throws a dozen ideas at you in such a short amount of time that it’s surprising to find out how easily it sets into a groove.

There really is not much more to be said. The album is tight and heavy. With only eight songs and a running time of less than fifty minutes, it never drags or overstays its welcome.

But one thing that unfortunately must be brought up simply for the sake that it’s a Dissection review. Jon Nödtveidt was a murdering fuckhead and I’m glad that he shot himself. That being said, he still wrote some amazing music and all metalheads should give this album a listen.