Dissection

Rebirth of Dissection (Escapi)
by Mike Delano

Gotta say, I’m liking this recent trend of concert DVDs put together by people with actual experience behind a camera and an editing board. Right from the start, Rebirth of Dissection, a show from the Swedish black metal band’s 2004 reunion tour, has an artistic feel, from the professional lighting and camera angles to little touches like momentary spurts of grainy film stock and flashes of inverted crosses or pentagrams.

All of these little things are secondary to the music, though, and the reunited (well, frontman Jon Nödtveidt and a bunch of new guys) Dissection proves itself worthy of such an excellent presentation. The band is excellent throughout, attacking every song with intensity and precision. This is gimmick-free, brutally solid black metal (or, Nödtveidt tell you, Satanism-inspired “Anti-Cosmic Metal of Death”); a seemingly endless barrage of killer riffs, shattering breakdowns and (gasp) melodic solos delivered with laser accuracy. The sound quality is great all around, the only exception being the drums, which sound absent at times, and overwhelming at others.

Glen Benton be damned, Nödtveidt may have been the most intimidating physical presence in all of metal: With little effort, he has full command of the stage here at all times (the show was shot six weeks after he served an eight-year prison sentence for murder).

Nödtveidt committed suicide last August, which unfortunately gives the already engaging interview with him included on the DVD added weight. Coming from a scene with more than its fair share of absurdity, watching him explain with unwavering conviction what the music means to him simply reinforces the passion that came through when he was onstage playing it.
(www.escapimusic.com)