Metal Reviews

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One of the best reviews I've read . I haven't listened to Dissection that much. But, going by this review, I need to get this album.

This one never geled with me.

The ingredients were excellent but it was not to my taste. Too Black Metal for your average Gothenberg Melo-death fan.

Good review but reading it highlights the problem with The Somberlain: it drops off a bit after the first 3 real songs. It's not that those other songs aren't great. Frozen is a killer track with great headbanging moments, Mistress of the Bleeding Sorrow with it's fantastic drum intro, In the Cold Winds of Nowhere with its chilling and depressing atmosphere and great guitar solo. Heaven's Damnation has a few great guitar bits as well. Only Shadows over a Lost Kingdom is slightly weaker.

But all those songs pale in comparison to the incredible Black Horizons, The Somberlain and A Land Forlorn. Particularly The Somberlain which is by far the greatest dark and brooding Black Metal song I've ever heard. Had they started the album with Black Horizons, put A Land Forlorn in the middle and ended with The Somberlain this would've been a true masterpiece. That's why Storm of the Light's Bane edges it. Its songs are more consistent and the pacing is perfect.

But despite its flaws, everyone with even a passing interest in extreme metal should know this album. Or at the very least listen to the title track. If you aren't sold on that hair raising guitar intro, there's really no hope for you.

I don't really know what the above poster is quite talking about. In any case, this a stellar album. A well deserved label, indeed.

Jon Nodtveidt will always be my favorite black metal vocalist and this album is a worthy classic. The title track alone is worth the price of admission.

[quote="SilkCrimsonMoon"]I don't really know what the above poster is quite talking about. In any case, this a stellar album. A well deserved label, indeed.[/quote]


I always thought this album was front-loaded on the good stuff and then drags towards to the end as well. One reason I prefer Storm of the Light's Bane is I thought it maintained momentum throughout better.

[quote="North From Here"][quote="SilkCrimsonMoon"]I don't really know what the above poster is quite talking about. In any case, this a stellar album. A well deserved label, indeed.[/quote]


I always thought this album was front-loaded on the good stuff and then drags towards to the end as well. One reason I prefer Storm of the Light's Bane is I thought it maintained momentum throughout better.[/quote]

I haven't listened to them in quite some time. But from what I remember I think I would quite agree with you at this point.

[quote="Ainu"] Storm of the Light's Bane edges it. Its songs are more consistent and the pacing is perfect.[/quote]
I've always thought that as well. Somberlain is definitely a top heavy record as others have mentioned but it's much better than the band's final release Reinkaos.