Dissection (band)

Dissection

Dissection was a blackened death metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989 by Jon Nödtveidt, and released its first EP in 1991.

Biography

In 1988, a thrash metal band by the name of Siren's Yell was formed in the Swedish town of Strömstad. Its members were Jon Nödtveidt, Ole Öhman, Peter Palmdahl, and Mattias Johansson. The group recorded a single demo before breaking up in 1989. Nödveidt and Öhman continued on to play in the band Rabbit's Carrot, in which they claim to have never felt quite at home. Nödveidt was increasingly leaning towards death metal and other forms of dark extreme music. Dissection was officially formed in the autumn of 1989 by Nödveidt, who had left Rabbit's Carrot. Dissection's line-up, however, was not complete until early the next year when John Zwetsloot joined.

In 1990, Dissection played their first live show with death metal act Entombed. In the same year, they also recorded and released a demo entitled, The Grief Prophecy. It contained three songs and featured illustrations by the artist known as Necrolord, who later created most Dissection album artworks. A special edition of The Grief Prophecy was later released in memory of Dead, the former vocalist for the notorious Norwegian black metal group Mayhem, who committed suicide in 1991. The special release featured album art drawn by Dead himself. Dissection also played a live show in his honour, at which they performed the Mayhem song "Freezing Moon". The Grief Prophecy was soon spread through the underground, and the French record label Corpsegrinder Records offered Dissection a deal to record an EP. Later that year, Dissection accepted the deal and recorded Into Infinite Obscurity. The band continued to tour.

In 1992, Dissection began work on a full-length album, The Somberlain. Because of coordination problems among members, the entire band moved to Gothenburg, Sweden (where they shared a rehearsal space with At the Gates) in the summer of 1993. The album was finished and released the following December. It was formally dedicated to Euronymous, the then-guitarist of Mayhem, who had been murdered earlier that year. The group also appeared on a Peaceville Records' compilation CD.

During November 1994, Dissection signed a record deal with the German record label Nuclear Blast. In 1995, the band's second full-length album, called Storm Of The Light's Bane, was released. The following year, Dissection also released a short EP entitled Where Dead Angels Lie. It was compiled from previous rare and import releases, and contained only cover songs and demo tracks.

In 1997, Jon Nödtveidt was convicted of helping murder a 38-year old homosexual man in Gothenburg. He was released in the autumn of 2004. Nödtveidt formed a new line-up for Dissection with none of the previous members participating. Subsequently, Dissection recorded one two-track EP entitled Maha Kali and toured heavily with the "The Rebirth of Dissection" tour. In 2006, Dissection released their third full length album "Reinkaos" through their own label, in association with The End Records. The lyrics in the Reinkaos album contain magical formulae from the book, and are based on the teachings of the "Misanthropic Luciferian Order" founded by Nödtveidt, of which some others in the group were members. Shortly after the release, in May 2006, in an online chat interview, Dissection announced plans to split following a short tour, including only two US dates (Though the US dates were cancelled due to Nödtveidt's incarceration, forbidding him from entering).

The band played its final European concert in Stockholm on Midsummer, 24 June 2006.

On August 16, 2006, frontman Jon Nödtveidt committed suicide. Nödtveidt's death was confirmed by the Swedish distributor Sound Pollution, whose staff has worked with Dissection throughout the band's career. Media reports had the man's body next to a copy of The Satanic Bible. However it was believed to in fact be a copy of a grimoire Liber Azerate written by Frater Nemidal, leader of the MLO. A posting on the Sound Pollution web site [1] reads: "RIP Jon Nödtveidt 1974-2006. Condolences from Sound Pollution & Black Lodge."

The band also made an official statement upon Dissection's official website.

Philosophical beliefs

The vocalist of Dissection, Jon Nödtveidt is gay, was one of the founders of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order in 1995, since renamed to Temple of the Black Light. Some members of Dissection were very involved in the group. One bassist pulled out of Dissection, saying it was partly in order to concentrate on his esoteric studies. The MLO planned to release Liber Azerate, a grimoire written by MLO Magister Templi "Frater Nemidial" in 2002. It was released on the internet in Swedish and Norwegian. Azerate is the hidden name of the "eleven Anti-cosmic gods", as described in the book.

The Temple of the Black Light believe in "Chaosophy". They believe that Chaos is the plane and/or power with infinite amounts of space and time, containing all dimensions, in contrast to cosmos, which only has three spatial dimensions and one linear time dimension. It is ever-changing.

Extreme militant nihilism is taught within the group, and they say the true satanist is not part of the modern society, as it is founded upon lies.

They believe in three forces, three dark veils - chaos, emptiness and darkness, which were expelled from Ain Sof in order to make way for the manifestation of The Black Light in The Outer Darkness that soon became Sitra Ahra. The three forces are the three steps back to a mysterious chaos.

These forces are above the Thaumitan, a two-headed god who allows the connection to the spiritual world. Members of the MLO seek to make that connection and channel the Black Light.

The Temple of the Black Light also believe there are eleven aeons; those of Moloch, Beelzebuth, Lucifuge Rofocale, Astaroth, Asmodeus, Belfegor, Baal, Adramelech, Lilith, Naamah and Satan. Azerate is eleven united as one, and these forces combined are those revered by the MLO/Temple of the Black Light.

Some former members of Dissection have gone on to form other bands, also influenced by their beliefs based on the MLO.

Members

Final line-up

• Jon Nödtveidt - vocals, lead guitar
• Set Teitan - rhythm guitar
• Tomas Asklund - drums

Former members

• Erik Danielsson - bass (live only)
• Ole Öhman - drums
• Peter Palmdahl - bass
• Mattias "Mäbe" Johansson - guitar (session)
• Tobias Kjellgren - drums
• John Zwetsloot - guitar
• Johan Norman - guitar
• Bård 'Faust' Eithun - drums (session)
• Emil Nödtveidt - bass (session)
• Brice LeClercq - bass
• Hakon Forwald - bass

Discography

Studio albums

• The Somberlain (1993)
• Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)
• Reinkaos (2006)

Live, EP, and compilation releases

• Into Infinite Obscurity (EP) (1991)
• Where Dead Angels Lie (EP) (1996)
• The Past Is Alive (The Early Mischief) (1997)
• Live Legacy (live) (2003)
• Maha Kali (EP) (2004)

Demos

• The Grief Prophecy (1990)

Videography

• Live & Plugged Vol. 2 (VHS) (1997)
• Rebirth of Dissection (DVD) (2006)

See also

• Order of Nine Angles

External links

• Official website
• Temple of the Black Light.