Dissection was a Swedish extreme metal band from Strömstad, formed in 1989 by guitarist, vocalist, and main songwriter Jon Nödtveidt and bassist Peter Palmdahl. Despite several lineup changes, Dissection released The Somberlain in 1993 and Storm of the Light's Bane in 1995 before splitting up in 1997 due to Nödtveidt's imprisonment for complicity in the murder of Josef Meddour.

After his release, Nödtveidt reformed the band in 2004 with new members whom he felt could "stand behind and live up to the demands of Dissection's Satanic concept." They released their third and final full-length album, Reinkaos, in April 2006 before disbanding that June. Nödtveidt said he had "reached the limitations of music as a tool for expressing what I want to express, for myself and the handful of others that I care about." Two months later, Nödtveidt committed suicide with a gun inside a circle of lit candles in his apartment in Hässelby.

History

First era

In 1988, a thrash metal band named Siren's Yell was formed in the Swedish town of Strömstad. Its members were Jon Nödtveidt, Ole Öhman, Peter Palmdahl, and Mattias "Mäbe" Johansson. The group recorded a single demo before breaking up in 1989. Nödtveidt joined the band Rabbit's Carrot, where Öhman played drums. Nödtveidt and Öhman "were never very comfortable in Rabbit's Carrot, which also explains their short time in that band, as they wanted the music and lyrics to evolve on the extreme dark side. Jon would write songs and arrange them together with Ole in the rehearsal place, but the other members didn't feel that the material would fit the band." In September 1995, drummer Ole Öhman left Dissection and was replaced by Tobias Kellgren (ex-Satanized). He was introduced to the Swedish fans at a show with Morbid Angel at Kåren in Gothenburg, 10 October 1995. was recorded and released by Nuclear Blast on the live split video cassette Live & Plugged Vol. II. Dissection's World Tour of the Light's Bane ended with an appearance at the Wacken Open Air festival, which was recorded and released on the Live Legacy album, and the Nuclear Blast festivals. Nödtveidt received a 10-year sentence,

Reformation

thumb|Dissection live in 2005

Upon his release in 2004, Nödtveidt restarted the band with a completely new line-up, including only members able to "stand behind and live up to the demands of Dissection's Satanic concept".

Breakup

In May 2006, shortly after the release of Reinkaos, the band announced plans to split following a short tour. The tour was scheduled to include two appearances in the United States, but these were eventually cancelled after Nödtveidt was denied an entry visa to the country due to his previous incarceration. The band played its final European concert in Stockholm on Midsummer, 24 June 2006. Some former members of Dissection have gone on to form other bands, also influenced by their beliefs based on the MLO.

Nödtveidt's suicide

On 13 August 2006, frontman Jon Nödtveidt committed suicide. According to the Swedish Expressen, the police said that Nödtveidt was found with a Satanic Bible in front of him, which Blabbermouth.net falsely reported to be a copy of The Satanic Bible. It was later confirmed by band member Set Teitan to be a Satanic grimoire, which is believed to be a copy of the Liber Azerate written by Frater Nemidial, leader of the MLO. With Nödtveidt's death, any possibility of a reunion was lost, as he had remained the only original member since Dissection's foundation; in fact, second founding member Peter Palmdahl had left the band in 1997, when Nödtveidt was arrested.

Musical style

Deathmetal.org notes how the band mixed the extreme styles of death metal and black metal with "the 1970s style of melodic rock that Iron Maiden popularized and developed", and according to Daniel Ekeroth, the band "developed their own melancholic and atmospheric death metal style", which "combine[d] strong melodies with musical brutality".

Dissection considered the "characteristic dual-harmony guitar-sound" to be "an important part of the band's sound" Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg regards Dissection as part of the Gothenburg scene.

Involvement in MLO

The lead vocalist of Dissection, Jon Nödtveidt, was a member of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, founded in 1995. Nödtveidt was introduced to the organisation by close friends at an early stage.

When the police investigated the MLO after the murder of Josef ben Meddour, they interrogated former members who described the organisation and recounted the occult ceremonies they had attended. Rituals included meditation, invocations of demons, and animal sacrifices—cats, which were bought through classified ads. In the weeks preceding the murder of Josef ben Meddour, Vlad had become increasingly extremist in his speech, and the idea of performing human sacrifices, followed by a mass suicide, was discussed at length. During a meeting at Nödtveidt's place, a list of possible victims was made. It included a former follower who had defected, band members from Dissection, and even Nödtveidt's girlfriend.

Nödtveidt said of the MLO in an interview: "MLO is a Chaos-Gnostic order, which seeks the true light of Lucifer through the study, development, and practice of all dark, gnostic and Satanic magical systems. Our goal is to create a synthesis between the dark traditions of all aeons, thus creating the occult keys that shall open the gates to the forthcoming endless dark aeon. My status within the order is that of a full member of the second grade and a Priest of Satan. To become a candidate, one must first of all already be an Anti-cosmic Satanist and actively practicing black magician. He/she must wholeheartedly sympathise with and share the misanthropic and anti-cosmic values of the order, and then be ready to dedicate his/her entire existence to following his/her true will in accordance with the dark gods. Becoming an initiate is a long and hard process and can take several years."

Members

thumb|upright=1.35|Dissection at a meet and greet in Italy in 2005. From left to right: Tomas Asklund, Brice LeClercq, Jon Nödtveidt and Set Teitan.

Final line-up

  • Jon Nödtveidt – vocals, lead guitar <small>(1989–1997, 2004–2006; died 2006)</small>
  • Set Teitan – rhythm guitar, backing vocals <small>(2004–2006)</small>
  • Tomas Asklund – drums <small>(2004–2006)</small>

Former members

  • Peter Palmdahl – bass <small>(1989–1997)</small>
  • John Zwetsloot – guitar <small>(1990–1995)</small>
  • Ole Öhman – drums <small>(1990–1995)</small>
  • Tobias "Tobbe" Kjellgren – drums <small>(1995–1997)</small>
  • Johan Norman – guitar <small>(1995–1997)</small>
  • Brice LeClercq – bass <small>(2004–2005)</small>
  • Haakon Forwald – bass <small>(2005)</small>

Live session musicians

  • Emil Nödtveidt – bass <small>(1997)</small>
  • Erik Danielsson – bass <small>(2005–2006)</small>

Timeline

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ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20

PlotArea = left:85 bottom:60 top:0 right:10

Alignbars = justify

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy

Period = from:10/01/1989 till:06/24/2006

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1990

ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990

Colors =

id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals,_lead_guitar

id:guitar value:green legend:Rhythm_guitar

id:bass value:blue legend:Bass

id:drums value:orange legend:Drums

id:StudioAlbums value:black legend:Studio_albums

id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

at:12/03/1993 color:black layer:back

at:11/17/1995 color:black layer:back

at:04/30/2006 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Nödtveidt text:"Jon Nödtveidt"

bar:Zwetsloot text:"John Zwetsloot"

bar:Norman text:"Johan Norman"

bar:Teitan text:"Set Teitan"

bar:Palmdahl text:"Peter Palmdahl"

bar:LeClercq text:"Brice LeClercq"

bar:Forwald text:"Haakon Forwald"

bar:Öhman text:"Ole Öhman"

bar:Kjellgren text:"Tobias Kjellgren"

bar:Asklund text:"Tomas Asklund"

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

bar:Nödtveidt from:10/01/1989 till:12/01/1997 color:vocals

bar:Nödtveidt from:10/01/1989 till:01/01/1991 color:guitar width:3

bar:Nödtveidt from:10/01/2004 till:end color:vocals

bar:Zwetsloot from:01/01/1991 till:10/01/1994 color:guitar

bar:Norman from:10/01/1994 till:12/01/1997 color:guitar

bar:Teitan from:10/01/2004 till:end color:guitar

bar:Palmdahl from:10/01/1989 till:08/31/1997 color:bass

bar:LeClercq from:10/01/2004 till:10/01/2005 color:bass

bar:Forwald from:10/01/2005 till:11/30/2005 color:bass

bar:Öhman from:04/01/1990 till:12/01/1995 color:drums

bar:Kjellgren from:12/01/1995 till:12/01/1997 color:drums

bar:Asklund from:10/01/2004 till:end color:drums

</timeline>

</div>

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Sales

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |SWE<br />

|

|| 57

|-

! scope="row" |Storm of the Light's Bane

|

  • Released: 17 November 1995
  • Label: Nuclear Blast
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP, digital download

|

  • US: 8,939+

|| —

|-

! scope="row" |Reinkaos

|

  • Released: 30 April 2006
  • Label: Black Horizon
  • Formats: CD, CS, LP, digital download

|

|| —

|}

Compilation albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Title

! scope="col" | Album details

! Notes

|-

! scope="row" |The Past Is Alive (The Early Mischief)

|

  • Released: 20 July 1997
  • Label: Necropolis Records
  • Formats: CD

|

|-

! scope="row" |I Am the Great Shadow

|

  • Released: 1 August 2021
  • Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
  • Formats: CS

|

  • Limited to 1,500 copies

|}

Live albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Title

! scope="col" | Album details

|-

! scope="row" |Live Legacy

|

  • Released: 17 February 2003
  • Label: Nuclear Blast
  • Formats: CD, digital download

|-

! scope="row" |Live in Stockholm 2004

|

  • Released: 22 September 2009
  • Label: Escapi Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download

|-

! scope="row" |Live Rebirth

|

  • Released: March 2010
  • Label: High Roller Records
  • Formats: LP

|}

EPs

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" style="width:17em;"| Title

! scope="col" | Album details

! scope="col" | Notes

|-

! scope="row" |Into Infinite Obscurity

|

  • Released: 5 September 1991
  • Label: Corpse Grinder Records
  • Formats: LP

|

  • Limited to 1,000 copies

|-

! scope="row" |Where Dead Angels Lie

|

  • Released: 26 April 1996
  • Label: Nuclear Blast
  • Formats: CD

|

|}

Single

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Single details

! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Notes

! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions

|-

! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |SWE<br />

|-

! scope="row" |Live & Plugged Vol. 2 (split with Dimmu Borgir)

|

  • Released: 1997
  • Label: Nuclear Blast
  • Formats: VHS

|| —

|-

! scope="row" |Rebirth of Dissection

|

  • Released: 29 July 2006
  • Label: Escapi Music
  • Formats: DVD

|| 5

|-

| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | — denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

References

Further reading

  • "Black Metal Foundations Top 20: The First Wave." (2005). Terrorizer, 128, 42–43.