Penetrations from the Lost World

Talking about side projects of well-known and skilled musicians, attentive and experienced listener can distinguish two main categories of them - not bad but generic stuff, which is made mainly for purpose of discovering new borders of musical vision of the artists and on the other hand, projects, which were made for fun at the start, but contained essential ideas, which couldn`t realize in the main band and found their born in this kind of musical creations, some of them were destined to become more than just studio projects. To which category would you define Dimension Zero with it`s debut EP Penetrations from the Lost World (forget about the existence of three full length`s studio albums)? As for myself , the answer is obvious.

This EP has got really legendary line-up : Jocke Göthberg, who played on drums and did vocal parts on few Marduk albums, on vocal duty ; legendary duo, consisting of Glenn Ljungström and Jesper Strömblad playing guitars (Jesper also recorded bass), which is widely known as "classical guitar line-up of In Flames" ; Blast beat machine Hans Nilsson, who is not really famous, but an extremely skilled drummer plus another guitar player Fredrik Johansson (Chameleon, All Ends) whom most metalheads know for his solo work on In Flames song "December Flower".

Ljungström and Strömblad are the main composers of the songs, so the references to In Flames style and compositional prinicples are natural. Dimension Zero has similarities with it`s "Farther band" but firmly stands on it`s own ground. Dimension Zero has more kind of heavier and brutal approach. The heaviness is reached with the help of more straight forward and aggressive riffing (Through the Virgin Sky is the best example), while earlier mentioned brutality - with assistance of Göthberg vocals. That`s all good, but what does help this EP to get excellent mark? The answer is simple - Fredrik Johansson. The guy makes his appearance really important due to his solo work. He carries already great songs through new musical dimensions, and his unique style of guitar playing does it really well. His individual work on Everlasting Neverness can seem a little bit out of place due to intenssive previous songs, but this track is really beautiful, and as for me, having separate track of this kind of vibe is way better than trying to add acoustic piece to death metal song. From the other hand, another track "Forgotten... But Not Forgiven" really has In Flames feeling (guitar one) and this track reminds a bit of Jester Race tracks, though this fact doesn`t really harm the song and the record. The only little complaint I have about the songs on this record is lack of diversity main riffs. Riffs, themselves, are really good, but they are reapeted several times during the song, and little variation inside these riffs would really do a good thing and added paints to overall picture (Dead Silent Shriek song is an illustration of this statement).

So, as for the result, "Penetrations from the Lost World" is really great effort from the talented musicians. Really great thing, that you can find more Glenn`s income then Jesper`s, because the songs are really brutal`er and thrashier than In Flames ones, but still melodic. Dimension`s Zero sound changed with the passed years but this EP is greatest release for sure, and for my taste it had the strongest Dimension Zero line-up up to date. This is also the most melodic death metal release of this band (right now Dimension Zero is considered as death/thrash metal band).

To generalize what have been said : if you are really interested in this band or would like to discover some mid-90s classics of melodic death metal - you can`t bypass this release.

I consider this one of my favorite mini-cds of the late 90s. Back then, Dimension Zero functioned perfectly in the form of a side note for the In Flames guitar duo, that shrieky guy from Marduk and the nutty drummer who made "Far Beyond Divine Horizons" and "Spiritually Uncontrolled Art" such fine listens. Nowadays, unfortunately, this band has lost some of its appeal and vigor; however, do not let that deter you from hunting down their initial output.

The superior version of "Through the Virgin Sky" is found here, completely obliterating the "Silent Night Fever" rendition. Why? Fredrick Johansson is the secret weapon. This guy laid down some of the best lead guitar I've heard, the solo on this track being probably his best. It invigorates the song to such a substantial degree that it sounds atrociously incomplete without it. Also, the riffs and drum work sound more anxious and determined on this version. As for the following two tracks, "Dead Silent Shriek" offers a concise riff bludgeoning, and "Forgotten..." hurls another deadly solo at the listener's ear, backed up by a few dirty riffs and Jocke's ever-present throaty growl. Some people criticze the drum beats as being too repetitive, but it isn't really a problem for the 10 minutes they're heard here. The last track, acoustic and contemplative, seals the deal on a fine chapter of the Swedish melo-death scene.

If you bother looking for this, hunt down the original and forget the excess filler from the re-release. You'll be glad you did if you like any Swedish metal from the 90s.