Silent Night Fever

What the hell happened to Dimension Zero? Their last album came in 2007. Okay, since the pretty ambivalent comeback work of Iron Angel, it is anything but unique to have a period of more than even 30 years between to longplayers. Nevertheless, I fear that the band from Sweden has died a silent death. Speaking of silence, "Silent Night Fever" is definitely more feverish than silent. More precise: silence is conspicuous by its absence. Delirious, hot tempered thrash awaits the listener, executed in a fervent manner. The members of the line-up were involved in roughly 20 further bands. They cover the whole range from gold to shit, sorry, from Marduk to In Flames, and their professional approach shimmers through every tone of this compact debut.

The production is the first indicator of the experience of the dudes. The album boasts with a clear, powerful, sharp and aggressive sound which does not lack pressure. Well-dosed brutality coalesces with technical skills and this liaison brings a stormy and pinpoint package of thrash metal to light. The first eight tracks are carved from a single piece of wood. Do not expect too much variation but a feast of double-bass driven, very fast thrash that releases a massive portion of energy. Melodies are identifiable from time to time, but they do not play an extremely prominent role. For example, the chorus of "They Are Waiting to Take Us" reveals a short melodic harmony, but it is accompanied by furious vocals and merciless drums. I am sure, my Grandma (R.I.P.) would not have called this sequence "melodic". Anyway, razor-sharp riffs cut the listeners into pieces. I am becoming a witness of a kind of amok run of thrash guitarists - and it feels good.

By the way, a lot of epic, melancholic or even gentle parts show up - in the history of metallic music, but not on the here reviewed album. Dimension Zero, lame pun, are a little bit one-dimensional and the fact that they do not really vary the velocity leads to the dubious result that I begin to take the vehemence of their compositions for granted. Only the closer breaks out of the compositional formula of the band, but this piece with a length of two minutes rather appears as an outro than a regular number. In general, Dimension Zero rush through their material as if they fear to come too late to the traditional Midsummer celebration. This way of proceeding is at the expense of a healthy quantum of catchiness and this circumstance slightly reduces the enjoyment of the album. On the other hand, the formation avoids inappropriate breaks. All different sequences merge seamlessly into each other.

Finally, "Silent Night Fever" does not necessarily satisfy the needs of old school thrashers. Despite the absence of groovy or experimental elements, the album spreads modern vibes, not only due to the up-to-date production and the almost robotic precision of the quartet. Nonetheless, I do not see any type of showstopper for the supporters of the sub genre. As long as their affinity for musical vehemence does not end at "Souls of Black" or "...and Justice for All", each and every thrash lunatic can check this work with a clear conscience.

Holy shit, this album moves! I'm not just talking about the pace of the songs, which is at a constant frantic tempo, but there's this ceaseless groove to the whole thing that barely lets up. We're firmly in the realm of Gothenburg melodeath with the intensity cranked up a bit, meaning that there isn't a lot of time spent on solos or actual melody, because the band are more interested in riffs and blastbeats. This takes Dimension Zero several steps away from In Flames, even though they share two previous members on this album, and out towards a more streamlined and compressed sound that we can hear in the likes of The Haunted, The Crown, Darkane, or even Slaughter of the Soul-era At the Gates.

Therefore, the template for most of the songs on Silent Night Fever is fairly narrow, with racing, jumping riffs that dash through the verses, while smoother riffs open up for a brief chorus. The guitars are played more as walls of groovy sound rather than straight ahead hack and slash brutality, so that the hooks as well as the atmosphere must come from them, especially without a vast number of solos to back them up. The drums pound away at ever-faster pace on many of the songs, which means that the album expends its worth very quickly. The level of variety being so low, even half an hour of music feels sufficient to witness every aspect of the band's sound in its best form - it definitely shouldn't be longer, although it doesn't waste time either.

Choosing individual songs might be a little difficult because of their general similiarity. The album is best experienced as one long adrenaline shot, perhaps the equivalent of sipping your way through a pack of Red Bull in your lunch break. The speedier numbers all work well on their own, though tend to blur together, while 'Through the Virgin Sky' releases the gas for a moment and allows the riffs to hook more strongly in a slightly purer style. The clean interludes that crop up about halfway through the album offer a welcome respite from the speed and screamed vocals, with 'Not Even Dead' serving up the best shot at a different style, complete with soaring chorus and brief lead.

Silent Night Fever isn't an album that you will find yourself drawn to very often, but it scratches a certain itch for hyper-intense melodic death which cares more for pace and brutality than melody. The main problem with this release is that the band haven't strayed far enough from their basic idea, leading to a short album that feels longer than it is due to the lack of variety. Reach for this after the other bands mentioned in this review.

The project of Dimension Zero was originally started by once an In Flames guitarists Glenn Ljungström and Jesper Strömblad. The line-up was completed by vocalist Jocke Göthberg, drummer Hans Nilsson and another guitar player Fredrik Johansson. In the 1996 newborn formation recorded their first MCD "Penetrations from the Lost World", which was released in 1997. Then there were 4 years of silence (can`t count Sepultura cover and single song "They are awaiting to take us" as serious accomplishments). And in the 2001 year the band reunited (minus Johansson) to make their first full-length release.

Actually, the main recipe of "Silent Night Fever" was revealed in 1998, when the band released , already mentioned song, "They are awaiting to take us". The band changed their sound. It became faster, brutal`er, more intenssive and the most important thing - lesser focused on melodies, though most of the songs on the album have stereotypical "heroic" melodies in the refrain, but their space on the record is limited (for good). Another essential change of the general sound I should mention is the absence of soloing, which was one of the main features of Dimension Zero MCD. From the one side it was bad move, the best proof will be caught by your ears, while listening to original version of the song "Through the Virgin Sky" and re-released Silent Night Fever version, without solo. The band lost very valuable element in the person of Fredrik, and the touch of uniquness of his guitar playing. From the other hand, looking at new direction, you can`t be sure, that Johansson`s amazing solo`s suited new songs of the band really way. But as for me, the absence of this guitar player is more of a downside than upside.

From the first seconds of the title opening track, guys from Dimension Zero let us know, with whom do we mess. The riffs are really fast (not amazingly fast, but still) and the intensity is reached with the help of never ending blast beat,
the degree of insanity is becoming even higher when Jocke enters the action with his screeching screams. The most important thing, that listener is going to realize, is the fact, that Dimension Zero is guitar-oriented band, cause the most interesting and creative ideas are coming from guitar dimension. The riffs are well composed, interesting and quite catchy.

Next song -The Murder-Inn has really great verse riff and good intro riff, but chorus brings nothing interesting and special, with catchy words of the vocalist and common melody. Your Darkest Hour is another highlight of the album along with title track, which has some interesting guitar parts and simple but effective bridge. My favorites on the album are Silent Night Fever and Your Darkest Hour, other great tracks Through the Virgin Sky and They are waiting to take us. Basically all the tracks following the same formula, monotonous drumming, black-metal screaming vocals, ripping guitar riffs..bass is not really worth mentioning, because it mostly used as rhytm section support machine and playing along with drums most of the time. The only track which doesn`t follow this recipe is outtro track Slow Silence. Listening to it summons weird feeling, especially after the things heard right before number nine, but it is ear-pleasant and melting track.

Total playing time numbers of the album are not really huge ones, but they shouldn`t be bigger. Counting the similiarity of the songs, 3 more songs would make this album more dull and destroyed the feel of intensity, which is reached by 8 tracks. I can advice this album to you, if you are fond of Gothenburg scene, because it is a nice mixture of Death/thrash metal with melody aspect on board. Musically it reminds more At The Gates than In Flames. It doesn`t really break a new ground, but the perfomance from Dimension Zero members is really exciting and individually, the songs are pretty strong aswell. They are heavy and brutal, but still dynamic and interesting at the most part, which is not usual thing in today`s metal scene. So the little dose of adrenalin after full listening is guaranteed!

You know that in the mid 90s the bands from Sweden were taking over almost the entire scene in Europe and, opposed to the new style of melodic death metal, we could find the very first signs of future, more violent bands like, for example, Darkane, Soilwork and Dimension Zero. Actually, this last band that we take in consideration, has released the debut album just in 2002 and not at the end of the 90s like the other ones. Anyway, this new style was made of elements from the past and elements from the new way of playing extreme. What came out was a sort of melodic death/thrash with modern productions.

With the strike of the new millennium, lots of bands started to play like this in Sweden as, for example, The Duskfall band. They mix very fast tempo parts to a hint of melody, taking the distance from those too melodic and almost nu-metal bands that were coming out from Göteborg. On these albums, the rage is uncontrollable and we cannot find too melodic parts. Another band that plays this style can be Defleshed. The riffs on this debut album, Silent Night Fever, take a lot of influences from the old, violent thrash and they are relentless. The drumming is furious, almost often on up tempo without disliking several blast beats parts. The vocals are black metal style but never excessively screamed and they are like the ones we can find on the groups I cited before, so really nasty and fast.

The title track invades my room with the immediate riffs and the no compromise attitude. The tempo is fast and intense but the guitars are somehow closer to the melody in more parts and a stronger example could be the following “The Murder Inn”, where the lead lines are far more melodic but always supported by the up tempo. This mix is excellent for me and a perfect way between, in order to not be excessively catchy or violent. The refrains are easily recognizable and this adds a stronger interest for this band. “Through the Virgin Sky” has a good alternation of fast tempo parts with bass drums triplets and the short, but really well-done, calmer sections in which a bit of groove comes out and makes this song even better thanks to the choruses.

“Your Darkest Hour” has a more modern and melodeath beginning but it’s not annoying; soon the tempo increases. The guitars are massive and really good in passing through lots of notes, from the calmer ones to the most melodic other ones, in a forest of fast parts and sudden breaks in which the bands displays again more groovish sections and less impulsive beats. Usually, the choruses are almost quite recognizable and catchy because they are more melodic and they can standout. The use of several voices together is a very good point to add power and catchiness. We can even find some dark arpeggios and they fit incredibly well, without letting us feel a too detached and different songwriting.

With “Not Even Dead Yet” the band shows more muscles for the speed and they put out also some blast beats sections. However, the melodies are always veiled and present, like a ghost. The same can be said for the next “They Are Waiting To Take Us” that shows also fast bass drums parts and the lead lines under the refrain. “Until You Die” and “End” are definitely faster and more direct. The riffs are less melodic and they point more on the sheer brutality. Fortunately, the tracks in this style are just two because the whole album could have been quite monotonous. Yes, it’s not that various either, but the melodic insertions are always welcome and quite catchy.

“Slow Silence” is a sort of an outro with strange and distorted sounds. The atmosphere is sad and the vocals are in low, baritone tonality. It’s the most different track and ends a good, brutal but somehow, always quite catchy album. They are very good at this difficult challenge in mixing melody to speed and brutality. They achieved the goal and this is the way melodic death metal should be done. It must be death metal first of all and the melodies must not take dominion over, like too often happens in recent times.

am a huge fan of melodic death/gothenburg/extreme power metal; call it what you will, and a huge fan of old In Flames. After I had acquired In Flames' entire discography, I craved more of the same so I decided to check out Dimension Zero, Jesper's side project with ex-In Flames guitarist Glenn Ljungstrom. I knew Jesper and Glenn were the same guitar duo on all the classic In Flames releases, so I really had high hopes for this album. I did not get quite what I had expected, but I wasn't disappointed. The first thing you need to know about Dimension Zero, and Silent Night Fever, is it really doesn’t sound like In Flames. There are scattered melodic riffs, but these take a backseat to the heavier, blindingly fast rhythm section. Dimension Zero is much, much heavier than In Flames ever was, and is definitely more towards straightforward death metal. I can see some elements of thrash, but don’t go expecting any shredding either.

Silent Night Fever really isn’t a technical album at all; in fact it’s quite simplistic. Every song follows the same basic formula, however, the formula works extremely well, and you really don’t get tired of it. In fact, I find myself with about 5 songs from this album stuck in my head at once, quite often. That’s how good it is. The drumming of a Dimension Zero album could probably be best described as a never-ending blast beat. The rapid drumming keeps your head bobbing endlessly as the rhythm guitar and bass chug along with the Gothenburg melodies thrown in for extra flavor. One very notable thing about Dimension Zero is their very catchy choruses. Gothberg’s vocals are quite typical of death metal, but the words are pretty distinguishable, and you can easily chant along to the choruses. Endless blast beats, blinding speed, melodic riffs, chant-along choruses=Dimension Zero. But there are still some minor details that set some songs apart.

Silent Night Fever starts the album off with the appropriate line “Let’s fucking go.” From here on, it’s a perfect blueprint of the rest of the album. Fast verses, chant-along choruses, scattered melodies, and the blast beats never really stop. Very energetic overall, and a nice catchy bridge section to go with the brutal rest of the song. The second song, The Murder Inn, was the first song to immediately grab my attention and is possibly the best on the album. It starts with a real wakeup, no build up at all, just right into the brutality. The intro riff repeats every pre-chorus, and it adds a weird touch with its atonality. The verses are typical Dimension Zero, and the choruses are probably the catchiest on the album, probably the best chant on the album backed by a great Gothenburg lead. The bridge actually has the song slow down to a chug, a pleasant little threat from our friend Joakim, guitar lead, repeat chorus. Through the Virgin Sky is more of the same, I’m not going to repeat myself so let’s just say it’s a good song that stands out (like each) due to the chorus. It is interesting to note that this song appeared on the previous EP, and was edited for Silent Night Fever. In my personal opinion the original was better, so go check it out. Now comes Your Darkest Hour. This is where the In Flames influence is most blatant. Clean intro, clean outro, and Gothenburg riffs galore, but that doesn’t mean the rhythm section slows or the blast beats stop. Oh yeah, and another really catchy chorus. Next, Not Even Dead. Another one that’s always in my head. Typical Dimension Zero, till it comes to the chorus, where there are actual overdubbed clean vocals. These make for a really nice touch, and I almost wish they did this in all their songs.

They Are Waiting To Take Us has some real fun stop/start rhythms, often repeating some chords to give it a good chugging/headbanging feel, followed up by a shriek in the intro and an especially piercing one in the bridge. And a catchy chorus of course. Until You Die is a really cool song, with some dark/spooky riffs and lots of crunch, definitely the heaviest and least Gothenburg influenced song on the album. End is a bit closer to Until You Die in its spooky, only semi-melodic riffs, and is actually quite reminiscent of At the Gates, definitely more so than it is of its own guitarist’s other band. Slow Silence ends the album after you’ve had just enough of the same, with some odd distorted synth and deep, semi-clean vocals, with screams occasionally in the background. It’s a slow, brooding, somewhat creepy end to the album, but it works really well. Think Dark Tranquillity-The Mind’s Eye. And that’s it for Silent Night Fever!

Bottom line: I think it’s great, you might not. Since all the songs are basically the same style, you love it or you hate it. I would sample one or two songs and give it a fair chance first, but if you don’t like a couple songs, chances are you won’t like any. Recommended for fans of At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, but this is no Jester Race remake or anything, go look for that in Insomnium. Oh and it’s not thrash either.

The main reason why I got this CD was because Jesper and Glenn were in In Flames so I figured it would sound just like the old In Flames CDs. I was wrong. Silent Night Fever has its own special sound but it repeats that sound over and over again in each song.

Silent Night Fever starts off with a title song. Its pretty heavy. I thought it had some pretty cool guitar riffs even though there wasn't that much going on. After it ends and the next song comes on, this is where the main problem begins. You'll think you are hearing the same song, jsut with a few minor little differences. Basically, the whole album is the same song just with a few extra guitar parts.

Would I recomend you to buy this CD? No, unless you first download a few songs. If you like what you hear, you'll love the CD. If you think its just alright but most of it sounds generic, save your money.

This is a Gothenburg album if i've ever heard one. Sure, its got some thrash elements, but its deifinitely got the whole melodic guitar sound and gothenburg screams that are trademark for the Gothenburg sound. It's decent for what it is, but don't mistke it for thrash.

This band is a side project of Jesper (In Flames) and Glen Ljungstrom (ex-In Flames). It was a good idea i suppose, Jesper is one of the best songwriters in metal today (In my Opinion), and its good that he is still writing some heavy songs given what his main band is doing nowadays. The cd opens with the title track, and upon hearing the first few seconds you might think it may be an actual thrash song, but soon enough it turns into Gothenburg. Theres some thrash riffs here and there throughout the album, but most of them are in between numerous Gothenburg riffs.

My favorites on the album include "Silent Night Fever", "Your Darkest Hour", and "Through the Virgin Sky". The bad thing about this album is that all the songs sound almost exactly alike, as if it were one giant song. When flipping through the tracks it may be hard to distinguish one song from another, as they almost all start with pretty much a different version of the same riff with the same drum beat and tempo. Not too bad though, i suppose, just not really reccomended for people looking for real thrash.