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Dissection > Reinkaos > Reviews
Dissection - Reinkaos

Arch Enemy + occult mumbo-jumbo (an autopsy of nu-Dissection) - 46%

Noise Maniakk, May 27th, 2023

After nearly two decades since its release, Dissection's final album (and, arguably, band leader Jon Nodtveidt's "spiritual testament" to the living world) "Reinkaos" keeps being an object of heated debate, between obsequious (at times even fanatical) praise from those most devoted to Jon's legendary figure, and near-iconoclastic mockery from those who are able to see beyond the myth and recognize the album for what it simply is: a musical product, with an undoubtedly fascinating lore surrounding it (being the album Jon made before calling it quits and killing himself, being "fulfilled with his own life" and having concluded his "spiritual mission" serving the satanic organization he was part of), yet still not devoid of its legit flaws and shortcomings, which should be blatantly evident especially to the extreme metal old guard that constitutes Dissection's hardcore fanbase. Yes, the most ironic thing about this album (and its gradual "re-evaluation" over time, after Jon's suicide) is that it managed to garner, throughout the years, a very loyal following even among a good chunk of the so-called "old school defender" metal crowd, that very crowd which would usually be the first to loathe and vehemently lash at an album that offers such a modern-sounding declination of the "extreme" metal paradigm. It's kinda fascinating to attend a Destroyer 666 concert and see one of their members wearing a "Reinkaos" shirt on stage. That's for y'all the power of metal mythology, surface aesthetic presentation and "conceptual credibility": some of the things I despise the most about our wonderful, beloved music genre and many of its easily impressionable followers (who will regardless still insist on showing off their self-proclaimed status as smart, deep, cunning non-conformists, who are supposedly able to think for themselves without being easily fooled unlike the gullible mainstream masses). Who knows if Dissection will eventually get its own sensationalistic biopic, like Mayhem did: with the story at hand, it may result in a slightly more "indie", "intellectual", "spiritual" kind of movie, destined to a smaller, hopefully less juvenile audience, but still most likely as soaked in reverential, nearly-religious myth-perpetuation for sure.

Time for a quick disclaimer, just to be clear: this review was NOT written with the intent of shitting on Jon Nodtveidt's memory. Of course he was a troubled human being (even in the words of those who knew him closely) who made some horrible things during his life - but he also made some of my favorite music ever, same as Varg or Euronymous. So, approach this review with the knowledge that "The Somberlain" and "Storm of the Light's Bane" stand proudly as my all-time favorite second-wave black metal albums of all time, and therefore I have no reason to shit on Jon's or Dissection's legacy at large. Some amount of sarcasm or even animosity will be inevitable over the course of this review, but keep in mind that the intent is just to show the inherent weaknesses of this particular album as a distinct piece of music, not of Jon's overall musical skills, which were already well-documented by his previous works long before "Reinkaos" came out. With that out of the way, let's get started.

In my humble, strictly personal view, Dissection ceased to exist for good as a proper artistic entity the very moment Jon was arrested in 1997 after the infamous Keillers Park Murder he took active part in; the band he assembled in 2004 with an entirely different lineup (featuring well-known Swedish drummer Tomas Asklund and Italian guitarist Set Teitan from industrial black metal terrorist unit Aborym) was basically just a solo project he conducted on the behalf of the infamous Misanthropic Luciferian Order, of which he's been a fully active, devoted member for the final decade of his life. Despite Jon's delicate playing style still being recognizable (especially during those trademark clean arpeggios that originally made songs like "Where Dead Angels Lie" so timeless and memorable - still present on tracks such as the brief "Chaosophia" instrumental), I don't hear any fundamental resemblance of the Dissection I know and love, nor even of black metal altogether for that matter; this might not be a controversial take to throw on this site, with the amount of reviews already repeating ad nauseam such a statement - but what I hear while listening to "Reinkaos" is a very modern-sounding Gothenburg melodeath album. Also, an especially mediocre, poppy, lackluster, run-of-the-mill one at that.

At this point, a frequent objection people raise against my pitiless bashing of this album is that I approach it as a grumpy, disappointed old school Dissection fan, who can't help but compare it to their 90's classics and decry the blunt stylistic shift, usually pointing out the more obvious, surface-level changes. Where are the roaring blast-beats? And the cold, breezing tremolo riffs? The assumption made here is basically that, if I just approached "Reinkaos" as the debut of a younger, unknown band inspired by the better part of In Flames' career, my judgement towards it would be much more benign and tolerant. Akchually, the opposite is true. If this was the debut album that a new, unknown band put on the market back in 2006, my safe bet is that it would have been lost and forgotten among the endless flow of similarly plastic, standardized, Swedish-sounding records which infested the scene back then. If I were to hear it, I would have been just bored to death by its commercial, ultra-safe, insanely formulaic, unimaginative formula, and I would've either dumped it into oblivion right after listening, or written a just-as-harsh review about it on this site, using it as a notable example for mediocre modern metal. Believe me, this is not about Dissection per se: it's just about this record sounding so 2006 it hurts my ears, and the fact that so many people (especially self-proclaimed "old school defenders" who piss on Gothenburg melodeath all the time) keep praising it and defending it out of respect for a dead black metal legend just shows me the level of mental gymnastics and uncritical idol-worship the metal scene is capable of. If you take away all the lore and the drama surrounding "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", it still remains a true black metal masterpiece, and a stunning album by any standard. If you take away all the lore, the drama, the occult formulas and the whole conceptual mumbo-jumbo surrounding "Reinkaos" (all stuff which on paper looks black metal as fuck), you're left with what basically is a very pale, cliched, simplistic, faceless imitation of the standard In Flames' "Whoracle" sound, only with some mildly "darker", more "sinister" melody peppered here and there as a half-assed token of Dissection's original concept. Right from the start, with the lazy chugging riffs of "Nexion 218", going then into "Beyond the Horizon" with that sterile, lethargic, ultra-mechanical up-tempo carrying the dullest half-thrash riff imaginable to mankind, you know you're in for the most standardized kind of certified 21th century pseudo-extreme metal. Just another cog in the machine of endless 2000's commercial melodeath, not unlike the route Arch Enemy decided to take after they reached worldwide commercial success at the turn of the millennium.

And here we reach the true root of the problem: I'm not mad because "Reinkaos" is a Gothenburg-sounding album. For the record, I love In Flames' and At the Gates' 90's catalogs in their entirety, including less popular works such as "Colony" or "Terminal Spirit Disease". I'm just mad because "Reinkaos" is a painfully generic Gothenburg-sounding album, structured at its core like the poppiest, most irritating kind of 2000's alt-radio-rock. Riffs are almost non-existent: all "Reinkaos" does rhythmically is a bunch of static, unbearable stop-'n'-go non-riffing that a plastic "modern rock" band of the time (think of Evanescence or Skillet) would have come up with. And worse thing is, they never fucking end: nearly all the rhythm section on "Reinkaos" sounds like that, at best with some nondescript pseudo-thrash riffing thrown in. Really, Jon seems so fixated with this kind of stop-'n'-go nonsense that it makes you wonder if the only thing he was allowed to listen to while serving his jail time during the early 2000's was crappy commercial radio, and the godawful pseudo-rock stuff they were airing back then seeped into his songwriting; the stop-'n'-go bullshit can already be heard abundantly on "Beyond the Horizon" and the much lauded "Starless Aeon", and it gets hilarious on tracks like "Dark Mother Divine" - with all likelihood, the album's cringiest, most laughable song, until you realize you're laughing at what this man considered to be his life's masterwork before offing himself, so you feel bad and kinda uncomfortable for that. The nauseatingly sterile, smooth, over-compressed guitar tone (the result of what might be one of my worst production nightmares come to life) does nothing but emphasize the annoying nature of this type of anti-riffing - it's like the perfect storm of bad ingredients for a modern metal album, in my eyes: this kind of "rhythm guitar" would already be laughable if any piss-poor rock/metal musician came up with it, let alone Jon Fucking Nodtveidt, the man who co-wrote "Black Horizons" at an age where he couldn't even legally purchase alcohol.

Luckily, despite the vapid rhythm section, there's still plenty of brilliant lead guitar work in the classic Dissection style, right? Well, yeah but not really: the vast majority of the lead section throughout this album is just saccharine, over-simplistic, ultra-cliched third-rate melodeath trying to ape In Flames yet just scratching the bare surface of that style's melodic potential, possessing none of the richness, depth and emotion which made "Whoracle" or "The Jester Race" such masterpieces. C'mon, you know what I'm talking about: nearly all of the lead work just fits into that kind of bittersweet, pseudo-epic, archetypal Swedish melodies you've already heard countless times on so many commercial melodeath albums in the vein of late Arch Enemy - and if you didn't care back then, you have even less of a reason to care now. Some slightly more sinister minor-key melody will pop up from time to time (usually during a song's most "cathartic" moment, to signify an emotional climax where evil and darkness manifest to the listener), and those are the record's most black metal-sounding moments, but it still ain't much really: they almost sound misplaced amongst such an inoffensive, cheesy, un-evil melodic framework. Even most of Jon's trademark clean arpeggios, while still as delicate and technically brilliant as ever, tend to submit to the same brand of heard-before melodic cheese. "Where Dead Angels Lie", this is not.

Nuclear take warning: I'd even go as far as saying, to many people's shock and outrage, that even a certain segment of the late-90's/early-00's US metalcore scene (before the godawful mid-00's KSE/B4MV emo-pop takeover of the genre) managed to make a much more creative, articulate, artistically cogent use of their "Whoracle" influences than "Reinkaos" does. Yup, you heard me: even such an Americanized scene made of ball-capped HC rednecks was initially less shrouded in conventional radio-rock cliches than this supposedly "tr00 kvlt Swedish record" is, at its very core. At least they still had some worthy, ballsy melodeath/thrash riffage, between one hardcore breakdown and the other (and I mean, just to be clear, before those breakdowns turned into a vapid commodity, becoming the main bulk of their songwriting along with shitty emo choruses, ruining the genre forever). I know it's quite an extreme statement to make, but it just goes to show how generic and devoid of interesting ideas this album really is. Just listen to "God of Forbidden Light": it's basically the kind of cheese you'd expect from your average teenage school "metal" band made of overly enthusiastic kiddies taking inspiration from In Flames and Arch Enemy; the melodies carrying the song are really that stereotypical, I swear I'm not kidding you my dear reader. And all the bad, painfully unimaginative guitar work on this album, coupled with Jon's fiery vocal delivery (think of the legendary "solvet cosmos in favilla" chorus of "Starless Aeon"), ends up turning the cheese factor up to eleven. Yup, you heard me again: Jon's vocals, whose admirable burning passion would usually be a plus on such beautiful albums as "Storm of the Light's Bane" or Ophthalamia's first record, here just come off as corny and misplaced. I feel really bad for saying that, knowing how passionate Jon was about every detail on "Reinkaos", but the second-hand embarrassment while hearing his delivery is too strong to ignore. It's like they took some vocal tracks from a black metal album and put them over a generic modern metal one, instead of the usual hardcore-tinged/pseudo-growling bark which would usually be indicated for that particular style.

So, is there something left to save on such an aggressively, offensively mediocre piece of "extreme metal"? As hard as it may be to admit, the answer is yes. There's quite a bit of pretty cool stuff actually, if you bother digging through the crap with an open mind. To start off, the main riff of "Black Dragon" is pretty cool and catchy, and does actually sound like a convincing-enough mid-paced black metal riff (despite the silly, misplaced, nearly-comical bluesy solo over it); unfortunately, the song gets rather stale as it progresses, so that riff isn't ultimately able to hold my attention long enough. Even the much-maligned "God of Forbidden Light" carries one single melody (I mean the one at 0:29) which does actually succeed quite a bit in genuinely recapturing the emotional, bittersweet feel of old In Flames, so kudos to Jon for that I guess. Also, some of the album's darker-sounding "melodic climaxes" are actually quite successful in raising your enthusiasm and sense of wonder for a little while, before going back to dumb radio-rock land: for instance, remember that wooden, riffless up-tempo at the start of "Beyond the Horizon"? When it truly gets going, around 0:35, it's pretty neat with that epic, kind-of-sinister lead melody. Over time I've also learned to enjoy "Maha Kali" (as another kinda legit black metal-ish mid-tempo) when I'm in the mood for it, but even that song can still get on my nerves after a while; still, the lyrics are awesome ("I cut my own throat in obscene ecstasy"? That's one hell of a line!) and the female vocals are really good. But the album's true highlight is its beautiful instrumental title-track. Yeah, that song is legit awesome from start to finish, and while sounding nothing like the band's earlier works, it's the album's only track where I felt the true Dissection spirit in some form: no half-assed melodeath-aping, no poppy songwriting structures whatsoever - just sinous, delicate, esoteric melodies developing gradually yet effortlessly over the course of the track, free from any conventional songwriting constriction, with such a grace and an elegance that makes the other songs pale even more by comparison, making you even wonder if such a restraint and boxing-in of Jon's still evident songwriting skills on the rest of "Reinkaos" was a deliberate choice (and if that's the case, then explain me WHY THE FUCK DID HE CHOOSE SO?). This is the sound of Jon's creativity breaking free from jail and from the chains of this world at large, wild and untamed. If there ever was a true "spiritual testament" Nodtveidt made before leaving our mortal world, I'd be inclined to identify it in this song alone. It just hits different from the rest.

So, after carefully dissecting this work in its entirety, I'm just left with a bitter taste in my mouth, wondering what the fuck went wrong and whose fault is it. It's known Jon was already thinking of a third Dissection album at the time of his arrest, but one has to wonder how similar it would have sounded to the finished product without such a huge time lapse and with a band lineup closer to that of "Storm of the Light's Bane". It's highly unlikely Jon could keep up with the developments of the Swedish metal scene (and, therefore, the commercial boom of Gothenburg melodeath) while in jail, nor do I think he cared about any of that stuff by that point in his life: for the record, I never thought for a moment "Reinkaos" was made with a focus-group mentality and cynical commercial intents in mind (Jon had way too much artistic integrity and vision to do that), but its stunning resemblance to the most vapid metal trends of the year it came out is suspicious to say the least; something must have gone horribly wrong, that's for sure.

One incredibly curious coincidence comes to mind: back in early 1997, the band was doing the infamous Gods of Darkness Tour whose lineup also included - guess whom - In Flames, who would release "Whoracle" within that same year: maybe Jon found himself enjoying them quite a bit over the course of that tour, and ultimately got influenced by them. Such a bold-yet-mildly plausible hypothesis encourages the strange idea of a third Dissection album that wouldn't have sounded too far removed from "Reinkaos", had Jon not been arrested in the late-90's. Yet you still have to wonder how did such a stunningly gifted metal musician learn all the wrong lessons from such a melodically inventive band as In Flames was back in the late 90's, ending up using their influence only to write dull melodeath anthems structured like cheesy pop-rock, in the same way many commercial pseudo-extreme metal acts were doing at the time. Did Jon's younger brother Emil (leader of electro-rock/metal hybrid Deathstars) play some part in it? Let's not forget he's also the one to blame for the album's awful production - a far cry from Dan Swano's layered, organic perfection. And yet, Deathstars do at least still have the fun bubblegum synth melodies, but if you take those away, there's not much left: it's just basic pop-rock spruced up with cool electronic sounds, and that's not exactly the best approach to make so-called "anti-cosmic metal of death". Jon, as a dedicated underground metal veteran, should have known that.

So, have we run out of plausible explanations for the failure that "Reinkaos" is? Well, not quite. In interviews, Jon declared that the new songs were written by following some kind of esoteric mathematical formulas, or some shit like that. Wooow. So, is this the kind of stuff you get when writing music by following actual occult teachings? I'll just stick to 80's/90's shock-oriented, surface-level pseudo-satanism then. If the "cosmic entities" worshipped by Nodtveidt do really exist, then I'm firmly convinced they don't usually enjoy listening to such a complex, abstract opus as "The Somberlain"; I see them more as late Arch Enemy/Soilwork type of homies, what a disappointment of 'em - and what a bloody shame Jon had to throw away his outstanding black/death metal songwriting skills in order to properly pay homage to them on his final, most important work (even being dedicated enough to provide them with the most commercial, ultra-compressed, obnoxiously plastic-sounding production available in 2006 for an easy-listening metal album - talk about utmost devotion!). Some years ago, a pretty niche Italian metal blog speculated (half-jokingly) that Jon purposefully made these songs as poppy and singalong-y as possible so that normie metal audiences at concerts would sing the choruses along with him, repeating the formulas and thus correctly executing the "ritual". As crazy as it may sound, this hypothesis seems to make the most sense out of all those I've covered.

And yet, no amount of wordplay and rationalization can ultimately hide the fact that this album is a subpar, mediocre, overproduced pseudo-extreme metal affair which perfectly encapsulates the state of the genre back in the mid-to-late 2000's (sitting comfortably amongst a "Thornography", an "In Sorte Diaboli" or a "Doomsday Machine"), and a perfect representation of the metal scene's backward defensiveness and hypocritical double standards when it comes to a well-respected musical figure. Personally, I just like to think of "Reinkaos" as the product of a brilliant musician whose agency was hijacked by a satanic sect that brainwashed him, manipulated him and ultimately destroyed his life for good; music, by that point, was clearly secondary in Nodtveidt's list of priorities, and his goal with Dissection was just to serve the order he was part of with such a dedication and a devotion which mirrors that of his hardcore fanbase in defending this hollow, empty piece of poppy melodeath: in both cases, a religious kind of fanaticism that can only pertain to what cannot be empirically proven to exist. Because no matter which complex, deep meaning and supposed "anti-cosmic power" you attach to it: "Reinkaos" remains just an Arch Enemy album with occult mumbo-jumbo thrown in.

Full circle - 65%

WilliamAcerfeltd, May 9th, 2021

Given the hype around the first Dissection album being released in 11 years, I could see the hype over this album being released and after listening to it I can understand why a lot of fans were disappointed at the time when it was released. Long after the dust has settled and now the age of Jon himself when he died, I finally decided to give this album a listen.

Overall, this album sounds nothing like the previous two Dissection albums. Whilst the first two were classics, Jon is well past his creative prime here. In fact, if I knew nothing about Dissection and had listened to either SOTLB or TSBL, I would have no idea they were written by the same band.

The album has some catchy beats here and there but it’s nothing special. While there are some pretty decent songs on this album, it’s balanced by some pretty dull ones. All the songs on the album are played at roughly the same pace which for lack of a better term is played at a medium speed. The production of the album is good and the music is well played and professionally done. To summarise, the musicianship of this album is good, not great. It just gets the job done Don’t expect to be dazzled by some amazing skill, apart from maybe for some solos on this album. Some of the highlights on this album are the song Xeper-I-Set and Maha Kali. Also worthy of a mention is the song Chaosophia, which is a short acoustic song similar to what could be found on TSBL. Unlike the rest of the album, it actually does sound like the Dissection of old.

The lyrics for the most part are pretty cringey. It’s clear that Jon believed this stuff. It’s hard to decipher how Jon came to believe such nonsense. Basically, the lyrics deal with cover Jon’s belief in the occult and it encompasses dark gods and chaos and Satanism. As another reviewer once said: “if Jon believes he’s anything more than blood and guts, he’s a fool.” True. As a quick digression: whilst metalheads are quick to call out the harmfulness of Judeo-Christian beliefs, when it comes to Satanic beliefs there is silence. Personally, I believe all harmful beliefs should be called out, if someone had said “hey Jon, you’re deluded, Satan and doesn’t really exist”, the perhaps maybe, just maybe he would still be alive today.

Concluding, this album is forgettable. It’s not bad but it’s just not anything special. As stated above, giving how amazing this album’s predecessor was, it’s understandable why there was disappointment at the time of release. It would have been interesting had Jon released this back in his creative prime, back in the mid-90s, perhaps had that happened, it would have been their opus magnum, sadly however that was not the case. On that note, Dissection’s legacy ended not with a bang but a whisper.

Dissection and Deception - 35%

Forever Underground, January 26th, 2021

What impresses me the most about this album is there are people who defend that it is the best Dissection album. Don't get me wrong, I understand that tastes in the music are exposed to subjectivity and that criticizing someone's personal tastes makes no sense. Considering this, I can understand there are people who like this album, but I can see the reasons because it has an interesting thematic construction, as all the songs are interconnected between them as if it were a work of epic dimensions. Also, there are good songs on the album, Beyond the Horizon and Black Dragon being an example of a melodic death metal with influences from the Gothenburg scene, well executed, aggressive but at the same time contained giving a priority to clean structures.

What I can't understand is that you can say that this is the best album of Dissection, and I believe it for a simple reason, if this seems to you the best thing that Dissection did is that you don't like Dissection as such, in this work, the band headed by Jon Nödtveidt loses all its previous identity, maybe to continue with the previous line of work was not comfortable to him after the stop that the band suffered due to his imprisonment and the artistic decisions are some that I consider that the critic should not enter. Maybe this album was a beginning for Jon Nödtveidt, and he had the need to express his, "Anti-Cosmic Satanism” but whatever it was, even if it had good ideas, some good songs and was a legitimate attempt to do something different but good, I have to say that music in general is bad.

When I say that the music is influenced by the Gothenburg scene I mean it in the worst sense, with few exceptions, most of the songs are based on riffs and solos simplified to the maximum plus melodic interludes with a more pretension than an atmospheric quality that giving a rise to what seems to be a clone of In Flames, the bad In Flames. Also, an idea in principle good and original as is the one of a musical construction where all the songs have points in common among them are ruined by the too much concrete similarity of the songs, of course that "Maha Kali" would seem to me a good song if it was not because "Black Dragon" is almost the same song, and it matters little to me if it is made a purpose or not, I as listener does not have to have external information on the album so that this one has sense, if of based this is annoying it is because this badly made. In the end it seems that Jon Nödtveidt ran out of ideas, and besides having to repeat structures in the compositions, he also fed the album with filler songs like "Nexion 218" or "Chaosphobia" that really don't add anything interesting to the album and seems to be more an attempt to fulfill a quota of songs than to really make an attempt at original composition. Maybe this work would have won more as an ep, no doubt it is one of those albums that would win with a shorter duration although this one is not in itself excessive, it is simply that it didn't need so many songs.

The album doesn't give you much to comment on, it has very few good things, and those are very small compared to the big problems, I think it will be a disappointment for any fan of the first two Dissections albums and for those who were not fans of the first two like me, it would be a disappointment too.

Void Of My Dreams - 80%

LickMyOrangeBallsHalfling, June 16th, 2020

It's tempting to say that "Reinkaos" is an album that only gets hyped because of the circumstances surrounding its making (which I won't go into detail on, it's been done to death already), but if anything, I think that the backstory makes the album a little UNDERappreciated. People act like Jon Nodtveidt had somehow decided to sell out by making a somewhat more accessible album than Dissection's previous efforts, but given that he had the opportunity to continue playing shows and making music, which certainly would have resulted in a financial windfall, and instead chose, uh, a different path, because he believed that he had reached his peak in life, implies that this was a man who was doing what he truly wanted, for better or for worse.

And you know what? "Reinkaos" is not bad. More than not bad, maybe not great, but it's just flat out good. Sure, it's pretty far removed from the kind of epic scope melodic black metal Dissection had made a name with, but then again, "Storm Of The Light's Bane" is pretty far removed from their early death metal demos, so you can't blame 'em for evolving. Sure, it's a little bit cleaner and more accessible, but not to the detriment of the music. Nodtveidt's voice is clearer than ever before, sharp and commanding. And normally lyrics aren't a major part of my enjoyment of music, but it's good to have a metal album where the lyrics play such a big role in the broader picture. Like it or not, Nodtveidt was in deep with his Satanist/Gnostic beliefs, and it's a good theme to base the lyrics on. Not to mention the huge hooks on this thing. They really go all in with the catchy, Gothenburg-style guitar melodies on songs like "Starless Aeon" and "Internal Fire," two of the thrashier tracks on here.

Other reviews have noted that while "Reinkaos" is commonly described as melodeath (and there is some truth to that), it feels just as much like a traditional heavy metal record with harsh vocals. Maybe that kinda IS melodeath, but either way, the songs on here are more complex than you might think I still have no idea how Nodtveidt can play and sing at the same time the way he does, and the way the two guitars weave in and out of each other isn't so simple. As a straightforward metal album, it's rock solid. Nodtveidt also ramps up the amount of guitar soloing when compared to previous records, and he really lets loose, sometimes to the point of excess, but mostly in a way that serves the songs. "Maha Kali," the album's titanic closer, combines all the best elements of "Reinkaos:" Relatively simple, straightforward black-influenced heavy metal, a stellar guitar solo, lyrics that fit into the larger theme of the album, and an anonymous female vocal guest, which is a pleasant surprise.

Of course, "Reinkaos" has its downsides. There are times when the straightforwardness of the songs can be a downside, and a few tracks, like "Xeper I Set" just don't have as much staying power as others. Some songs go on a bit too long, and there are a couple pointless acoustic interludes. But overall, this album is much better than many people give it credit for. Even if your main exposure to Dissection is through their first two albums and you're accustomed to that style, you should still give "Reinkaos" a whirl, you might just be impressed.

A Masterpiece of Insanity - 100%

Kerpak, April 13th, 2020
Written based on this version: 2006, CD, Black Horizon Music (Slipcase, Enhanced, Limited edition)

Not only does it sound nothing like Guthenburg melodeath which it constantly gets compared to, but this album has the sort of completely focused drive behind it that very few if any albums in music have had. It's more blackened heavy metal if anything, it's quite unique in sound. If there were albums this work was trying to clone I would be very glad to hear them, but shit flames and at the gates of metalcore (excluding their debut) sure aren't.

We are all familiar with the story behind this album. Jon set in prison as a murder accomplice and wrote this album. He came out, recruited a band, released it and then killed himself feeling that he was done with this life. The entire albums lyrics were written based on the Liber Azerate and the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a movement of Satanists inspired by Gnosticism that is wholly intolerant of the more atheistic and liberal forms of Satanism. These guys (or at least Jon) believe in theistic Satanism fully, and that upon death they are freed and come closer to achieving gnosis. This is batshit insane and it's beautiful. It took all his drive to produce this.

As said before, this album sounds like a twisted fusion of black metal and heavy metal, with an influence from death metal (and yes, melodeath too). Listen to the first minute and half of Black Dragon and tell me that isn't pure satanic heavy metal. The album ranges from midpaced to moderately fast when songs speed up, but most of it stays midpaced.

The riffs and song structure stand out compared to traditional heavy metal, there's always interesting twists and turns that aren't entirely predictable, but they always make sense. Songs like Xeper-I-Set would sound a lot more generic if written by other bands. The way that it starts in the first minute - a riff that would just be repeated in a usual bands hands, is slightly varied every time, with pauses and escalations in the right spots. The song just ramps up higher and higher into the catchiest pseudo chorus, it never goes back to a previous riff or lets go of its grip over you, it just keeps fucking giving. Combined with the lyrics it's a masterful creation, it literally is a runic spell being cast on you into a satanic orgasm. Show me generic Guthenberg that comes close to this.

The song Dark Mother Divine is more of a midpaced heavy metal banger, but follows a similar theme of building up to a release. By the end of it I truly feel like Lilith, whoever she may be, was just summoned from some dark portal in my backyard.

The two weakest tracks are the first two, in an unusual manner. However I feel that they belong where they are considering the structure of the whole album - Everything ramps up to Xeper-I-Set, then a peaceful intermission and once again ramping up onto Maha Kali, the grand closer.

There isn't a single track I would omit from this album, or a single change I would make. Very much unlike 99.9% of bands and albums out there who constantly let shitty filer slide into their work because they lack a singular vision. This is necessary to have for a proper work of art, no matter the ultimate cost. The only thing that I would possibly add to this album, is the track The Somberlain from their first album (in an alternate dimension where it was written later) which seems to fit lyrically and quality wise very much, however this is a bit off topic.

This album oozes charisma. It is perfectly crafted with careful attention drawn to lyrical placement and song structure. I can truly tell how Jon got convinced of whatever he got convinced of.

Jon managed to channel something truly grandiose and evil with this work.

Great concept. Dull music. - 61%

Verminswallower, February 16th, 2018

This album was a recommendation from a friend and the way he explained the album to me sounded way better than what I ended up hearing. He explained that this release dealt with some sort of deities based on a cult (the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, renamed to Temple of the Black Light) and that the leader of the band committed suicide some time after releasing the album.

On the first listen, I was completely disappointed. While the concept sounded interesting by itself, the music sounded very simplistic and dull to catch my attention. I left it there for some time and then I decided to listen to it again. Like some other albums, this release might require subsequent spins to actually "get it". After that, I can pretty much say that it is still a very simplistic type of music, but it's not as bad as I initially thought.

The job done by every member of the band is really good. The guitars are heavy, yet melodic, and many of the riffs delivered are actually catchy ("Beyond the Horizon" is the best example). The bass it's audible, even if it's a bit buried under the whole music. And regarding the vocals by Jon, I have to admit he nails it. The voice is really fitting for the music, sometimes using other vocals techniques in certain tracks to add to the atmosphere. My only complaints would be that the drumming is very simplistic, which is a bit bothering since the drummer could've tried some more variety to create a greater atmosphere. And some songs sound very repetitive and lame (like "Dark Mother Divine").

I've seen that this release by Dissection is polarizing. Some people love it, some others despise it. I find myself in the midst of both groups. The album is not what everyone expected from Dissection (considering how good their previous albums were) but in all honesty, this album is not the worst thing I've heard.

Overall, it's a catchy, powerful, melodic record with a great concept, but it's not something I'd listen to every day.

A blackened Metal masterpiece. - 95%

JVS, March 1st, 2015
Written based on this version: 2006, CD, The End Records (Slipcase)

There was a time when I tend too much in hearing others' opinions about music rather than listen and make a judgment by myself. I often avoided some awesome albums just because they were popularly (yet not objectively) bashed. And Dissection's "Reinkaos" was one of them. A big fault from mine, because this album is a masterpiece of blackened heavy metal.

One can notice the reasons of the hate towards "Reinkaos", since a lot of black metal (and extreme metal in general) fans are a bunch of 5th rate norsecore worshipers without a proper metal background, which leads them to despise the album and call it "boring" and "In Flames influenced" because it's not filled with blast-beats, and it has a clean production and Iron Maiden influenced leads. Absolutely clueless and ridiculous arguments.

The songwriting is pure class. Lots of killer riffs and amazing solos. Not in vain Jon spent years in the songwriting process. Just listen to the riffs in "Black Dragon", the rabid and Maiden-ish riffs in "Starless Aeon" and the title track, absolutely killer riffs. The weaker track would be "Maha Kali", which gets boring and kind of pointless at times, but the instrumental middle of the song is great. The Indian canticles fits very well in that song.

Although the production is clean, the drum sound is not plastic and modernized. I won't make a deep emphasis in the drumming since it's not that impressive, but Tomas did quality and tight drumming and it fits with the heavy riffs. The lack of blast beats is actually a good thing. Who wants more boring blast sections? If it's heavy and pounding, it's enough. Regarding the vocals, I fail at understand what is wrong with the vocals, since it's basically the same style Jon used in the previous albums. Not that powerful, but still ferocious and evil sounding.

Definitely "Reinkaos" is underrated masterpiece. Dark, heavy and brilliant. A great way to end the career of such a great and honest band.

A good ending... - 85%

Svartedauden666, February 22nd, 2015

Dissection's first release after almost eleven years since the last studio album. An album some like it and some don't. Nödtveidt reformed Dissection after being released from prison in 2004 and started working on completing the music he composed while being in prison and writing new material. Most of this album was written while Nödtveidt was in prison.

Now talking about the album, the first thing you'd see (if you buy the CD) is the cover art. Simple yet so powerful. One would think they put less effort on this if we look back to The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane where we see some really good cover arts that fit the music behind it, cover arts with a cold and dark atmosphere that take you into the coldest Scandinavian forest. And as stated, this cover art fits perfectly with the music in this album: simple yet so powerful and it is of course way more direct to the satanic concept behind it.

The lyrical content in this album is based on the satanic teachings of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order on which Nödtveidt was a member since its inception in 1995. The most 'controversial' feature in this album is that the sound Dissection were known prior the release of this album is completely gone. Less melodic, less cold, less dark if we compare it to their first two releases. The black metal elements are totally gone and it is more headed to a less heavier melodic death metal (in my opinion). Even though it is less melodic, it doesn't mean that it is NOT melodic. Two good examples would be ''Starless Aeon'' and ''Maha Kali''.

We can definitely hear the Nödtveidt vibe in this album. His guitar work on this album is exceptional in a way. He really focused on the solos in this album and I could say his best solos lay here for example Maha Kali (again). The guitar parts are really well written and we have some really catchy riffs on this album. On the other hand, the drums and bass do not play a major role here. There's no fast double bass drums or blast beats and the bass just follows the rhythm guitar patterns. Nödtveidt's vocals play an outstanding work here. I can't believe how good his vocals were. I get chills everytime I hear Nödtveidt's screaming and invoking demons by using some sort of language I have no knowledge of. It's one of the best things in this album.

Nödtveidt followed a different direction in this album, but just musically. Lyrically I would say it is even 'heavier' than the previous two. The content is more serious and more mature or maybe just less philosophical or poetic. Probably because the time Nödtveidt served in prison helped him to learn more about the teachings of his organization. We don't really know what happened in jail. The album was produced by Dissection and Nightmare Industries (Emil Nödtveidt) and it was released by the band's own label, Black Horizons Music. This was a big ''fuck you'' to the big record companies (as stated by Nödtveidt). This way the band worked in the way they felt it was better for them. This is why I think Nödtveidt was really pleased with the result of this album.

Overall, this is a high quality metal production, with catchy riffs, some good melodic leads, good solos and of course, the satanic concept. If you are an extreme metal fan, you should really listen to this album if you haven't already.

Highlights: Maha Kali, Internal Fire, Xeper-I-set and Beyond the Horizon

Downlights: Dark Mother Divine (eventhough it gets better towards the end). This is why I don't rate this album a little higher.

The rest is OK.

Dissection - Reinkaos - 70%

Orbitball, January 6th, 2012

Upon returning to the metal community after getting out of prison in 2004, Jon Nodveidt (RIP 2006) put together a fresh lineup featuring him on guitars/vocals, Sethlan Teitan on guitars/backing vocals and Tomas Asklung on drums. Definitely some solid melodic death metal featured here. There are some good songs on this release, but nothing compared to "The Somberlain" or "Storm of the Light's Bane". Jon sings about his belief in the occult. At a young age of 31, he shot and killed himself because he felt like he did enough in this world, which is a tragedy.

The music features guitars that are mostly medium paced with thick chords and melodies. The solos could've been a little bit better played out, they're just average. But the rhythm guitar goes well with the music. Palm muted frenzies, Jon's unique voice and an average production makes "Reinkaos" a little bit better than mediocre album. Some songs have great chorus's such as "Starless Aeon", but as a whole, the album falls a little bit short of worthiness. I'd say take out the solos and the rhythm guitars would've dominated.

Dissection didn't copy anyone on this album. Musically it's noteworthy, just not as good as past releases. There are some songs that feature an acoustic guitar which I found to definitely augment the album. Straight forth melodic death metal here, nothing else. Some songs just are totally awesome with the guitar riffs shining in sheer good spirits. As a whole, the album falls a little bit short of being a remarkable album like those in the past. But it isn't a total waste of a release, just not the best. There are a lot of songs that have a rhythm guitar with some melodies in the background.

I don't get into the lyrics because they're eerie and demonic. These writings reflected his belief in the occult. Very strange stuff. I'm assuming that he put them together while he was in prison. They're dark definitely and the music augments the demonic words Jon spewed forth. Some instrumental work which was featured on the title track. The musicianship was not at its peak though and I think that some songs should've just been omitted. Some tracks were boring and uninteresting, but as a whole "Reinkaos" is just okay, nothing special.

The mixing I have a beef with. The bass guitar was barely heard, the leads weren't very loud, and the same applies to the melodic guitar played in the background over the rhythm guitar bits. Other than that, the rhythms were very well heard and the same applies to the vocals and drums. I think that overall, the production was solid despite these flaws. I enjoyed the album as a whole even though a few songs were monotonous especially the instrumental. The acoustic guitar was very well heard and was highly original to listen to.

As a whole, "Reinkaos" is decent enough to purchase if you're a melodic death maniac like myself. Again, if there were no lead guitars, the album would've been much better. The solos just didn't hack it. The rhythm guitar was solid in there, but some tracks weren't very well constructed. Jon's voice was unique and appropriate for the music. On the last track there features a guest female vocalist. It was difficult to hear her though, another beef with the mixing. I would say that "Reinkaos" is worth picking up, but it's definitely not as good as the old Dissection releases.

Never gets old... - 98%

OneSizeFitzpatrick, November 7th, 2011

Out of all the albums I listen to, there's a few handfuls of cd's that just never get dull or boring. Reinkaos is one of them. Of all Dissection's releases, Reinkaos usually takes the most flack from critics as being too "Gothenburg-y" due to it's more polished sound quality, however, the fact that this record is in many ways different from the first 2 Dissection albums is one of the reasons why i love this record so much; it's different.

The entire album is based around Nodtveidt's anti cosmic spiritualist cult, the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, which is essentially the same thing as any kind of arch nemesis in some comic book/Action movie. Which adds a bit of a flair for this album, it's essentially a concept album based upon the teachings of their (un?) holy book, the Liber Azerate.

Musically, this album is almost perfect. The guitar melodies are hardly reminiscent of any Swedish melodic death band. The sound is a bit darker than In flames, Amon Amarth, or Dark tranquility would play which adds to the awesomeness of this release. This is one of those albums that it's almost impossible to name a "favorite" track, but Xeper-I-Set, Maha Kali, and the title track; Reinkaos, are among my most frequently listened to. Xeper I Set is probably the biggest stand out track on the album, the overall pace and tempo of this song is significantly different and has an almost thrash-esue appeal to it at times. Another huge turn on for me in this album is the lyrics, Jon had already made a reputation as being a great lyrics writer with song titles like "the Somberlain" and "where dead angels lie" but some of the occult chants he does in Reinkaos are just fuckin powerful... even if I have no idea what he's talking about.

Being a huge melodic death/black metal junkie, I have to say this is by far one of my favorite pieces of melodic black metal I've ever heard. It's been a classic of mine for at least 2 years now and unlike the majority of the albums I listen to, Reinkaos just never gets old. Every track has another fresh, and melodic as hell sound to it.

It's good but it doesn't pulverize the cosmos - 80%

Rottenrectum, October 13th, 2009

Reinkaos, meaning return to chaos according to Dissection mastermind Jon Nödveidt his last interview before his death. This is based on the teachings of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order (now called Temple of black light), the ordered cosmos is a prison of laws while chaos is unlimited power and free from the laws and principles of the cosmos (hence the label Anti-cosmic metal of death).

Throughout his time in jail Nödveidt has gathered inspiration and creativity to write Reinkaos. It is a vessel of sonic propaganda for anti-cosmic luciferianism as it is filled with invocations of evil, chaos and dark gods. In reality this translates into some deep and at times silly lyrics. I am sure Mr Nödveidt and the rest of Dissection are (were) serious about Satanism but to someone who doesn't buy into the chaosophy (like me) it's hard to listen to the lyrics without a hint of eyes-roll. Especially when considering this album sounds less evil and sinister than its predecessors.

This leads to the music itself. Dissection has this time opted for a more melodic death metal approach and dropped the black metal. This to many fans disdain and yes compared to the splendor of The Somberlain and Storm Of The Lights Bane this falls short but I prefer to look at this album for what it actually is, a solid melodic death metal release. Look for that cold atmosphere elsewhere because you will not find it here. This is more of a warm summers day rather than ghastly silent plains and it works. The tempo is overall slower than earlier too and the riffs are simpler and more percussive. Guitars have always been the best with Dissection to me and this is true here too, there are many catchy melodies and sweet solos. Drums are nothing spectacular, sounds very mechanical compared to the early work.

The vocals have also changed into a more melodeath growl. It's completely decipherable (with the exception of some of the invocations which are as understandable as Klingon if you have never heard or read them before). This is where the lyrics shine through and can sound like complete nonsense if you take them seriously. I enjoy most of it because I know it has meaning behind it, it's not just random satanic misanthropy like many other black metal bands. It seem to cover most of the ideology Dissection stands for which I have struggled to understand many times but lately I have grown to accept I probably won't. Makes for fun lyrics though.

So what is the final verdict? Well this is a solid album but not earth shattering. My main problem with it is too many fillers. If you like melodic death metal this is a sure bet but if you want a triumphant return to form this will disappoint.

Big disappointment - 45%

Milos, April 2nd, 2008

After many years of waiting "Reinkaos" came out and I can tell it was not worth of waiting at all. This is one of the biggest disappointments in my life when we speak about music. I can only remember I was disappointed like this when Mayhem released "The Grand Declaration Of War" and when Kataklysm released "Victims Of This Fallen World".

I can't understand how anyone can say this album is good. Even if it wasn't Dissection it would not be very good and when I compare this album to "The Somberlain" and especially "Storm Of The Light's Bane" it sounds miserable. Some would say that bands need to change and that's OK, but this is change to hundred times worse. "Reinkaos" has nothing in common with previous albums. It's not the same kind of music. "Reinkaos" is some kind of melodic death metal with very much rock and roll elements.

The songs are simple, slow and boring and they sound somehow unfinished. "Starless Aeon" sounds solid. "Black Dragon" is also good and there are maybe few parts more that are good, but when we speak about whole album it's not good at all. I don't say its complete shit, but it's not good either. "Beyond The Horizon" starts with almost same riff as "Alone In The Dark" of Testament. "Xeper-I-Set" is horrible. I can't stand that song.

I still respect Jon Nödtveidt as a man and musician, but this album wasn't necessary at all.

A solid METAL album - 90%

natrix, February 16th, 2008

I've noticed that a lot of people don't like this album, and rather than try to justify why it sounds the way it does, in my opinion, I'll instead focus on why it kicks ass.

This is just a fucking solid metal album. Not black, not thrash, not death, but stright up metal. With raspy vocals, that is.

Sure, you can say "this is an In Flames rip off," but those pussies have totally abandonned riffage in favour of syrupy melodies and lame chugga-chugga "core" bullshit. The opening "Nexion 218" throws us into the black gaping vortex that is "Beyond the Horizon." There are RIFFS here! YAY! That song feels like a black hole, devouring everything in existence. The title track has some especially dark riffage as well, most notably towards the end. "Black Dragon" is quite epic feeling, featuring a recurring acoustic melody that gives the song a nice atmosphere. "Dark Mother Divine" is the most "diverse" number on here, going through several different moods, all of them rather traditional, before going into a fast, raging gallop at the end...very fucking nice, I must add, that ending! The faster songs never really break into blasting territory, but "Xeper-I-Set" and "Internal Fire" keep my head banging, especially the lead break in the former which sounds actually brutal.

The best comparison I can use in the case of this album is Metallica's black album. All the songs here are equally catchy, straight forward in structure, and very driving. I liked all the songs immidiately upon listening to it, and had it not been Dissection, my initial reaction (of disappointment) would have been a lot less negative. Sure, there are no Byzantine epics like we found on earlier albums, nor is there quite as much speed, but the songs are heavy and driving.

A very thick production, courtesy of Jon's brother Emil, keeps everything very palatable. Whether or not you're going to hate that is totally up to you. This isn't Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth, as the songs are still entirely metal, and the feelings behind the subject matter are sincere, but some will whine that this robs it of a dark feeling.

So why not 100%? Well, as much as I enjoy Reinkaos, it isn't the classic album that Storm is. All the songs on here are solid, really good, but sadly, they aren't paradigm shifting. Also, the drumming is not as fantastic as Ole's was, but well, it does what it's supposed to, but nothing more, sadly.

While I miss Dissection and especially Jon Nodtveidt quite a lot, this album is a highlight in their brief career of evil, and a powerful testament to music being more than simply songs.

There's Nothing Wrong Here. - 89%

Horton692, September 9th, 2007

No, this album is not as good as "The Somberlain" or "Storm of the Light's Bane," but it's almost unfair to compare it to those two masterpieces. Reinkaos, on it's own, is a tremendously done album. If you're like me and you're a Dissection-worshipper, this is another great Dissection album for you. Personally, I think Dissection fans should just be glad that Jon even decided to continue Dissection.

This album is more of a melodic death metal album than a melodic black metal album like their earlier works. So if you're looking for a lo-fi black metal release, go get some Darkthrone or Mayhem. If you're in the mood for something a little more well-produced then lend this album an ear.

Time for the highlights of this album. The best tracks on here are Dark Mother Divine, Black Dragon, God of Forbidden Light, and Starless Aeon. Even Nexion 218 (the intro) and Chaosophia (41 second acoustic interlude) are catchy. The lead guitar on this album is a dominant element on this album, and fortunately it's not just guitar solo's for 21 minutes like prog metal. It's very well balanced with the rythm and aids the riffs and songs in a positive way. Jon's vocals have not suffered much or at all during his prison stay. His talent has not disapated at all.

And why it didn't get 90 or higher? The rythm guitar. Their rythm guitar on this album is basically all the same - power chords with rests in between a few strums. Luckily there is a lead guitar player here and thankfully he's good so the guitar, overall, still becomes a highlight. The song Internal Fire is also a lowlight, it's a boring song. Xeper-I-Set is also not very good, no matter how hard you try to like it. Other than that there are no lowlights, at least for me. You might think the "Tohu Tehu Teli Than!" thing in every song gets a little annoying but for me it's just neutral - I don't mind it nor do I dislike it.

So if you're a Dissection fan get this album, definitely. Even if you're a diehard black metal fan you should like this album despite it's excellent production. This album gets a few extra points for being the last Dissection release ever, as we all know Jon killed himself. Get this album, you wont be disappointed.

Dissection-Reinkaos - 98%

Atkey, April 30th, 2007

I had never heard of Dissection until I picked up Reinkaos, and while expecting another black metal band with raw production, as if it were recorded in a basement, I was completely surprised. This is without a doubt the best black/death album of the last 10 years.

After Reinkaos I picked up Storm of the Lights Bane and the Somberlain, both being great albums for sure, but the sheer power of Reinkaos is undeniable. It isn't typical black metal that's based around blasting and power chords. It has great melody, twin guitar solos, and imaginitive drum lines. It has set itself apart from the black metal standard and kept its distance. For any fan of black and death metal this is an essential release, for it captures Jon Nödtveidt's determination in his music and his firm beliefs as a Satanist.

The one weak point of the album is the song 'Internal Fire'; the atmosphere is lacking and the riffing less creative. It's forgettable after hearing 'Starless Aeon', the overall simplicity of it, while still making the best track on the album. The first riff is heavy, with a great melodic lead over top of it, which leads perfectly into the verse, with Jon absolutely spitting the lyrics. The chorus containing the esoteric formulae is almost epic. It has a powerful mix of Jon and Set Teitans' guitars.

Most songs on Reinkaos follow a basic formula of melodic leads, and crushing guitars, and that isn't a bad thing. Most notably would be 'Maha Kali', for the most creative music, and some of the most well written lyrics. And the use of female vocals towards the end of the song is amazing. It's a shame more bands don't follow Dissection's example, we would see a rise in black metal again.

This is the last album you'll ever hear from Dissection, and it isn't to be missed.

Different Band, Different Result - 80%

Profaner, February 8th, 2007

Even though Jon Nodtveidt had always been Dissection's driving force and main songwriter, the sound of Dissection changed a little from album to album as the band personel changed. This is partly because of Jon's desire to not repeat himself musically, and partly because he always gave the members of Dissection some room to add their own touches to the songs. And here we have a new record that was made by a new line-up. So, naturally, the sound is going to be altered somewhat.

I don't feel that "Reinkaos" is as out-of-left-field as some people make it out to be. This seems to be an unpopular opinion, but if people would judge it on its own instead of comparing it to "Storm Of The Light's Bane", one might see that it's not SUCH a stretch from the old material...it just leans in a more "traditional" direction.

There's a lot on "Reinkaos" to savor. Jon really flexed his guitar muscles on this album. There's lots of cool, memorable riffs, great guitar solos, well-put-together songs. There's even a few moments on "Reinkaos" that are more technical than anything on the other records. (Set is actually the most solid "rhythm" guitarist that Jon ever had to bounce off of)

I will say this though: "The Somberlain" and "Storm Of The Light's Bane" contained nothing but CLASSIC songs. I mean, there's not one even mediocre song to be heard on either, particularly "Storm...". "Reinkaos" can not make that same claim. I'm not saying that's there's any BAD songs on it, but there's a couple that don't quite cut it...at least, not to my ears. Specifically, I'm talking about "Starless Aeon" and "Black Dragon". They just seem a bit pedestrian compared to the rest of the album.

It should also be said that Jon stated, well in advance, that "Reinkaos" would be "more direct and to the point". This has something to do with the lyrical content. Being that the lyrics were intended to be actual invocations and evocations, one would assume that simpler structures would be appropriate.
And indeed, there's a lot of magic(k) to be found in the lyrics. Perhaps that's why this record polarizes people so severely. It seems that people who are, at least, appreciative of the occult/satanism, find reedeming value in "Reinkaos" while those who are simply looking for a Dissection record tend to feel left out in the cold.

In any event, Jon acheived his goal of creating "a truly Satanic record". And apparently he was so pleased with the result, that he chose to end his earthly existence after its creation...Feeling that he had brought Dissection to its logical conclusion and with it, his life's work.

A Comeback of Different Sorts... - 85%

woeoftyrants, December 12th, 2006

(Note: Like the majority of my reviews, this was originally written for Amazon.com; the date of this one is 8/7/2006.)

To say the least, there are still shockwaves running through the metal community about this album. But honestly, it's not like we weren't given a heads-up. The "Maha Kali" release gave us a big hint as to which direction Jon was headed in with his songwriting.

Not surprisingly though, people freaked when this album came out. Those expecting a second "Storm of the Light's Bane" were treated to something radically different. Dissection now play a very dark and sinister type of melodic death metal, but nothing close to In Flames, as some have stated. (Though I will say, a few riffs from this album would have fit perfectly on their 1998 album Whoracle.) There are no blastbeats or 8-minute "epics." The sound here is more streamlined, and most of the songs rely more on solid guitar-oriented songwriting and a sinister atmosphere than the black metal norm.

I will say that this album is definitely easier to get into on a musical level than previous Dissection albums. "Starless Aeon" and "God of Forbidden Light" are straight-up catchy, and "Xeper I Set" will grab some unexpecting listeners with its thrashy demeanor. Jon's vocals seem more restrained here, but seem to work within the context of the music. The drumming is simplistic and fitting, but never becomes stale or boring. Production overall is pretty good, even if it's a bit too sterile and digital. The guitar tone is crisp and the leads, solos, and harmonies cut through the mix when they need to.

My favorite thing about "Reinakos" would have to be the lyrics. Jon's long-time affiliation with the MLO comes through here, with invocations in other tongues to the gods of chaos and other things such as anti-cosmic philosophy. It may come off as pretentious at first, but soon you'll find yourself chanting "Dies Irae, Dies Illa, Solvet Cosmos Infavilla!" sooner than you think.

Even if this album sounds a bit dated, it is a solid comeback for one of extreme metal's most signifigant bands.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... - 55%

The_Ghoul, June 29th, 2006

Man, this release had me snoozing. The combination of Arch Enemy ripping off and a soft, lame, overdone production, with no abrasiveness at all, make this THE perfect way to ensure you get a good night's sleep.

Why I am I pissing and moaning? Because this album really disappointed me. Sure, I saw it coming after Maha Kali. Dissection totally lost it. Making melodeath is one thing, but at least Mr. Nodtveight could've TRIED to make it sound interesting or sinister. There is NOTHING sinister about this release. Aside from that, the songs just don't turn out how you would expect them. There are no emotion and passion-filled cruces; the riffs in between the bridges of the songs are really, really horrible and unmemorable.

Oh, and did I mention that these songs are really just verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus pop songs? Well, even though Mr. Nodtveight hinted at it in past releases, it really comes to light here. The songs are so predictable that you could base time off of it.

Yes, I know people evolve. Jon Nodtveight said that. This isn't evolution. This is devolution. Evolution was going from the Somberlain to Storm of the Light's Bane. Evolution is correcting past mistakes and branching out and incorporating new genres into the fold. This isn't evolution; this is just bait and switch. There is LITTLE old Dissection present in this. One key element of evolution is that you remember your roots; there are no roots to this.

All of the above, though, is irrelevant; this is just boring, plain and simple. Evidence: Maha Kali. Bad ideas from start to finish. Putting a mallcore riff in there -- bad idea. Putting female vocals in there -- bad idea. Making a song about the goddess of destruction that is lame, slow, and plodding -- bad idea. Other evidence -- Starless Aeon. Yes, the song they made a video for. Having a really shoddy intro -- bad idea. Tricking the listener into thinking the rest of the song will be awesome by actually putting A SEMI-GOOD RIFF IN THERE, then immediately switching back to even worse riffs than the intro -- bad idea. Having only 1 or 2 drumbeats in the entire song -- bad idea. In fact, Tomas Asklund, for whom I usually admire for his great drumming -- after all, he used to be in Dark Funeral and is now in Dawn -- blows here. All the beats are the same, lame beat. Sure, he uses a few other beats, but it's all the same 3 or so beats. At least Ole Ohman was varied in Storm of the Light's Bane.

Of course, I got this album, knewing it was going to blow. I'm a Dissection fan. Even if it's a turd, it's still Dissection. It's not horrible and unlistenable, it's just really boring and impossible to finish awake. Unless you have every other Dissection album, I'd do good to stay away from this album. For being the "Third and Final chapter in Dissection's Legacy", it sure blows. I wonder if Jon Nodtveight had these pretentious thoughts and interviews before he got incarcerated...

Fear The Return? - 85%

GatesOfIshtar, June 27th, 2006

Expectations have been extremely high ever since Jon declared that there would be a follow up to the musical brilliance that is Storm Of The Light's Bane, but at the same time there have been doubts to whether he could ever top that milestone. Now Reinkaos is upon us, and what is the answer to these doubts?

Let set this straight from the beginning, Reinkaos is nowhere near the perfection that is Storm Of The Light's Bane. It can't hold up to the great debut The Somberlain either. In fact, many parts of this album doesn't even sound like the Dissection we used to know. The black metal influence of the past albums are gone, and has been replaced with a sound that leans more towards the melodic death metal genre. Epic instrumental passages and the cold and fast, yet melodic riffing that used to be the bands trademark is also gone, as Reinkaos is packed with straightforward and midpaced songs. Many fans of the old has labeled this record as a watered down version of In Flames, and I must admit that there are riffs that do remind me of this band around their Whoracle period. I do, however, disagree with anyone saying this is just another carbon copy and a lifeless and generic record. In one way I think these statements, as well as many other that have been put forth to badmouth Reinkaos, in many ways show how the legacy of a band will put future releases to shame. At first I, as many others, was disappointed with the lack of speed and harshness of this record. After a while though, as I came to accept the changes of sound that had been made, and I focused on the record itself and not past releases, I could make up my mind about Reinkaos.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not musical brilliance in the vein of Storm Of The Light's Bane. We do not get epic masterpieces like Thorns Of Crimson Death, or any songs like Soulreaper that just chills you to the bone through it's cold and intense atmosphere. What we do get, however, is a solid metal album. In my opinion this is a record full of solid songs, each of them unique with their own qualities. From the sinister intro Nexion 218, to the closing Maha Kali with an intense vocal delivery by Jon and complete with female chanting, this record delivers melodic and well crafted metal. In between these songs we get the rhytmic and crunchy riffs of Beyond The Horizon, incredibly catchy numbers like Starless Aeon, and melodic beauty in the instrumental title track. Not to forget a song like Black Dragon, which reminds me of traditional heavy metal, and a song that thanks to it's powerful vocals and melodies, hardly ever fails to send shivers down my spine.

Speaking of the vocals, they sound as good as ever. Jon has really put his spirit into this record, and to me this really shines through in the vocal department. Sure, the lyrics, which deals with subject matters that probably only people practicing anti-cosmic satanism really can relate to on a deeper level, might seem like rubbish to most people. But this is not important. To me what is important is that these are obviously important to the writer, and I think this shines through in the powerful vocal delivery of the lyrics. This is also why I disagree that this is a dishonest and generic record. The lyrics and music on this output is in my view more honest than most metal bands out there today, as this is what the members of Dissection believes in and not just some bullshit fantasy lyrics about elfs and warriors.

So why doesn't Reinkaos receive a higher rating as I seem to mostly have good things to say about it? Well, some tracks, like Xeper-I-Set and Internal Fire are not really that great, and sometimes I tend to skip these. Especially Xeper-I-Set does to me sound kind of lifeless and boring, the way bashers of Reinkaos probably feel about the album as a whole. And some songs, while catchy, does repeat themselves too much for my taste. Despite of this I, strangely enough, never get bored of this record. Many songs have some kind of strange addictive aura to them, and these I can't seem to get tired of.

Reinkaos, is in my opinion a worthy return as well as end of this legendary Swedish band. It might not live up to it's predecessors, but it's a good album in its own right. It's a shame that Dissection will now split up once and for all, but their music will be remembered. Reinkaos not as their crown achievement, but as a good catchy record, that in my opinion received more bashing than it deserved.

I'm satisfied. - 80%

JohnMason, June 25th, 2006

First, I'd like to say that I couldn't care less about what this band has done before, I'm only going to review this album for the music alone. And for the music alone, this album ranks very highly for me. Everything on display here is absolutely wonderful. The production is great, crystal clear. The arrangements are simply genius, the album is packed with small details all over the place, and especially the guitars. The guitar work is especially melodic, not so much riff oriented. Very often the guitars will drive the songs with melodies and underlying chords. The drums do not stick out so much, but they have a clear sound and will play the right breaks at the right times. A little synthetic, but it gets the work done. The main focus here is the melodic guitar work, and the powerful vocals. I believe Jon's vocal carry the right intensity for this kind of music. Some of the vocal lines, especially in a lot of the choruses, for example Starless Aeon and Dark Mother Divine, are very catchy in a rhythmic way. If I were to try to pigeonhole this album, I'd say it was a less brutal and slower version of Hypocrisy's last album, Virus. At times it does remind of that album, but I also believe that this album has a force of its own which makes it stick out a bit. Another fact though, there is nothing new under the sun on this album. But its the way its been performed and how it sounds which makes this one stick out. For me, I find this album very enjoyable. I'm going to give this album an 80% because honestly, thats what this album means to me.

Its really not that bad... - 70%

WitheringToSerenity, June 15th, 2006

The anticipation for the latest Dissection album boasts possibly one of the largest followings and expectation in recent years. Most expecting Dissection to return in a blazing, atmospheric black metal fury although Maha Kali EP should have been ample proof needed to understand the direction Dissection was heading. A change of style was apparent, clearly more Gothenburg oriented with black n roll leanings.

Nexion 218 the introduction to the track doesn't even start so poorly with the acoustic setting but ultimately the first guitar riff explains perfectly my ultimate gripe with this album. The rhythm guitar parts in general are fairly bland and virtually unmemorable whilst the occassional lead sprinkles are great or mostly passable. It would almost seem to this reviewer that Dissection were aiming for a catchy kvlt album? Most of this album instruments, vocals just seems there without very much ferocity that grabs the listeners attention. Acoustic guitars which are often used adding vast amounts of atmosphere and ultimately saving this album at times. Production is not really an issue, drums would go great on a rock album while the bass is non existant.

This reviewer will be the first to admit that to appreciate this album it took a few listens, at first I thought it was laughable. Dissection, coming to an elevator near you.. However, taken from more of a black n roll perspective its fairly catchy and enjoyable. I would recommend to anyone music fans between Gothenburg and black n roll who aren't quick to judge a band because of their previous history to give this a listen and judge for yourself and not be swayed by the seemingly endless negativity.

A Crushing Disappointment - 29%

GuntherTheUndying, June 10th, 2006

After Dissection front man Jon Nödtveidt was released from his eight year jail sentence for being convicted of murder, the metal world knew Dissection was back. While being a huge influence on the current metal scene, fans anxiously waited for the new Dissection album that they thought would be another Dissection masterpiece, but they were wrong. With a totally new line-up composed of Tomas Asklund on drums and Sethlans Teitan on guitar, "Reinkaos" shows Dissection have officially fucked up their legacy.

Once the tiny instrumental filler "Nexion 218" ends, "Beyond The Horizon" kicks off the album. The riff is catchy and heavy, yet seems rather dull. By the sound of the riff, it's clear that Dissection has lost all black metal elements and gone pure melodic death. Jon's vocals are powerful and forceful as usual, but that's all "Beyond The Horizon" has going for it. The drumming is remarkably easy with simple bass-snare patterns, the same riff continues for the entire track, and there is even a breakdown. "Beyond The Horizon" is nothing less than a disaster.

"Starless Aeon" is up next, and its nothing better then "Beyond The Horizon." The double bass parts and the opening riff give the song a promising start, but it soon fades into pure crap. The guitars change into a riff that is almost identical with "Beyond The Horizon," and this same riff continues until the song ends.There are leads in here, which are pretty scares throughout the rest of the album, but they are short and boring.

"Black Dragon" is thankfully breathing room from the shit that has previously been displayed. The acoustic intro leads right into Jon's gruff vocals, which soon explodes into an amazing solo and awesome instrumental work. The drums are filled with great double bass work and the mix of the heavy and acoustic guitars really makes "Black Dragon" a standout. The chorus is catchy, the leads are technical, and it's very heavy! "Black Dragon" is the best song on "Reinkaos," by a long shot.

"Dark Mother Divine" is a big step down from "Black Dragon." To my disdain, the riffs are melodic and sound pretty typical to "Beyond The Horizon" and "Starless Aeon." Towards the end of the song, the guitars turn thrashy and goes into a flock of solos. Beside this change toward the end, "Dark Mother Divine" is just another weak track on "Reinkaos."

"Xeper-I-Set" is just awful. Filled with the same lame riffs and drum patterns as before, "Xeper-I-Set" is just another dreadful attempt to try to save this horrendous letdown. "Chaosophia" is just a worthless acoustic instrumental that isn't even worth mentioning, but "God Of Forbidden Light" is! The riffing is much more different then the previous songs; its still melodic, but it does change many times. The backing vocals compliment Jon's vocals very well as they echo every Satanic verse he delivers; the drumming is good as well. The chorus is memorable and Jon's vocals drive "God Of Forbidden Light" to one of the best songs on "Reinkaos."

The title track is an instrumental that sounds somewhat different from the rest of the album. The atmospheric guitars are combined well with the heavy drumming,and the harmonics are dark and piece together nicely. The solo here is pretty technical and atmospheric, which really adds a mellow affect to the song. The guitars change to a slight groovish riff toward the end, which connects smoothly with the solo.

"Internal Fire" falls into the familiar vein of the repetitive melodic riffing that never changes and usual drum patterns that are boring as hell. Once "Internal Fire" finally stops, the album closes "Maha Kali," which contains the similar melodic riffs and drums as before. Toward the end, there is this strange addition of acoustic guitars and female vocals that really don't fill with the mood of the song. The female vocals are rather faint and hard to hear; it is a clever idea to try something new, they just didn't do it very well.

"Reinkaos" is just an accident of an album. I thought after waiting for a decade that Dissection would put something out that would be amazing, but they didn't. With the exception of "Black Dragon,""God Of Forbidden Light" and the title track, this album is awful. "Reinkaos" is so bad, Jon should be thrown back in jail for making such a shitty record. "Reinkaos" is not only a crushing disappointment for all those Dissection fans, it just down right sucks. Save your money and avoid this.

This review was orginally written for: www.Thrashpit.com

Maybe it's time to throw in the towel? - 33%

stefan86, May 3rd, 2006

First off I must say I'm not too excited about this. I used to enjoy older Dissection and mostly considered "Maha Kali" a joke. Despite that, I'm going to try to keep an open mind and review this objectively.

The first half of intro is somewhat cool, reminding me a bit of the intro of "Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk". The other half has shitty start and stop guitars, shredding every little bit of atmosphere into pieces. After that it goes into Dimmu Borgir mode. Okay, now I'm not excited.

Opener "Beyond The Horizon" kicks in with a riff best described as Arch Enemy-like and repetitive. A lot of influences from Gothenburg are here, mostly mid 90's In Flames in the latter part of the song. There's also some Heavy Metal-era Immortal in here, but not in a positive sense. At about 3 mins there's also a fucking terrible hardcore guitar break.

The other tracks continue in the same fashion. The riffs are virtually identical to the ones in the first track. "Starless Aeon" has an okay acoustic/solo break that at least redeems it from absolute shit to listenable, which is not the case with anything else on this CD. "Maha Kali" might actually be the best song on this CD, and that's fucking scary.

"Black Dragon" lives up to the title. It's quite scary how much this sounds like Edguy with Jon on vocals. "Dark Mother Divine" has another horrible hardcore rhythm that even makes Killswitch Engage sound creative. And the shitfest goes on. There's virtually hundreds of guitar rhythms here that share a common ability to put me to sleep.

It's damn clear that this band has no musical significance left. "Reinkaos" has nothing to do with chaos. It's a very generic record that I wouldn't even have recognized as Dissection without Jon's vocals, who happen to be the only redeeming value on this whole CD.

Ten years later... - 52%

PazuzuZlave, April 16th, 2006

Dissection was once my favourite band. They released two albums back in the nineties which had a serious impact one me, and partly influenced me to start writing my own music. My own interpretation of Dissection nowadays is that they’ve changed dramatically, but certainly not in the way I had expected. Rather than taking their new style to a whole new kind of level, they simply created a fine atmosphere which by the way really suits the release. Imagine the sonic expression of your absolutely favourite album, and compare that to this. Although this album in a way was doomed before its release, one can’t frankly oversee it because of its assumed reputation. Come on, I honestly think this is the highest score “Reinkaos” is going to get…

First off, forget the classic chilling songs which were featured on their first albums. They couldn’t pull it off now anyway because of the huge line-up change. Nowadays Dissection has nothing to do with the past, and it shouldn’t even be taken into consideration when reviewing the new album, but it’s just too damn hard. In comparison to the other albums, this sounds pretty bleak. It’s not that it would be a bad album in itself; it’s just that with the changes made, they really should’ve changed the bands name. Gone is the speed, atmosphere and the complex patterns which used to make my body twist, but they’ve added something which stops it from being a disaster. See, the new stuff is in a way Gothenburg oriented, but not in a disturbing way. All in all, I’d say it’s quite original. The production isn’t flawless, but tolerable to a firm extent. The thing they’ve accomplished most are the guitars. They sound both heavy and soothing, in a (dare I say?) manner they used to do it back in the days.

The album opens up with “Nexus 218”, an intro from where the actual heaviness all takes form. “Beyond the Horizon” introduces us to the whole new Dissection. This song was not a bad choice to open with. Very weird melodies and heavy-as-fuck guitar-riffs build this up to an almost forced headbanging frenzy. This is one of those songs I’d actually like to see live and just mosh to all night long. While I’ve been scared to hear Nötveidt sing again after all these years, I must admit to liking his vocal abilities, although they’ve mixed it all wrong. It sticks out in the wrong manner, and drowns the instruments behind it. “Starless Aeon” can be heard in the form of a rough mix on the promo they released prior to Reinkaos. Carrying the same spirit as “Beyond the Horizon”, it’s like it was made for my taste. Sadly, the drumming starts to get boring here already, and we’re only on the second actual track. My advice to Tomas Asklund would be to vary his drumming a lot more than he’s done here. It’s often too straight for my taste, but luckily the overall mood saves it from disgracing the whole album. Brice Leclerq, the bassist, has already given up on the band, as he leaved after this recording. What he may have contributed to this I don’t know, cause his playing doesn’t stand out in any way. No, if something, the guitars, and vocals do themselves justice. “Black Dragon” starts off with a mediocre solo guitar, playing a relatively common pattern. It’s the slowest song so far, and doesn’t really deserve it’s place on Reinkaos. “Dark Mother Divine” is even slower, but better. It would be really interesting to know what type of music Jon has listened to over the past years, because you hear influences from almost everything in the metal genre. The influences range from Vader to CKY (the mallcore band from America). This is a bit of a letdown, for with those kind of manipulation the music breathes very little and feels a bit more forced than it has too. Personally I don’t know what the big fuzz about “Xeper-I-Set” is. I find it a mediocre song which is “just there” in the right time, but which loses easily to most other contributions here. May it be fast, or may it be a stereotype, it doesn’t stand out either. “God of Forbidden Light” sounds like your typical Gothenburg song, with the twin guitars leading away the main melody. Still, it’s an interesting part to this chaotic album. A couple of non-interesting tracks ahead, we hear the doomed song “Maha Kali” re-recorded. Not a favourite of mine when it came out as a single two years back, this version at least allows it a fair chance. It hasn’t changed much from it’s original form, but is more down-tuned and has lost the hollow mood which made it really bad in the first place.

The whole crew was replaced for the “rebirth” of the band, but surely you can hear that without knowing it. As mentioned, the fast speed of the times of old is long gone, the overall mood has been altered to not resemble those times at all. It’s a good thing, really, that they didn’t “return to their roots”. As dumb as it might sound, I think they could’ve done a LOT worse going on that pattern again. Hell, I might as well satisfy with a mediocre Gothenburg-influenced album rather than having to be disappointed hearing them trying to surpass their earlier masterworks. The bottom line is that without knowing this is Dissection, I think it would be something the average metalhead would like to listen to more often. I feel very relieved they didn’t return in all glory and released their masterpiece now because those times are gone, as I’m equally glad it didn’t turn out to be a total worthless pile of shit. It won’t go unnoticed by me, as my thoughts of “Reinkaos” lean slightly towards the positive direction. Something in between can be suitable sometimes, and this is a good example.