One of Sweden’s most iconic and influential Black Metal bands, Dissection were first formed in 1989 in Stromsäd by Jon Nödtveidt and Peter Palmdahl. They released their first album, The Somberlain, in 1993, which was followed in 1995 by the critically-acclaimed Storm of the Light’s Bane.
Sometime around the release of Storm, Nödtveidt joined the newly-formed Misanthropic Luciferian Order, a sect within the Temple of the Black Light. In 1997, Nödtveidt was charged as an accessory to murder and was sent to prison, and Dissection split. He was released in 2004, and reformed the band with an all-Satanist lineup, and they released their third and final album, Reinkaos in 2006.
In 2007, Nödtveidt eventually dissolved the band once and for all. Believing that having reached the peak of his life, Nödtveidt shot himself in a ring of eleven candles whilst holding a copy of the MLO’s book, Liber Azerate.
Studio discography:
- The Somberlain (1993)
- Storm of the Light's Bane (1995)
- Reinkaos (2006)
Tropes applicable to Dissection include:
- Badass Boast: In "Retribution — Storm of the Light’s Bane", there’s this:"I have come to challenge your ways"
- In "Xeper-I-Set":
“I am the cruel one
Isfet lives in me
I am the power and total victory
I’m the murderer who refuses to submit
I am the opponent
And the sworn enemy - Black Metal: One of the first Melodic Black Metal bands. Their earlier material, i.e. The Somberlain and Storm of the Light’s Bane, are iconic albums of this genre. Reinkaos is Melodic Death Metal.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Oddly subverted. While the lyrics on Reinkaos give praise to explicitly "dark" and "wicked" gods, Jon came across as more of a Knight Templar who believed that the gods of his tradition are the ultimate good, as the opposing force against the tyrannical false god of creation.
- Draconic Abomination: The dark gods of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, as described in Reinkaos, are given draconic attributes, are often explicitly referred to as "dragons", and according to their teachings, have the power to distort cosmic law and eventually completely undo creation.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Jon would give praise to sinister, primordial gods, and was once an accomplice to murder, he absolutely drew the line at Nazism, due to seeing it as "herd mentality for feeble-minded humans to, without logical reason, make themselves feel superior to each other in all their confusion, without having to accomplish anything at all but just being the mentally passive, easily-guided apathetic flocks of cattle that they are".
- Evil Sounds Raspy: As is usual for a Black Metal band.
- God Is Evil: Naturally, since he's portrayed as the Demiurge.
- Knight Templar: "We wash your lotus feet with blood/The lifeforce of our enemy/We slay all that would defy you/And with grim death seal their destiny"
- Lonely Piano Piece: The closer of Storm of the Light's Bane, "No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep".
- New Sound Album: Reinkaos. It replaces the bleak Melodic Black Metal sound of the first two albums with a more upbeat Melodic Death Metal sound.
- Number of the Beast: Mentioned in the song, “Internal Fire”. Also, Jon had a 666 tattoo on his neck.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: The Somberlain and Storm of the Light’s Bane have this as a theme, but not as prominently as Reinkaos, which is based on the teachings of the MLO.
- Shout-Out:
- "Soulreaper" juxtaposes a couple of quotes from Robert Southey's poem, "Thalaba the Destroyer".
The wind swept through the moonless sky
The reflection of a sulfur fire.- A meta example. In the final letter he sent to his girlfriend, Jon said that he was "going to Transylvania". This is an obvious reference to Dead, who was wearing a shirt that said "I Love Transylvania" when he killed himself.
- Übermensch: Interviews with Jon suggest that this figured heavily in his philosophy.
