ENCOMIUM 2005: Dissection

In a circle of close metal friends I visited 10th of June, 2005 Budapest (Hungary), to be precise the boat called A38, to experience the unrestrained live energy of a band that had a constant influence on me beginning with their majestic "The Somberlain" debut album. Then the follow-up "Storm of the Light's Bane" became something very special not only for me, but for thousands of metal brothers, and I think most of you agree that it is a milestone for the metal genre in general. 2004 was the year when DISSECTION fans worldwide celebrated the rebirth of their beloved band with a strong heart-beating! The same year an appetizer for the forthcoming 3rd full-length album has been unleashed, the aptly titled "Maha Kali" EP. Needless to say, it is as flawless as their predecessors. Back to the gig on the boat, it simply electrified me to the maximum. My dream came true and I finally witnessed all the old classics (like "Frozen", "Unhallowed", "The Somberlain", "Night's Blood", etc.) in their entire nature. So it finally happened and I am very thankful to DISSECTION. And to top it all, I managed to commit an interview right before their amazing gig. I asked Jon Nödtveidt about their latest EP, actual line-up, lyrical content and last but not least about their future plans. Behold the masters of chaos and anti-cosmic Death Metal. Fear the return!!!!!!

- Yeah! We are recording it right now in Black Syndicate Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. We are working with my brother Emil and with Skinny Kangur another guy from studio. This studio is totally new. It's opened up by the end of last year. So this is the first production, but is doing together with his own band DEATHSTARS. So we have basically done guitars, bass and drums and started to work with lead guitars and now the next step is to do the vocals. So it's all starting to finish the whole thing, you know.

- No, we haven't sign anything for this album. And we are waiting until we have record everything. We are working independently and we want to stay free from any record labels until everything is finished and then we will decide which label to work with. Which is the best for us.

- All I can say is that we are gonna go with the label that believes a 110% in DISSECTION and that can do the best work for us. And that we feel is the best choice for us. So it's too early to say anything about labels at this point, since we decided to wait with it. But we have sure received lots of offers and we are all gonna look into everything and make a decision before the end of the summer.

- It is all inspired by the dark sides of mythologies from all around the world. We are exploring the dark path of basically old, main satanic traditions. And I don't mean only satanic, because of a tradition using the name Satan, but also, of course, any tradition that is dealing with the powers of chaos. Because it doesn't matter what you call it. It has the same essence. So it can be about Set from Egyptian mythology, it can be about Kali from Indian mythology, it can be about Satan from Hebrew mythology and so forth. So we are exploring the dark path and the traditions that we feel that we can reconnect with the prime evil chaos and reach to the source, reach to the essence beyond all this forms and words.

- Yeah. Since I'm a member of the MLO and we are a satanic band, all the members are satanists and our music is a way for us to express ourselves in the way of getting an expression for our own chaos, which is a link back to the prime evil chaos. And being a member of MLO, being a satanist in a satanic band, I am representing and we are representing the dark traditions. So definitely yes!

- It is the description - of what we are doing as a band, as an entity, as a ritualistic tool - for us to express and to celebrate the forces of darkness. We emphasize the anti-cosmic aspects, since our view on satanism is purely anti-cosmic. It's about the forces of chaos, it's against the forces of this creation, of this universe, of this world. So it's about Satan as opponent to this creation and we take on the role as being opponent to all of this, to society, to the creation from own points of view and let this energy flow for us in the music. So we want to emphasize the anti-cosmic elements, because there are many people that call themselves satanists, for example some people are atheists, but they feel to use the word Satan. So for them the word has a different meaning and there also people that believe in the christian devil, which we don't. We don't believe in the propaganda from our enemies, the christians. We see Satan as the adversary, the principle that is counteracting this creation, the dissolving impulse that is an active, the consequence of this creation and that will work as the enemy of creation until everything is dissolved back into chaos. This is what Satan means to us!

- Yeah! I mean, it's all about using yourselves and music as a tool to come closer to this source. And on this path, we want to step by step, closer and closer reach the essence, which of course you can never reach it completely in the human life. But we are all on that path and this is the highest gold become one with the essence and all the formless state of eternal chaos.

- The bass player left a couple of days ago. We think it's ridiculous. He said he didn't had motivation anymore and that he doesn't believe in the band anymore. For us it comes like a shock, because we had so much things we were totally into it. We don't understand it. It's totally ridiculous for us. We never gonna let anything like this stop us. We gonna play tonight anyway.

- It's all left us in a very shitty situation, you know. We have lots of gigs planned. And then something like this happens we are all trying to take this to the maximum. Try to always take a step further, beyond where we are. And we are all putting our souls and spirit into this. Dedicate our lives to what we are doing. And there's nothing that can stop us, until the day we fucking die. So it comes like a shock to us that somebody in the band wasn't there for the same reason. But anyway Set and Thomas... All I can say about them is that they are, for what I feel, the ultimate members of DISSECTION. I think it's an honour for me to be able to play with them and to have them in DISSECTION.

- Not tonight, because we were put in a very shitty situation, because the bass player, he just left. We had to prepare for as many songs as possible, but unfortunately I don't think that it would be a good thing to play a new track tonight totally unprepared without bass. It wouldn't be representative of what we are doing. So instead we will concentrate on the old songs and also, of course, play "Maha Kali". Se we just give it fucking 110% energy and don't let anything stop us. That's all.

- Yeah, but I like it. It sounds bit like RAMMSTEIN sometimes and it's very heavy. And I like it. I think they are very good at what they're doing. For me it doesn't matter if it's called this or that, only if it's good or not, you know. If I like it, that is the only thing I care about. I don't care if it's called industrial metal or if it's called black metal or death metal or anyhting, you know. The most important thing is that if it's good or not.

- Yeah, it's not metal at all. It's only industrial. It was an experiment, a total experiment. It was like going totally out into an area or field which I don't have almost an experience from myself. I didn't have experience from expressing myself in this type of situation. That's why made me feel really excited about it, because it was totally new for me and it was very interesting to do it. That's an experiment. So it was like getting totally new experiences in writing music.

- Yeah! Satanic industrial music! But of course, DISSECTION is what I identify with, which is a part of me when it comes to everything, you know. It's like part of me in my everyday life and my spirit. DISSECTION is my only priority. If I would do something else it wouldn't have any priority. It would be something I did, because I would enjoyed and I would think it gave me something and I would probably like the experience, but it would never have any priority, because my only priority is DISSECTION.

In an interview I've also read that you're totally disappointed by the ex-members' band SOULREAPER. As for me, their music is totally DISSECTION-like as they used the well-known DISSECTION formula and spiced it up with some US influences. What you think regarding their music?

- It sounds stupid to try to live on something or try to benefit from something. For me it doesn't make any sense, because it should be only about what you're doing now. If it has the power, if it has the energy to stand up against anything else. You shouldn't relay to whatever you did before. It's what you do now that matters. For us in DISSECTION, we are reconnecting with the past, but take it to where we are today as a band. And we don't relay on what we did 10 years ago, but we are in the position that we have a completely new line-up and we have been put back into a situation where we finally can play live again. So in this way it's our duty, for ourselves and for the fans, to reconnect with the past, but take it to where we are today. And take one step further. But I don't feel that certain other bands did that. I think they try to live on something and that's too bad. But it doesn't really bother me, because I don't care about it.

DISSECTION always had in its music the 80s kind of Heavy Metal attitude. Also evident is the great combination between Thrash and Death Metal in your repertory. Anyway, mostly in the soloing work I hear the heritage of such old bands as IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST. What bands are you listening to nowadays? And what bands had inspired you when you started DISSECTION?

- Everything from what you're said. I mean, the reason why I picked up guitar in the first place was bands like MOTÖRHEAD and IRON MAIDEN. So these bands entrance me as a guitar player and songwriter. But when we started out DISSECTION we had gone into more extreme music, we were into the current Death and Black Metal underground. We still had the old influences in the music, influences by everything that we like. But most important of all is not which bands we were into or at the moment or which bands we have been influenced in the past, because when it comes to it, what drives us forward and what makes everything that were doing to DISSECTION, is the driving force and that's the satanic essence that is the spirit of the music. And I think this is the essence of DISSECTION, everything else is just a part of it, you know.

- I don't think like five year plans, because it would be like too predictable. Of course, you can never make plans like that anyway and it would never come out exactly how you put it. But I take it more like the next couple of 6 months. Of course, I can look further also, but for me I always stay focused on what I'm doing at the moment and I am planning for the near future. So this summer we are doing lots of fetivals in Europe, we recently went to Mexico for the first time and we gonna do two week South-American tour in September and then we are planning for more shows and places to get to in the tour so far. And the next album will come out in November and then after that we'll come back to Europe and destroy everything all again.

- Insane! Totally crazy! There are maniacs totally out of their minds. So fuckin' wild. You can't believe it. People break their arms when they stagedive and blood on the floor. After the concert they are hungry for metal. I want to see this everywhere we go. This is what we are doing this for when come live. The contact with audience, the experience, the music and to share the energy with the people. And that's what is all about for us. Everywhere we go it doesn't matter if it's a couple of thousand people or if it's a couple of hundred people, it doesn't matter if it's 10 people as long as they into it. That what is all about when we play live!

- Right now I am reading a book about Kundalini, about tantrism, about Aghori. It's of course, the Indian tradition and Aghori is a very extreme form of the "Left Hand Path" tantrism. Where they explore everything forbidden, everything that is limiting you and they do everything to break this psychic limits, to break this psychic barriers to finally be able to transcend all illusion. It is very interesting. They worship Tara, the mothergoddess in her terrible form, another aspect of Kali.