Jon N?dtveidt of Dissection Interview, live - and off-stage pictures by Luxi Lahtinen
There has been a lot of fuss around Dissection, the Swedish masters of Satanic black-ish Death Metal, especially with Jon N?dtveidt, the band?s founding member, frontman and true mastermind, getting a completely new Dissection line-up together. The band is ready to step forward from the shadows with a ?big bang?.
The band started their ?The Rebirth of Dissection? European tour from a completely sold out gig in Stockholm, Sweden on the 30th of October. When they finally arrived in Helsinki, Finland on the 4th of November for the very first time in the entire history of the band, I decided to use the opportunity to find out more facts from Jon N?dtveidt about the band?s ?2nd coming? and about the things that eventually brought the band back again.
The whole band was present backstage and the new Dissection members Set and Brice wanted to give their own input for the interview as well. Also, I guess it should be mentioned that Dissection?s new single titled MAHA KALI was released just a short while ago and it has been sharing opinions amongst the Dissection fans quite drastically indeed due to its a bit different approach musically compared to the band?s past releases.
The rebirth of Dissection is here... and now I let Jon, Brice and Set to talk more accurately about it and to clear up some rumors about the band as well.
Dear Metal dudes and dudettes... Dissection speaks out.
House of Culture Helsinki, FINLAND Review and pictures by Marko Syrj?l?
It?s been 11 years since Europe last played in Finland. Actually, it was the same venue (House of Culture) but the size of the crowd was hardly more than 250 people. That happened in the early nineties when grunge ruled the music markets and most hard rock bands slowly but surely disappeared...as did Europe. Tonight shows that things are getting better and hard rock is doing fine again. Record sales have picked up, and what?s most important, people are coming to see the shows again.
Call them thrash, call them melodic death?whatever.The Haunted is pure metal and their brilliant new CD, rEVOLVEr, was just released October 19th to glowing reviews.As emphasized by the unique spelling of the title, rEVOLVEr is a progression for the band in more ways than one.Not only did they leave long-time label, Earache Records, last October but they also lost vocalist Marco Aro.Aro?s replacement was none other than the band?s original vocalist, Peter Dolving, whose superior range gave the band?s 1998 self-titled debut album as unique a sound as it has with rEVOLVEr.New label, Century Media, is pushing rEVOLVEr very hard and this should be the album that gets The Haunted into the big time on North American shores.
EvilG spoke with the band the day after it was announced that Dolving had rejoined the fold (http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/TheHaunted-Oct2003.htm) so I was eager to speak with the singer a year later now that the album was complete and he had time to settle into familiar shoes once again.During our forty-five minute interview, I found Dolving to be full of laughs but also very well-spoken and forthright in his opinions.Besides the new CD, new label and big U.S. tour with Shadows Fall and Damageplan, Dolving openly discusses his horrific youth, his side projects, media labels and the differences between The Haunted?s two screamers.
Exodus, MetalChurch, Megadeth, Metallica?Meliah Rage?Yep, the Boston-based power thrash band deserves to be part of this list not only for having toured with them but also for unleashing two of the most underrated albums of the ?80s?1988?s KILL TO SURVIVE and 1990?s SOLITARY SOLITUDE.The band was swallowed up by the grunge movement and dropped off the scene for a few years but their comeback album, BARELY HUMAN, finds three-fifths of the classic line-up in place and they are back with a vengeance.
Being a long-time fan of Meliah Rage, it excited me to hear that the band was getting back together for a new album.I hoped that, as is too often the case, the new CD would not tarnish the band?s legacy and find them clutching desperately at past glories. Fortunately, BARELY HUMAN sees the band keeping every bit of the aggressive riffing and mixing it with melodies and a modern take on their classic sound.
Guitarist and founding member, Tony Nichols, called me up one cool, October Sunday afternoon and for forty minutes, we discussed the new CD, the changes in metal over the last fifteen years and talked shop about Annihilator, Manowar and Godsmack, among other things. If you?re a fan of Bay Area thrash and aggressive metal, check out Meliah Rage, but first, read what Tony has to say?
Greek extreme metallers Rotting Christ have soldiered on through the years since the early days of extreme grindcore until now with their new SANCTUS DIAVOLOS opus. The Greek leading metal name has undergone line-up changes that the band?s mastermind and frontman Sakis Tolis will be telling us a about and especially about the above mentioned new album. Into The Abyss we go?.
