Dissection - Reinkaos
I'm a late bloomer when it comes to Dissection. I've apprised myself of the classics. Yes, there is something special about The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I...almost prefer Reinkaos? Don't lynch me. Okay, lynch me. I've tried to "get into" the first two albums because as a metalhead, that's what I'm supposed to do. But yeah, no. I put off listening to Reinkoas, perhaps in response to its reputation as a subordinate clunker. I genuinely don't get it. Why is it scorned so? The riffs are less melodic, but the leads are still silky smooth. I dig the solos on "Black Dragon" and "God of Forbidden Light." The title track, a layered instrumental, might contain my favorite bits of guitar lickery here. "Dark Mother Divine" is epic, even if it's mostly mid-paced. I have to say, if we had gotten a fourth Dissection long player, I wouldn't have been opposed to more material in this vein. Oh well.
Hey, why do Satanists love dragons so much anyway? Inquiring minds want to know.
Hooded Menace - Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration
In the lead-up to this album's release, I went back and devoured the entire Hooded Menace discography. Geez, what a band. As much as I'm enjoying Lachrymose, I'm going to start with some constructive criticism. The guitar tone. Dude, Fulfill the Curse and Never Cross the Dead are bone-crushing. This record (and 2021's The Tritonus Bell) sounds homogenized. The riffs themselves are fine, but they come off as sterile. Maybe it's the shift in songwriting. Musically, I hear just as much traditional metal as I do doomy death metal. Exhibit A: The closing riff of "Pain Masquerade." That's very nearly Skid Row. Now, I love Skid Row, so that's not a gargantuan obstacle. Whatever. On the whole, Hooded Menace has retained their Hooded Menace-ness. "Lugubrious Dance" is my favorite cut of blind dead meat. I'm all about the fiendish leads. The leads, man!
These tunes may not be stupidly heavy, but they're worth playing in your cemetery of choice. Year-end list? It's very possible. Oh, the Duran Duran cover. I usually skip it. It is what it is.



































