Sometimes we get so lost by all the 'successful' bands that we forget the underground scene; the scene that has been keeping Metal music alive during the good and the bad days. Especially these days, I feel that we have lost connection to our roots, setting aside significant bands which added a couple of lines in the book of Heavy Metal without succeeding the desired -by the record labels- sales and some of them were never given the chance to sign a record deal.
Well, DISSECTION from Lithuania belong to the aforementioned category since they released two demos in 1992 and 1993. Bear in mind that those days in the former Russian Union it was almost impossible to start a Metal band. Of course, I don't have to mention how difficult it was to release or even record an album as you can easily imagine. So, after the fall of the Iron Curtain many Metal bands tried to make a stand in the scene relieved by the suppressive atmosphere of the Cold War. Ledotakas Records have the intention to present us part of this story by releasing a series dedicated to the Lithuanian Metal scene.
The first part of this 'narration' has to do with the Death Metal act DISSECTION. Don't let the name mislead you (like it did to me) since this is not the band from Sweden that was lead by the departed Jon Nodtveidt. This band made a name in the underground where it remained having released Suffocating Syndrom and Pyramind Of Hate. Those tapes (yes there were times when CDs were rare) were remastered into a very good level in the Phoenix Studio. This CD contains both albums and I can tell you from the beginning it is a must-have especially for all the melodic Death Metal fans. Well, in the sound of melodic Death Metal the younger metalheads will think of OPETH and other similar bands but this is a mistake. When we are talking about melodic or even technical Death Metal then only one name should pop up; DEATH! Without any doubt Chuck's latest releases (Human or Individual Thought Patterns gave birth to this new Metal genre and that's a fact! In fact Suffocating Syndrom was released one year after Human and Pyramid Of Hate the same year with Individual Thought Patterns. So, after the intro with the bizarre electronic sounds and keyboards enters Pyramid Of Hate that grabs you by the throat with the hearty Death growl and the massive double drum kick. The technical elements point to the complicated solos and cutting edge riffs. Don't be frightened by the term technical since the music is brutal as it should be. The bass guitar enters occasionally making me think of Steve DiGiorgio's glory days in Death Metal. Things sound even better with the following track In Front Of The Wall that brings along an early SLAYER breeze in the guitars while Oppression uncovers some OBITUARY underlining structures in the vocals and drums.
As I said, the original recordings were on tape but this does not spoil the album's profile. In fact does the opposite; the sound is raw and thus aggressive reminding many new bands how Death Metal should be (at least its melodic branch). The remastering process has treated right the different recordings making them sound as one without overdoing the digital retouch. The Suffocating Syndrom tracks sound more progressive with some minor keyboard additions without losing an inch from the aggression territory where the drums really shine. The striking difference in these tracks are the vocals that slightly touch the Black/Thrash territory especially in Abolition where CELTIC FROST emerged and gave an additional grade to the overall rating.
So, horns up (I hate to say thumbs up) for Ledotakas Records for the work in the first chapter dedicated to Lithuanian Metal. The price of this release in at 6.50 Euros so there is absolutely no excuse not to get this one, especially if technical Death Metal is your thing.