Review by Ben for Dissection (SWE) - The Past Is Alive (The Early Mischief) (1997)
A bunch of old demos and an EP packaged in annoying fashion. For die hard fans only!
The Past is Alive (The Early Mischief) was released in July 1997 by Necropolis Records, and is yet another example of a label trying to make the most of the band’s rapid rise to popularity. It throws together tracks off three early demos and the band’s first EP, most of which have since been re-recorded in superior form. The only demo not included is the 1993 promo which contained Where Dead Angels Lie and a cover of Tormentor’s Elizabath Bathory, but Karmageddon’s 2005 re-release of The Past is Alive added those tracks to complete the set. The material is not presented in chronological order which is a bit annoying, but it’s even more frustrating that the compilation jumps around with tracks placed in seemingly random order. I’ve decided to review the material chronologically to appease my own pedantic personal preferences so here goes. The Grief Prophecy demo tracks are very death metal, with low tuned sludgy riffs and far more guttural vocals than later Dissection releases. It’s certainly not groundbreaking stuff for 1990 but it’s not too bad at all, with The Call of the Mist in particular having a nasty tone indeed. I’m not sure why they reversed the order of the two tracks here, nor why they removed the intro from Severed Into Shreds, but even more strange is that they left third track Consumed off altogether. The short closer did have a very different feel to the rest of the original demo, so it’s possible it was a cover??
Next there’s the Satanized material, which is an untitled rehearsal / demo from 1991. It’s the only thing this project ever released before calling it a day due to their other commitments. Containing three members of Dissection (Jon, Johan and Tobias) and two from other well known Swedish bands (Nifelheim and Lord Belial), Satanized performed a more brutal mix of death and black metal than anything their main band would ever put out. Unfortunately these two tracks suffer from atrocious production, so while you can hear some nice enough riffs, the vocals are almost inaudible throughout and the whole thing is just too shoddy to really enjoy. I’ve reviewed Into Infinite Obscurity elsewhere, so I won’t spend too much time on it here. It’s certainly where the first signs of the Dissection sound originated, so is worth a listen or two. That being said, two of the three tracks would be re-recorded on The Somberlain and the other would appear on Where Dead Angels Lie, so once again it’s not particularly essential. All that’s left are four tracks taken from a demo version of The Somberlain. These rough versions were recorded in early 1992 and distributed on cassette in an attempt to get label attention. Since all four tracks would end up on The Somberlain full length with much better production, I once again don’t see how this can be of that much interest to all but the most fanatical Dissection fans.
As much as I’m a fan of Dissection’s classic albums, I just can’t see why anyone would listen to this compilation for any other reason than mere curiosity. It has no flow whatsoever due to the choppy nature and the inconsistencies in production make it a chore more often than not. Storm of the Light’s Bane is on another planet compared to anything on here, so just go listen to that again if you can’t get enough Dissection. Before I let you do that though, it’s worth mentioning the reason why we will never be able to get enough of this band. At the same time that this compilation was put together, Dissection had been preparing a new album with the intention of a 1998 release date. Unfortunately for all involved, band leader Jon Nödtveidt was arrested and eventually imprisoned for his hand in the murder of a 38 year old homosexual Algerian man named Josef Ben Meddaours in Gothenburg. It appears that Josef approached Jon and his friend Vlad, claiming to be interested in occultism and Satanism. Jon and Vlad found Josef to be very amusing, but Instead of simply turning him away, they got drunk and high before beating and torturing him with a taser. When Josef tried to escape, Jon shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Jon was arrested in 1997 and sentenced to only ten years prison for these horrific acts of violence, and with him went any chance of Dissection continuing their temporary reign at the top of melodic black metal.