Band:	Dissection
Album:	Reinkaos
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	April 30, 2006
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Nexion 218
02. Beyond The Horizon
03. Starless Aeon
04. Black Dragon
05. Dark Mother Divine
06. Xeper-I-Set
07. Chaosophia
08. God Of Forbidden Light
09. Reinkaos
10. Internal Fire
11. Maha Kali
+ Starless Aeon [video] [bonus]

How do you make a comeback after nearly a decade of absence from the scene? And how do you do it if you're one of the 'savant' Scandinavian bands and one of your members has been spending this time in jail? Well, let me tell you, the way Dissection does it on Reinkaos is not the way to do it. The old fans will eat them alive. With this said, the new Dissection release is actually a pretty decent melodeath album when evaluated on its own terms.

First of all it must be said that all traces of black metal are gone from Dissection's sound. The frantic paces known from their early 90s releases are also out of the window. What we are left with is very melodic, mid paced death metal. Maha Kali was a pretty good sign of things to come and it has even been included on this album. Of course, by now the melodeath scene itself has also changed significantly and bands either favor a super-speedy yet traditional approach or experimenting with alternative metal. Reinkaos fits neither of these conventions and instead sounds like old In Flames or At The Gates. If you miss that seminal approach to the style, you might find Reinkaos to your liking. Very melodic leads and hooks dominate the album and songs like "Starless Aeon" and "Xeper-I-Set" are the most memorable in this respect. Still, none of the songs are anything to write home about. They are merely listenable and mildly enjoyable.

So there you have it. Is this the downfall of one of metal's legends? Probably not. It's not much of a comeback either, though. Only check it out if you really have nothing else to listen to at the moment.