Dissection first saw the light of day in the autumn of 1989, when Jon Nödtveidt and Peter Palmdahl decided to start a new band. They had previously been playing in a thrash metal band called SIREN'S YELL, but both wanted to play more brutal music, so they formed a new band and named it DISSECTION.
Jon handled vocals and guitars while Peter played bass. In the spring of 1990, they recruited drummer Ole Öhman, who had previously played together with Jon in a band called RABBIT'S CARROT. During this time, Mattias "Mäbe" Johansson (NOSFERATU) helped the band as a session guitarist and occasionally filled in on drums when needed.
In December 1990, they recorded their first official demo, entitled The Grief Prophecy. About two months after the recording session, they finally found a second guitarist in the talented John Zwetsloot. The demo was released in March 1991 and soon received cult status in the underground metal scene, selling a little more than 300 copies.
For the standard cover, they used the magnificent artwork of their friend Kristian "Necrolord" Wåhlin. They also released a special version of the demo, limited to around 20–40 copies, featuring a cover made by Pelle "Dead" (R.I.P.) of Mayhem and including the CARNAGE cover "The Day Man Lost" as a bonus track.
In September 1991, they went to TBV Studios in Smögen, Sweden, and recorded three new songs. The songs were released by the French label Corpsegrinder Records in December of the same year on a 7" titled Into Infinite Obscurity. Once again, Necrolord was responsible for the artwork.
In March 1992, they entered Hellspawn/Unisound Studios and recorded a few new songs for a promo called The Somberlain, which was released shortly thereafter. By that time, they had found their own style and what would become the DISSECTION sound. The band sent the promo out to various labels, and after hearing it, No Fashion Records signed them to a one-album deal.
A year after the promo was recorded, in March 1993, they returned to the same studio to record the album of the same name. It was produced by Dan Swanö (EDGE OF SANITY), who also contributed backing vocals and keyboard parts. Once again, the artwork was created by Necrolord. After many delays and various problems, The Somberlain - dedicated to Euronymous (R.I.P.) and Mayhem - was finally released in December 1993.
During this time, Jon was also involved in a band called THE BLACK. He had met someone who was starting a band and wanted Jon to sing in it. Jon agreed, and when the guitarist later left the band, he took over guitar duties as well. They released one album, titled The Priest of Satan, on which Jon appears under the alias "Rietas."
When DISSECTION recorded The Somberlain, the members were living in different towns due to work, school, and other obligations. Eventually, however, they all moved to Gothenburg so they could rehearse more regularly.
It was around this time that the band's first internal problems began to surface. John Zwetsloot had been rather unmotivated for some time, as he had grown tired of being ripped off when playing live shows or releasing records. He no longer wanted to rehearse as much as the others, and his negative mood began to affect the atmosphere within the band.
There were also musical differences. The other members wanted to move further toward black metal, while John was more interested in thrash and heavy metal. When the band was later offered a deal with Nuclear Blast, John expressed skepticism and insisted on reading the contract very carefully before signing it.
This proved to be the final straw for the others, and around May 1994, John was dismissed from the band. The last show performed by the original lineup took place in Oslo, Norway, on 4 April 1994.
After leaving DISSECTION, John started the melodic and fast black/death metal band CARDINAL SIN together with former MARDUK members Devo Andersson and Joakim af Gravf. Along with a few other musicians, they went on to release one MCD titled Spiteful Intents.
DISSECTION was now one man short, though that situation only lasted a few hours. On the very same day John was dismissed, the band called their old friend Johan Norman and asked if he would be interested in trying out for the band. Jon and Johan had previously played together in SATANIZED around 1991. The day after the call, Johan came to the rehearsal room and played through a few songs. It sounded good, and from that moment on he became the band’s new guitarist.
Shortly after Johan joined, DISSECTION signed with Nuclear Blast Records. A year later, they released their long-awaited second album, Storm of the Light’s Bane. It was once again recorded at Hellspawn/Unisound Studios with Dan Swanö behind the controls, and the cover artwork was once again created by Necrolord. The album also featured guest vocalists, including It from OPHTHALAMIA and Legion from MARDUK.
Soon after the album’s release, drummer Ole Öhman was dismissed from the band. He was no longer very interested in rehearsing, and the other members eventually grew tired of the situation and decided to part ways with him. In his place they recruited Ole’s good friend and near neighbor, Tobias “Tobbe” Kjellgren. He had previously played in SATANIZED together with Jon and Johan, and also in DECAMERON with Johan. His ambitions were higher than Ole’s, which made him a natural choice for the band.
After leaving DISSECTION, Ole briefly tried out for SWORDMASTER before eventually joining OPHTHALAMIA, although that band would break up a few years later.
With a stable lineup in place, DISSECTION began touring in support of the new album. They played throughout most of Europe and even toured the United States together with MORBID ANGEL and AT THE GATES. Touring continued for about two years without any major events. In 1996 they released an MCD titled Where Dead Angels Lie, and a year later Necropolis Records issued a compilation called The Past Is Alive (The Early Mischiefs), which contains most of their early demos along with two songs performed by SATANIZED.
From the release of their second album until the summer of 1997, DISSECTION were at the peak of their career. The only real problem the band faced during this period was finding a rehearsal space after they lost their previous one in early autumn 1996. They eventually secured a new place in March 1997. When summer arrived, however, the band's fortunes began to decline. Shortly before the summer, Peter was dismissed from the band due to personal differences. Emil Nödtveidt therefore stepped in as a session bassist for the band's final shows.
Tobias began to question what was happening to the band. The unity he once believed existed within the group suddenly seemed to be fading. As autumn approached, Johan and Tobbe felt that they were the only ones rehearsing and truly committed to continuing the band. By September of that year, they had already begun discussing the possibility of starting a new project. A month later they began searching for other musicians and eventually found some, which led them to leave DISSECTION, leaving Jon on his own. Johan and Tobbe initially formed a death metal band called Reaper, but due to copyright issues with the name they were forced to change it. Tired of constantly searching for new names, they simply added the word “Soul” to the beginning, and SOULREAPER was born. Some of the riffs Johan had originally written for DISSECTION were also used in the band.
It is unclear what Jon had planned after Johan and Tobbe left the band. However, whatever plans he may have had changed in December 1997, when he was accused of the murder he had committed earlier that summer. In late summer 1998, he was sentenced to ten years in prison, and DISSECTION ceased to exist...
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