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Agelos Kanarelis, Tombstone webzine [Greece]: A band from Lithuania and their debut album after almost 10 years of existence. The guys are playing traditional black metal with no keyboards or such stuff and they also have some classic thrash metal influences in their sound. The point is that these guys are good. Their black metal might be a bit typical but it is very well played and it will certainly appeal to black metal fans with it's intensity and it's old school approach. Most of the songs are good enough to fulfill your daily headbanging needs and to provide some classic black metal entertainment. I especially enjoyed the design of the booklet which is not your typical corpse painting band design, or any “monster from hell and the antichrist” cover art. Instead it's very melancholic and fits perfectly with their music. The production is good enough and the overall quality of music, art and production is above average. It's an album worth checking out if you are into traditional old school black metal. [7 / 10]
Alex Antoniou, Ancient Ceremonies magazine [Portugal]: Proud am I to say that back in '97 I offered my services in spreading the potential of the black metal scene of the ex-USSR lands. Before Skyforger became what they managed to achieve, I put my full strength into spreading the music of acts such as Girnu Giesmes, Zpoan Vtenz, Ha Lela, Obtest and of course Dissimulation. And to see the latter releasing such a masterpiece as "Maras" gives me that emotional reward of achievement in offering my underground support into promoting one of the best upcoming scenes Esatern Europe had to offer. Lithuania has managed to release what "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" stands for Norway. Powerful intense black metal filth filled with unique experimentations and the morbid essence of death spread all over the album. Not easy to be categorised Dissimulation always has managed to deliver their own sound and once again this has been achieved through "Maras". Keep an eye on the macabre artwork/layout and the morbid pictures of traditional funeral gatherings. Horrific!! I mentioned Mayhem's milestone before and you might notice some kind of resemblance with it through "Maras". However, the resemblance does not stand in similarities as there is not much in common but in the futuristic and unique sound both releases carry. "Maras" has that unique sound that most underground acts would wish to achieve. Eerie and masterfully achieved, a decade from now, this album will get the recognition it deserves. [9 / 10]
Astus, The Nocturnal Battle of Chariots webmagazine [Poland]: Oto jedna z najwiækszych niespodzianek, jakie spotkaùy mnie w ciàgu ostatnich miesiæcy. Oto bowiem zupeùnie nieznana horda, pochodzàca z Litwy, a wiæc z kraju w ogóle niesùynàcego z metalowych tradycji wydaje (w wytwórni pochodzàcej z tego samego pañstwa) wprost kapitalny album. Juý pierwszy kontakt z "Maras" jest niezwykùy. Niespotykanie wydany promo CD , no i niesamowita wkùadka, peùna starych zdjæã pogrzebów, otwartych trumien. Te fotki majà wræcz niesamowità auræ, przypuszczam, ýe majà one nawet po 100 lat, sà oczywiúcie czarno biaùe, a ludzie na nich, stojàcy np. przy otwartej trumnie wyglàdajà wræcz jak duchy. Wraýenie jest niesamowite, niezwykle mroczne, niemal ciarki przechodzà! Muszæ pogratulowaã pomysùu (chociaý CULTUS SANGUINE teý chyba kiedyú zrobiù coú podobnego?) i wykreowania niesamowitej atrmosfery juý na starcie. Po wùoýeniu CD do odtwarzacza i wciúniæciu "play" emocje wcale nie opadajà, a wræcz siægajà zenitu. Z gùoúników wydobywa siæ zimny, surowy, upiorny black-metal! Kurczæ, momentami mam wraýenie, jakby to graù nawet TULUS i CARPATHIAN FOREST, chociaý DISSIMULATION nie uýywa w takim zagæszczeniu riffów a'la CELTIC FROST, no i gra zdecydowanie szybciej. Muzyka jest wræcz fenomenalna. Niby nic nowego w niej nie sùychaã, ale jest zagrana na bardzo wysokim poziomie, úwietnie zaaranýowana i potæýnie, choã surowo brzmiàca. Podoba mi siæ w "Maras" to, iý zespóù potrafiù obyã siæ bez klawiszy, a skupiajàc siæ na tradycyjnym instrumentarium byù w stanie skomponowaã utwory wciàgajàce, zaskakujàce swoimi aranýacjami, przejúciami na kolejne riffy, czy tempa. W sumie nie ma siæ czemu dziwiã, bowiem DISSIMULATION istnieje juý od 1993 roku i chociaý przez ten czas wydaù jedynie demo oraz EPkæ, to widaã jednak, ýe muzycy pracowali nad swoimi umiejætnoúciami. Na wszystko przyjdzie przecieý pora. Teraz jest taka na "Maras". Wracajàc do muzyki muszæ jeszcze podkreúliã jej róýnorodnoúã. Oczywiúcie przez wiækszoúã 40 minutowego materiaùu usùyszeã moýna surowy black-metal, ale juý od "Genocidas" jest inaczej. Ten utwór juý wczeúniej staù siæ bardzo kontrowersyjnym, to przez niego zespóù nie mógù dokonaã masteringu w studio w Niemczech. Dlaczego? Kompozycja ta, to przewijajàcy siæ przez caùy kawaùek prosty riff, wolny rytm, pod koniec jednak rozbrzwiewa gùos Hitlera (zarejestrowane jedno z jego przemówieñ). Z miejsca oczywiúcie posàdzono DISSIMULATION o nazizm, co oczywiúcie jest niezgodne z prawdà. A przecieý co moýe lepiej pasowaã do albumu, opartego na koncepcie úmierci, zagùady ludzkoúci, jak nie postaã najwiækszego zbrodniarza w dziejach naszej planety? Nie muszæ chyba dodawaã, ýe efekt mrozi krew w ýyùach. Kolejne utwory równieý sà zaskakujàce, jako przykùad podam choãby "Tamsiu Nakti, Juodu Ugni", który zaczyna siæ bliêniaczo podobnie do "In League With Satan" VENOM, po czym przemienia siæ w utwór o niemal folkowym, pogañskim zabarwieniu (podobnym do ich krajan z OBTEST). Duýà rolæ odgrywajà w nim czyste, mocne, mæskie úpiewy. Niespodziankà jest równieý úwietna wersja jednego z najlepszych numerów w historii metalu. "Tormentor" zagrany jest z odpowiednim ogniem, siùà i stanowi kapitalne zakoñczenie úwietnej pùyty. Pùyty, którà goràco wszystkim polecam!
Barr-Llog, M magazine [Belarus]: [translation]
Bart Gabriel, Dragonight Agency [Poland]: If I wouldn't know DISSIMULATION 7" titled "Miglose", I would say that this is Death Metal band, because of their name (doesn't it sound similar to IMMOLATION?). Anyway, as mentioned I know their 7" (which was their 2nd release after demo tape from '97), so from the very beginning I knew what can I expect: pure and traditional Black Metal onslaught. No keyboards, no boring female vocals, just pure old stuff. Actually it's a bit hard to say "well, they play like this or this band". I agree, we can find on "Maras" some echoes of let's say MAYHEM, maybe BEHEMOTH, sometimes even Japanese SABBAT, because of the very own and specific atmosphere. What I mostly like except a premier atmosphere and sound, are the lyrics written in their native language: Lithuanian. It truly makes "Maras" even more original. If you like Black Metal in its purest form, without any "modern" parts, try to hunt down this one. CD comes as a fantastic digipak, and the die hard vinyl maniaxe can get limited to 333 copies golden pressing with different artwork. Ahh, yes, I almost forgot. Except 10 own compositions, you can find here cover tune of the mighty KREATOR - "Tormentor". Ok. Summary. That's what I call Black Metal! One of the very best releases from this genre, released in 2002 (out: Halloween 2002). A must have for all the underground spirits! [9 / 10]
Bastiaan de Vries, Maelstrom webzine [USA]: After some research, the band revealed itself to be Lithuanian. After some listening, the band revealed to be very old school black thrash. The lyrics and parts of the music show signs of their cultural heritage: old people and dead people in abundance in the booklet, all looking either cold, eastern or both, or dead (of course). The music is very much the same besides the apparent influences: very cold in the guitar department, rocking and flailing in the drum department, and grim and biting in the vocal department.
Bertrand Garnier "Uriel", Violent Solutions webzine [France]: Behind the quite nondescript patronymic Dissimulation hides a band originating from Lithuania , and signed under what I think is the major autochthon label, namely Ledo Takas which had exported one of our last year's revelation, Obtest. Although Dissimulation do not quite match with the astonishing performance of their country mates, they are yet another evidence of the scene's healthiness in this heavily industrial land which has been in its time one of the first to slide free from the Soviet Moloch (independence proclaimed as of 1991). The first noticeable thing about the CD is the artwork, which is made out of pictures of burial ceremonies. These piercing snapshots of collective mourning and the grayness about them all, let alone the images of coffins exposing the dead in their last postures, they set up right away some deep feeling of unease perfectly in tune with the black malevolence of the lyrics, which translation from Russian to English is pretty good and explicit. Moved by openly hostile purposes, and having little interest in twists and turns to deliver their message, Dissimulation forge 11 songs of razor-sharp, at times almost barbaric dark metal enhanced with abrupt breaks and technical relics under the music's flow, the latter reminding in places of old, death-metal-oriented Dissection. As far as the production is concerned, this quite keeps in line with what the highly-valued Ukrainian black metal scene has been throwing at us for years, that is pretty crudely mixed tracks, with both something raw and thin about them, but also with enough freedom left for melodies to shine through, which is a good point for Dissimulation, whose keyboardless music would otherwise lose a big part of its appeal. The biting riffs full of character are widely renewed from one title to the other, which timely prevents the album to fall into monotony. Some parts are spiced up with closer-drawn and “groovy” rhythmics, hence a thrashy feeling finding its achievement in the short but intense Kreator cover (“Tormentor”), played with anger and without poetry. Apart from a few, not always vital sections where the guitars-drums combination is lurking at the forefront, the vocalist is permanently on duty, and you won't experience ten seconds without one of his screams, those being as tortured and raspy as it gets – like some poltergeist was running a potato peeler on his vocal cords. At the end of the day, there is not much to disagree about such an album, neither the form nor the content. The unity of the whole and the persistence of the musicians to rush into the midst of the fight make of “Maras” a fearless artillery squad that will bring several victims down before it surrenders. However, Dissimulation comes against some limits which are plainly-spoken those of the style itself, I mean a huge brain-jamming effect badly damped out by the lack of clarity in the instrumental lines; and then there is this rigidity to genres' accommodation, like these few failed attempts to put up with clean folkloric singing. It is a bit stupid to say, but in fact the album would have deserved a more “occidental” treatment in order to sharpen its good sides and fade out the less good ones. Still, even if there is little chance that “Maras” will trigger a bright destiny for its fathers, dedicated fans of bands like Deströyer 666, Desaster or even Carpathian Forest should seriously keep a watchful eye on this one. [12 / 20]
Björn Nörsterud, Scream magazine [Norway]: Det er morsomt at Dissimilis ogsa har startet death metal band... Eh... Dagens darligste vits. Nei da, Dissimulation er syk og uhemmet black metal fra Litauen, og egentlig ganske sa bra ogsa. Det handler om relativt heftig mid tempo, primitiv sortmetal, dog med ganske sa bra lyd. Akkurat denne musikkformen er ikke avhengig av a vaere original, or litauerne gir da ogsa blanke i akkurat det. Bra for dem. Coveret viser bilder fra begravelser i det forrige arhundre, ekte saddane, og gir deg denne krypende, ekle folelsen. Skremmende bra... [4 / 6] [translation]
Boros Szabolcs, Mirgilus Siculorum webzine [Romania]: A litvan Dissimulation palyajat mar a kezdetektol figyelemmel kiserem, ezidaig nem sok kiadvanyuk latott napvilagot, mindossze egy demojuk, es egy kislemezuk jelent meg. A Miglose 7” Ep-rol annak idejen irtam volt ismertetot, azt is jo lemeznek tartottam, viszont a verszegeny hangzas nagyon ranyomta belyeget a vegeredmenyre.
Britton Dicks, Metal Coven webzine [USA]: Ahhh, Venom. How I have longed for the days when you created great music. What's it been now? Twenty years since your last good album? Sure, you have stuck with releasing albums throughout this whole time with one lineup or another, but even with Cronos's return you just couldn't recapture the evil spark that once infested your first four albums. Ah well, great things never last. And when there's a great thing in music, many bands will try to copy it or build upon these metal bands of old's greatness. Sometimes they do it well, more often they do it terribly. Lithuania's Dissimilation is a band that falls somewhere in the middle. They do a decent job of paying homage to their influences, but it doesn't come across as good as it should or could have.
Carlaont Catalin, Arcana Noctis website [Romania]: Killer release from this Lithuanian band .A sick music making you think about the old Mayhem (especially the riffing). Eleven songs (including the ones from the Miglose demo), and a cover from Kreator (Tormentor), which will blow you away and make you beg for more. The lyrics are written in Lithuanian but you have the English translation on the booklet too. Lycanthropy, Dark Arts, and Mystery are some subjects here. The cover artwork is unique in its own kind… pictures of funerary… sick! [9 / 10]
Carlos Flores, Kuravilu webzine [Chile]: Otra gran pieza de metal extremo nos ofrece Lituania, una vez mas de la mano de Ledo Takas Records. Dissimulation comienza su historia alla por el ano 1993 y cultiva una original mezcla de fuerte base Black Metalera a la antigua, muchos riffs Thrasheros y algo del Heavy mas crudo en selectos pasajes.
Carlaont Catalin, Spell Of Night webzine [Romania]: Killer release from this Lithuanian band. A sick music making you think about the old Mayhem (especially the riffing). Eleven songs (including the ones from the Miglose demo), and a cover from Kreator (Tormentor), which will blow you away and make you beg for more.
Christian Wachter, Blood Of The Ancients magazine [Germany]: The booklet artwork of the debut album of this quite old band (existing since 1993) is showing original photos of dead people, some of them taken in churches with their relatives standing around, some of them show the bodies solely in their caskets. On one picture you get to see some kind of bishop lying in a casket, on another one there`s even a baby… Well, I don`t call this "shocking", I call this highly macabre: Ok, the idea is by far more original than the 1,000st splatter photo, but I`d say that the "artist" does definitely not care for the dignity of those dead people and their relatives… The stupid Hitler speech included at the end of 'Genocidas' doesn`t make the whole situation better, honestly said. The label info states that a "famous studio" in Berlin didn't accept to master 'Maras' because of this, but it is said there that DISSIMULATION are no Nazis – once again it's up to you to support this band.... Anyway, the sound really fits the harsh and cold Black Metal sound of this Lithuanian act. It's great to hear the band singing in their mother tongue exclusively, this makes the music much more original and gives the vocals a much more grim approach. DISSIMULATION like their Black Metal pure and freezing, and despite the fact that there are any new aspects on 'Maras', fans of this kind of music will be very satisfied, I guess… The all in all 10 own tunes are very varied and can compete with most of Black Metal acts of the world-wide scene, although there's nothing outstanding offered. To do a cover KREATOR's 'Tormentor' is, additionally to the fact that this is one of the easiest songs of the German Thrash legend, not a too challenging idea, but it's done in a good way! 'Maras' is a more than solid album, but still far away from being a real highlight.
Claudio Casero, TrueMetal.it website [Italy]: I Dissimulation arrivano niente di meno che dalla Lituania e escono sul mercato con questo “Maras”, cd prodotto dalla pressoché sconosciuta Ledo Takas Records. Il gruppo, formato da Venomous (basso e voce), Stabmeldys (batteria) e Nekofagas (chitarra), si dedica, da quello che ? scritto nello sheet informativo, ad un tradizionale black metal blasfemo.
Crin, Extreme Noise magazine [Australia]: Rudimentary Black Metal from Lithuania with a sound that is not blatantly Scandinavian which in it self is a breath of charnel air. Like Maniac Butcher [Czech], Thors Hammer [Pol] and Countess [Dutch], Dissimulation crank up the guitars and smash the shit out of the drum kit without any real direction other than an unrefined channel of hellish din.
Dave Griffith, Sinister Online webzine [Australia]: Being the first band I can recall listening to hailing from the small European country of Lithuania, I decided I'd pay a lot of attention to Dissimulation's debut full length titled “Maras”. Little is known about this three-piece, apart from the usual Metal band line-up changes that have haunted many bands. The core of Dissimulation however has always been Venomous (bass and vocals) and Stabmeldys (drums). Nekrofagas is the final member in the band who handles all guitar work.
David, Lords of Metal webzine [Netherlands]: Just to open up in a direct and blunt way for a change, you could describe the recently released debut album from the Lithuanian band Dissimulation as one of those thirteen-in-a-dozen bands that play old school Black metal. Of course this doesn't necessarily have to mean that it's bad, because contrary to a lot of similar bands, the guys from Dissimulation can play rather decently, and the songs are almost without exception musically quite competent and manage to keep me interested for almost the entire duration of the CD , even though there isn't anything groundbreaking happening. Everything is kept quite basic, meaning that there are no keyboards or additional things like this, and the CD was blessed with a reasonable production (which, by the way, is taken care off by a member of one of those other Lithuanian bands, Gints Lundbergs from Skyforger). All the lyrics on the album are sung in Lithuanian and thus practically incomprehensible for most of us, although this problem is solved by an English translation of the songs in the booklet. What's more, the band manages to score an extra point for this booklet and the packaging in general because everything is designed very smooth and moody and, for a change, do not involve any of the usual Black metal cliché's (which can't be said from the lyrics which cover exactly the usual dark and occult themes). Furthermore the album also contains a Kreator cover (Tormentor) and a song which contains a short speech of Hitler (Genocidas), something which might sound a bit dubious to some of us, but the band clearly distances itself from any fascistic or nazistic ideology and thus get the benefit of the doubt. Favourite tracks for me are the title track “Maras”, “Pazadintas Ritualu”, en“Tamsiu Natki, Juodu ugni”, which manages to instantly surprise me by its use of clean choir-like vocals that constantly repeat the same sentence, thus creating an unusual effect. Overall this “Maras” is not a bad album, and has been well taken care of. A band that certainly has some potential for the future. [76 / 100]
Deadnextdoor, Walls of Fire webzine [Germany]: Dass auch außerhalb Skandinaviens exzellenter Black Metal gespielt wird, ist hinlänglich bekannt, aber dennoch bleiben immer wieder einige potentielle Perlen auf der Strecke, da ihre finanziellen Möglichkeiten einfach zu begrenzt sind, um dem verarmten heimischen Underground zu entfliehen. Dies ist sicherlich auch der Grund dafür, warum viele Bands aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion massive Probleme haben, diesem Teufelskreis zu entfliehen, doch glücklicherweise gibt es dann doch noch einige Ausnahmen.
Doru Atomei, Kogaionon magazine [Romania]: Tadas is well known for his affinity for traditional but brutal Black Metal. After a good job with the excellent project, Obtest, he released now the debut of these Lithuanians... a debut that follows a well promoted EP, Miglose. It didn't strike me, but I enjoyed the sound! Aggressive black metal (blasphemous traditional black metal they say), with plenty of violence in expression, explosive vocals and demented guitars, a brilliant battery...and nothing else. The band is pretty controversial because of the association with a nazi movement but it seems all is just a rumour. Anyway, this is an album with an elegant design, a professional recording and an exquisite execution... and this would be the way I would end my review. Well, if up to me, I'd say Obtest is much closer to my heart... probably because the traditional elements are more obviously pointed out, while Dissimulation insists on old style black metal. [0.84 / 1]
Dunja, Nocturnal Hall webzine [Germany]: DISSIMULATION from Lithuania exist since 1993, but should be rather unknown to most of the people, because their debut album Maras (=plague) was released just one year ago. The description “Blasphemous Traditional Black Metal” in combination with the origin of the band and the association with other Lithuanian bands like Skyforger or Obtest aroused my curiosity - unfortunaly the style differs from the description and generally Maras can't really convince me. I would call this a mixture of Black and Thrash with some Death influences, what wouldn't be that bad, but the performance is nothing I would call good. The songs are pretty unspectacular and pass by without getting stuck in the ear.
Enigma666, Metal Archives website: I'll admit, this is the first Lithuanian black metal album I've ever brought, and I'd just like to say how impressed I am, there are massive thrash influences on this record- and the band come across as a darker, heavier Keep of Kalessin.
Eric, Franang zine [France]: I discovered Dissimulation through their satisfying 7ep "Miglose". "Maras" is a straight BM without so much Lithuanian influences, as the BM from this country seems to have more folk influences. I'd even say it's as if the band comes from Finland. Anyway, Dissimulation deliver an hungry and furious BM. Their BM is tainted with some technical DM parts, without sounding like a demonstration, with some fast and brutal parts that can be seen in Swedish DM. Most of the album is midway between mid tempo and "normal" tempo, which gives a really interesting version of extreme Metal, with some progressive ideas. The "Maras" song is really an attracting one as the song is in the real DM/BM vein, with some killer Thrashing riffs. The only bad point comes from the production which has a saturated guitar gains, as if the recording process fucked up. Finally they cover "Tormentor'" from Kreator This is an underrated band you've to take in consideration.
Evil Frons, Heavy Metal Portal [Italy]: Genere: heavy/black
Fillip Jesion, Agonia magazine [Poland]: Rather good act coming these days from Ledo Takas. Good recorded, mastered as well as engineered album which delivers a dose of Lithuanian Black Metal not without some slightly folkish parts and raw aura of Death. Yes, I think death, funerals and all so associated attributes surrounds listeners of 'Maras'. The concept of its booklet completes the music which's rather simple but not without a dose of originality. The black metal that can be listened here is not that quick performed, maybe even not that straight forward aggressive as it is in Obtest's case... Oh, maybe there's a bit different when it comes to a cover of Kreator's 'Tormentor'. But generally speaking it is a decent album. Drown in. [4 / 6]
Fisherman, Metal Norge website [Norway]: Man finner flere og flere interessante black metal band utenfor Scandinavias grenser og Dissimulation er et av disse. Her får man h¸re agressiv, pagan-inspirert black metal. Ser ingen grunn for at Dissimulation ikke skulle får mere oppmerksomhet - bandet lager interessant og mere variert musikk enn man kunne forvente fra denne sjangeren. Jeg finner alt fra typiske black metal riff til harde Meshuggah riff, og å kalle dette for "trasha" black metal hadde ikke v¿rt så dumt heller. Blodet koker og Dissimulation oppfordrer til kamp...
Giorgio Fogliata, Silent Scream webzine [Italy]: Guys, I deserve my wage for succeeding in writing the titles of the songs! Dissimulation are a good band coming from the mysterious Lithuania, and this "Maras" is their debut on the long distance, despite the band has been alive since the faraway 1993. We are here in front of a truly mature album with which they already promise to say their word in black/thrash metal field. Dissimulation's sound owes much to the lesson of bands like Marduk, we are in front of a truly dynamic black metal with the support of a truly various and cured riffing, with a faceted evermoving rhythmic and a truly rotten singing not in pure screaming. The nature of the sound of the band is truly linked to the good old thrash metal, like the succesful cover of "Tormentor" by Kreator and the use of the voice, as well as some drum patterns, show. Production is up to the three satanic friends, and so the product we're talking about is placed upon a rather high level. The songs are all well personalized, are not too similar to the one another as too often it happens to hear, and that remarks a big intimacy in their songwriting. Lyrically we are within the borderlines of the satanic nihilist black metal, and moreover it seems they to have problems in Germany because of the insert in "Genocidas" of a speech of Hitler: Dissimulation declare to be apolitical totally, but as usual we don't understand if such ideas are exploited to obtain some cheap exposure or hide something worse. Anyway, all in all what we're interested in is their music, and from this point of view we can only be satisfied with a square compact opera, likeable to listen to thanks to its freshness, and that makes you headbang till death. For sure a band to keep in sight. [7,5 / 10]
Grimulfr, Digital Metal website [USA]: Lithuania's Dissimulation, courtesy of Ledo Takas Records, present their debut album Maras (Plague), recorded with, as they say, 'the proper equipment and means', after toiling in obscurity for nearly a decade. Forty minutes, eleven songs, including a cover of "Tormentor", of blasphemous traditional black metal. As in thrash and heavy = metal influences obvious and lots of spikes and leather. This is their first material available on cd. previously having released a 7" through Ledo Takas and before that a demo tape. Formed back in 1993 in Anyksciai (apologies but my keyboard can't type the needed special characters) Lithuania, the band went through many guitarists before finding Nekrofagas. Songs were begun in 1997 and finished in 2002 when they entered the studio that March. Original members Venomous and Stabmeldys round out the trio. Mastering was delayed because a Berlin studio got cold feet when the Adolph Hitler speech sample used in "Genocidas" was heard. The Band's response? 'The band has nothing to do with neither fascistic nor Nazi ideology'. The resulting master tapes came from a studio in Lithuania, and a fine job was done. Musically interesting if not innovative, well produced to give it a heavy moody feel and a definite early 80's style combine into a worthwhile disc.
Hartmuth, Metal Gospel webzine [Germany]: You still don´t come across a lot of Lithuanian bands over here despite the fact that the country (in fact all ex Soviet Union countries) has a thriving music scene. These guys here do a very decent job with songs that are somewhere between old swedish Black Thrash (think MERCILESS or UNPURE) and mid age ("Extreme Aggression") KREATOR. The last track is also a very well done cover of "Tormentor". Despite these main influences they never can (nor would want I'd wager) deny their slavonic heritage and you can find trace roots (pun intended) of ROOT and other early eastern bands as well. It´s a well done CD I find myself listening to again and again. I wonder if these guys did other releases as well?
Hector Noble Fernandez, She Divine And Existence Libertine website [Spain]: The music: here is finally the debut album by this unholy Lithuanian triumvirate, and I still have not a clear position towards this work, it shows us a more mature DISSIMULATION; the production has been improved (in a very notable way); the instrumental skills of the band have been enormously polished; but I have the impression that the group has maybe lost something in this process, and it is certainly not good ideas when creating music, since from the very first track every riff, rhythm or voice used in these almost 40 minutes is simply massively implanted in your ears. The band has gained in maturity and consistency, but I miss some personal details and a feel that I found in the previous release ("Miglose" EP), which here are immured in that wall of brick erected with the new (production) characteristics of the band, for instance that animal bestiality of the ep, that music of disjointed and crushed instruments, or the percussive particularities commented in the previous review, which do not sound the same anymore; by the way, in this CD there are a lot of drumming blasting that brings the band closer to a typical death metal sound, but only as far as the drums are concerned; DISSIMULATION is still genocidal and blasphemous black metal (as before), that recreation of a bellicose confrontation is still present, but now it is not dirty (as before...); still being black metal (not so primitive as before, but more "modern"), the classic thrash metal sound is notwithstanding much more recurrent and abundant; they are the classic 80's riffs (there is even a KREATOR's cover: "Tormentor"), but with a current and clean production. "Miglose" was much more black metal and much more nude and primitive, "Maras" is much more elaborated and much more thrash, with the same basic influences from the eighties, but with a nineties production (the blackness' soot has opened the way to a certain resplendence in the production), in "Miglose" there was more bone, in "Maras" there is more muscle... For me the problem is that all these new contributions are done (in the most of cases) under a very "classic", "faithful" (or "typical") perspective; personality exists (without any doubt), but also "clichés". With all my objections this is still above the average black metal release, it has still the conviction to convince black metal adorers. [7 / 10]
Herr Stalhammar, Musica webmagazine / Vae Solis webmagazine [Russia]: Excellent. This was the first impression. Well, I still consider "Maras" one of the best (if not the best) black (pagan?) metal efforts ever made by Lithuanian combo. Harsh yet well thoughout, well played and well executed. Atmospheric yet not sympho-blah-blah-blah. Exciting yet not overexciting, if you get what I mean. Actually, I have no goddamn idea of why I should head on finding drawbacks whatsoever. Because, there aren't any. And even if there are, I couldn't care less about it. Listen carefully: "Maras" appears to be almost perfect black (again, pagan?) metal offering. And if you're sure BM is of no interest if it lacks female voice or keyboards / orchestrations or anything like that, I believe you should re-consider such a worthless point of view. Because DISSIMULATION prove it CAN BE OF INTEREST. Last but not least: the closing track off "Maras" is none other than KREATOR's "Tormentor" covered in… oh well, in a brilliant way. [5,5 / 6]
Jefferey, Canadian Assault zine [USA]: It seems like ages ago that I got a copy of Dissimulation's "Miglose..." 7"EP. Vol. 1 in the funeral violet vinyl series of Ledo Takas Records. That record was only unleashed in 2000 though and now they are back with a full length and a somewhat polished recording in comparison to the 7" material. "Miglose..." wasn't entirely well produced and I always have to turn the volume way up to get the most out of it but I've never complained. I loved the dark atmospheres and muddy production values as I find that they can aid in bringing out subtle atmospheres and melodies in a way that may not even have been intended. "Maras" on the other hand is perhaps loitering on middle ground because the old atmospheres are all but lost, abandoned for a rough but sharp punchto the face via 80's thrash extremity. That point driven home even further by the inclusion of the cover version of Kreator's Tormentor tacked on the end of the disc. True to the bone, a great sound but not at all what I was expecting. Especially with the somber obscured cover art depicting a funeral. Don't judge this one by the cover. Had the band went the extra mile and really produced the fuck out of this thing I honestly think it would have had the desired effect. A fucking bulldozer! Instead it's almost tame at points with the airy guitar riffs buzzing back and forth with nary a dynamic to be found on the entire album save for a few powerful drum tactics. Fans of the earlier material may be a bit disappointed but Dissimulation haven't even found a niche yet as far as I'm concerned so guve 'em time. [5,5 / 10]
Jerry “Serpent”, Inquisitionist webzine / Imperiumi webzine [Finland]: Liettulainen Dissimulation lataa debyyttilevyllään haulikkonsa piiput täyteen vihaa, rienausta ja tiukkaa black metallia neljänkymmenen minuutin verran. Heti alusta käy selväksi, että mikään turha julkaisu ei ole kyseessä, vaan aggressivinen metalli käy oitis kurkkuun kiinni ja ravistaa luulot niiltä pois, jotka vielä luulevat etteivät Balttian pojat osaa tehdä ehtaa black metallia. Vaikka Dissimulationin tyyli on melko perinteinen, nopeaa ja keskitempoista black metallia yhdistävä bändi kulkee kuitenkin omaa polkuaan alusta loppuun asti . Hienoisia folk metal -elementtejäkin musiikkinsa sekoittanut akti muistuttaa paikoin hieman Skyforgeria, mutta pysyen tiukemmin perinteisen black metallin puolella. Välillä soitto yltyy lähes kaoottiseksi, mutta pysyy pääosin hyvin hallussa ja omaa tietynlaista draivia vetävillä riffeillään, jotka heiluvat melodisen hempeilyn ja suoraviivaisen sahauksen välimaastossa.
Jim Tsallos, Metal Perspective website [Greece]: Hailing from the small Baltic metal force Lietuva (Lithuania in other words), and hiding under a funeral artwork, a good and disorientating piece of dark aesthetic. It's a 3-piece band and little is known about their past, which dates back from their formation in 1993.They use their native language (translated in English also, thank the Almigh-I-y!) and their approach is mixing old-schoolie black, thrash and endarkened heavy metal notes, ending up sounding like Destroyer 666, old Satyricon, Carpathian Forest and perhaps Master's Hammer at times, without sharing the feeling nor the whole black/thrash vibe. The sound needs to be worked up a bit more, and the songs are kinda averagely written, though stylistic it's my cup of blood and "Maras" - translated as "Plague" will not bite the dust upon my shelve. A cover of "Tormentor" is closing this chapter for the band, although I have to say it's a typical cover song (Desaster, Rotting Christ, Black Witchery) despite that they perform it with respect. Summing up, a release embraced by Slavonic aura presented in a not-so-worn-out way of playing. Definitely a neat debut release! [7 / 10]
Joni Juutilainen, Inferno magazine [Finland]: Dissimulation has a little secret for us to tell: Black death has taken grip of the world again. And if this plague rages even as hard as Dissimulation does, results will be shocking. Well, visions are visions. Trashy and crushing black metal is what this band makes out with their new album. Someone could even find some similarities between Dissimulation and old Carpathian Forest material…
Krzywy, Mega-Sin magazine [Poland]: "Maras", dobre sobie. Na sàsiada z trzeciego piætra woùamy Maras, ale o litewskiej scenie metalowej - podobnie jak ja - ma on pojæcie raczej mgliste. Tymczasem okazuje siæ, ýe metal nie koñczy siæ tam na Skyforger. Wùaúnie z kraju Giedymina pochodzi Dissimulation. "Maras" to ich dùugograjàcy debiut poprzedzony siódemkà oraz taúmà demo. Grajà muzykæ, która, rzekùbym, caùkiem efektywnie wpasowuje siæ w kanony blackmetalowego piækna i nie stroni od wpùywów doúã archaicznego thrash metalu, czego potwierdzeniem jest zamieszczona na albumie przeróbka "Tormentor" Kreator. Specyficznego rysu nadajà muzyce wokale wykonywane w ich rodzimym jæzyku. Bez obaw, nie ma tu mowy o pogañskiej maskaradzie, a raczej o prawdziwie sugestywnej atmosferze, której dopeùnia oprawa graficzna albumu. Jeden z utworów koñczy siæ pokrzepiajàcym wszelkich wykolejeñców umysùowych samplem z przemówienia Hitlera, chociaý muzycy odýegnujà siæ od zwiàzków z nazistowskà ideologià. I bardzo sùusznie, bo idiotów mamy na úwiecie wystarczajàco wielu. Na pewno nie znajdziecie tej pùyty w pobliskim sklepie, ale warto odýaùowaã na przesyùkæ i zapoznaã siæ z naprawdæ dobrym zespoùem. Jeszcze jedno na koniec: czy riff otwierajàcy przedostatni numer tylko mi kojarzy siæ ze "Sweet Leaf" Black Sabbath? [555 / 666]
Lord Khaos, Heavy-Metal.de website [Germany]: Ist die Überraschung, die mit dieser CD in mein Haus geflattert ist! Eine litauische Black Metal Band, welche höchsten internationalen Standards genügt. 1993 in der Provinz von Venomous und Stabmeldys gegründet wollte man dem „alten“ Black Metal mit Thrash und Heavy Einflüssen huldigen. Nach langen Jahren on the Road konnte man 1996 endlich einen fähigen Gitarristen rekrutieren (Nekrofagas) und schließlich auch ein Demo Tape aufnehmen. 2000 folgte das zweite, „Miglose“ betitelte Tape. Leider waren beide Aufnahmen von fürchterlich schlechter Soundqualität (selbst für diese Art der Musik...) verunstaltet. Dennoch erkannte Ledo Takas das Potenzial der Truppe und nahm sie unter seine Fittiche. Das führte dann zur vorliegenden Debüt- CD , die immerhin in den Phoenix Studios in Lettland produziert wurde. Sound Engineer war kein geringerer als Gints Lundbergs (SKYFORGER, eine der wenigen ernstzunehmenden baltischen Bands). Das Mastering sollte in Berlin erfolgen, der zuständige Besitzer des Studios weigerte sich aber, weil in einem Track ein Hitler-Sample zu hören war. Sowohl das Plattenlabel als auch die Band selbst distanziert sich aber von jeder Art des Extremismus, somit habe ich auch keine Probleme mit derartigen künstlerischen Einfällen.
Lord Zaebos, Friedhof webzine [Spain]: Reedición de el album debut de estos lituanos Dissimulation, banda formada hace algo mas de diez anos. Esta reedición se ha hecho a cargo de Ledo Takas, y se trata de una reedición pura y dura, ya que no contiene material adicional de lo que inicialmente fue el Maras editado hace dos anos atras.
Ludo / Scribe, Metalland webzine [France]: Voila, avec ce second album, DISSIMULATION nous démontre que la Lithuanie a encore des talents cachés. Ce trio développe avec beaucoup de savoir-faire un True Black Metal puissant. On peut noter une légere influence rythmique a la IMMORTAL. Avec ce son pur et propre, DISSIMULATION fera encore parler de lui…
Mairtin Mac Cormaic, Metalworks magazine [Ireland]: The harshness of life in Eastern Europe has long been reflected in the harshness of its Metal bands. Dissimulation, from Lithuania, is no exception from this fact, the harshness of these guys being blatantly executed through their take on fast and aggressive Black Metal. For the most part, the music here has little to distinguish it from many other bands, but the playing abilities of the members, along with a cold atmosphere that will freeze your eardrums, have made “Maras” a regular spinner in my player in the past while. Add to that a perfect production… by this, don't expect a crystal-clear, digital-sounding recording, but rather a production which complements the harshness of Dissimulation's compositions effectively, while each element is still perfectly audible. There are occasional unique characteristics to “Maras”, however, none more than on “ Tamsiu Nakti Juodu Ugni”, with its hymnic and hypnotic chorals over the backdrop of simplistic, but effective, Black Metal riffage… something I'd like to hear more of in the future. A brave move by the band – and one which has become a regular topic in interviews I've read with them – is the inclusion of a sample of a speech from Adolf Hitler during the otherwise instrumental track, “Genocidas”, which has received widespread criticism from the more narrow-minded elements of the Black Metal scene, even though its inclusion is obviously 100% fitting to the concept of the song's title, and states nothing whatsoever about the band's political leanings. To top off what is, in fact, a very good Black Metal album, we're treated to a cover of Kreator's classic “Tormentor” as an epitaph for the disk… all the more reason to take a bite of Dissimulation and taste yet another Baltic band worth its weight in blood. [7.5 / 10]
Mark, Metalworld magazine [Switzerland]: Dissimulation kommen aus Litauen und spielen traditionellen Black Metal mit leichtem Death Metal-Einschlag. Aufgenonmmen wurden die elf enthaltenen Songs in Riga, Lettland. Der Sound klingt sprode, ist aber auf jeden Fall gut produziert. Ursprunglich sollte das Material in Berlin gemastert werden, was der Inhaber aber aufgrund eines gesprochenen Parts von Adolf Hitler ablehnte. Ledo Takas Records und Dissimulation mochten aber klarstellen, dass dahinter weder faschistische noch nazistische Ideologien stecken und jede(r) diesen Part nach seinem eigenen Gutdunken interpretieren soll. Der Part erscheint am Ende von „Genocidas“ und lautet: „Fur unseres Reichs Macht, fur Seine Grosse und fur seine Herrlichkeit, jetzt und immer. Deutschland, Sieg heil“. Leider gibt's zu diesem Song keine Lyrics und das Gekrachze ist nicht verstandlich genug. Die Konsultation des Booklets zeigt aber, dass keine antisemitischen oder faschistischen Texte kreiert wurden und Dissimulation wohl keine Nazischergen sind. Die Songs auf „Maras“ sind im ubrigen bieder bis anspruchslos und lassen das Flair fur packende Strukturen vermissen. Wer sich einmal „Taverne“ von Nocte Obducta angehort hat, wird merken, wie blass „Maras“ geworden ist. In Anbetracht dieser Fakten lohnt es sich meiner Meinung nach nicht, das Album aus Litauen zu importieren.
Martin Kvam, Monster magazine [Norway]: [translation]
Mike, Earshot webzine [Austria]: Aus Litauen kommen DISSIMULATION und liefern nach einem Demo und einer EP nun ihr Debütalbum ab. Ziemlich rauer, etwas Thrash-lastiger Sound schallt dem Hörer fast 40 Minuten lang um die Ohren. Ich sage einmal, dass die Jungs nicht so obskur und exotisch klingen wie die Landsmänner von NAHASH, trotzdem hört sich die Musik recht osteuropäisch an, das heißt, die Jungs ziehen musikalisch ihr eigenes Ding durch, ohne nach Skandinavien zu schielen. Ich glaube, das wird ein jeder bestätigen kennen, der einige Black Metal-Bands aus Estland, Lettland oder Litauen kennt. Der Sound aus diesen Gegenden klingt einfach anders als beispielsweise der aus Schweden, Norwegen oder auch Deutschland.
Nagel, Lords Of Winter website [France]: "Maras" signifie peste en bon francais, titre qui n'a rien d'étonnant lorsqu'on se penche sur ce disque o combien destructeur. Ce premier album des Lituaniens de Dissimulation montre une évolution nette comparé aux démos, en étant - la maturité en plus - beaucoup plus percutant. L'album repose en effet sur une déferlante continuelle d'un black/thrash enfin maitrisé, faisant clairement référence a la vieille scene thrash teutonne (la reprise finale n'en est qu'une confirmation), a du vieux Slayer, voire a du Celtic Frost pour certains riffs. Combinez cela a une production abrasive qui colle extremement bien au son des guitares et vous commencerez a envisager le potentiel destructeur de la galette. Les fans d'Aura Noir seront ravis tant l'approche semble similaire, avec un bon équilibre entre les influences musicales. Pour le coté uniquement black, on lorgne parfois vers du Dark Funeral (époque «in the sign») et le chant s'avere particulierement réussi dans une veine rageuse. On peut meme noter que l'avant-derniere piste fait hommage a la scene pagan metal balte, en proposant un morceau extremement proche des Obtest, Metsatöll ou encore Skyforger. Le disque compte 40 minutes, et il faut avouer qu'il passe tres bien, malgré quelques répétitions et une durée de vie moyenne. Dissimulation s'affiche des lors comme un des leaders de la scene extreme balte, tout en sachant (volontairement ou pas) rester assez discret. [7 / 10]
Nathan Birk, Terrorizer magazine [England]: And speaking of nationalism, Lithuanians Dissimulation feature an ambiguous / dubious / dodgy Hitler soundbite on their ‘Maras' debut LP (Ledo Takas), but don't let that unnecessarily dissuade you: This is some stout-hearted heathen metal, as rollicking‘n'rallying‘n'rabid as you like – and a neck-snapping cover of ‘Tormentor', to boot. [7.5 / 10]
Nightspirit, Payo magazine [Czechia]: Kdo z blackmetalovych fandu alespoò obèas hodil okem po vychodnich regionech Evropy, jiste mi da za pravdu, ze se zde deji èas od èasu zajimavé veci. Litevska èernekovova partièka DISSIMULATION vsak bohuzel do praménku pozoruhodnych postsovetskych formaci zatim opravdu nepatri. Debutova nahravka “Maras” je nazornou ukazkou v posledni dobe siliciho jevu, kdy se demo bandy s bezohlednym nadsenim vrhaji do nahravani plnohodnotnych alb, byt zatim jejich dosavadni tvorba patri pouze a jen do garaze. Litevci se v infomaterialech ohaneji terminem “chladny syrovy BM s primesi heavy metalu”. Pri poslechu “Maras” tento marketingovy tah chapu, vzdyt co vam zbyva, kdyz na kytaru vyloudite par omletych riffu, které jiz tady byly pred nekolika lety, v bicich partech predvedete bezny prumer a o skrehotavém vokalu to plati jakbysmet (klavesy byly z rejstriku instrumentu po prvnim demu vypoklonkovany, jak jinak). Je to stary trik - delat z nouze ctnost. Pro zvyseni pritazlivosti jeste dodate fragment projevu jednoho neuspesného (s)Vudce a okazala kontroverze je na svete. Stejne jako lehké pousmani skuteène chladného black metalu. Ach jo. PS: O tom, ze DISSIMULATION nejsou beznadejnym bandem, svedèi nekolik fragmentu ve skladbach „Miglose“, „Genocide“ nebo „Tamsiu Nakti“... Zde se Pobaltanum podarilo diky folklórne znejicim motivum nebo skuteène chladnému zvuku vytvorit atmosféru, kterou na zbytku postradam. Proto jsem nekolik bodiku pridal. [4 / 10]
Nocturnal Horde webzine [Denmark]: Dette er godt nok en lidt gammel sag fra litauiske Dissimulation, men de 4 spor der er på denne 7" sparker satme gevaldigt røv og så har de jo også lige været aktuelle med fuldlængden "Maras", så det er sgu legitimt nok at give "Miglose…" et par ord med på vejen.
Noktorn, Metal Archives website [USA]: This is okay I guess. I mean, what the fuck else can I say about a band whose only aspiration is to make black metal, as though it were some kind of fucking bizarre chemistry experiment where adding too much or too little of acid A into flask B will result in an explosion. 'Maras' is black metal with a hint of thrash and beyond that it doesn't really have any ideas so I could just as easily give it a 'SOLID BLACK METAL CHECK IT OUT' review as I could a 'THIS SUCKS AND HAS NO CREATIVITY'. As I'm a reasonable person (or one incapable of having an opinion on something), I'll just split it down the middle.
Oliver Vollmer, Bright Eyes webzine [Germany]: Der Opener des Trios aus Litauen beginnt noch mit thrashenden Exodus-Riffs, um jedoch relativ schnell in harsches Blastbeat-Gemetzel mit frostklirrendem Appeal auszuarten. DISSIMULATION spielen von der Grundzutat her altschuligen Black Metal, der sich ein ums andere Mal recht deutlich bei den frühen Immortal bedient (u.a. „Maras“, „Pazadintas Ritualu“) und auch einige deutsche Thrash-(Angel)Rippchen kennt (z.B. Destruction - „Viesulai Kraujuojanciame Danguje“). Ein Kreator-Cover („Tormentor“) ist da fast die logische Konsequenz. „Maras“ hat einen dünnen aber frostigen Sound, die drei Burschen sind spieltechnisch fit, aber die 10 eigenen Nummern sind bisweilen noch zu verschachtelt und kommen teilweise nicht wirklich auf den Punkt („Sauksmas Lapkricio Miglose“, „Miglose“), was die Durchschlagskraft von DISSIMULATION noch hemmt. Was das Hitler-Sample im Instrumental „Genocidas“ bedeuten soll, wissen allerdings nur die Bandmitglieder selber….. Wendet euch bei Interesse an www.ledotakas.net oder an die Band selbst: pusla666@centras.lt. [8 / 13]
Olly, Ancient Spirit webzine [Germany]: DISSIMULATION aus Litauen sind eigentlich keine neuen in der Szene her, denn bereits 1993 sind die Burschen aktiv. Mit 'Maras' hat man aber erst jetzt das Debütalbum auf den Markt geworfen. Die elf enthaltenen Stücke beinhalten mittelmäßigen Black Metal, welcher einen kleinen Thrash-Einschlag hat. Tendiert haben sich DISSIMULATION wohl an GORGOROTH oder die älteren BEHEMOTH-Sachen. Gut eingespielt ist das ganze ja und auch der Sound ist in Ordnung, nur passiert einfach zu wenig. Es klingt manchmal so, als wenn irgendwelche Parts aneinandergereiht wurden, die aber zusammen nicht so recht passen wollen. Gute Ideen und Riffs sind zweifelsohne vorhanden, doch beim Songwriting müssen sich DISSIMULATION noch steigern. Ach ja, noch was am Rande. Am Ende von einem Track ertönen ein paar Soundsamples von einer Rede Hitlers. Auf der Label-Homepage distanzieren sich aber Label und Band ganz klar von jeglicher Nazikacke. Doch die Frage ist: Was soll so eine billige Provokation?? Ist mir schleierhaft... [7 / 12]
OT, Metal Man website [Czechia]: Litevska kapela Dissimulation pro me byla po obdrþeni CD k recenzi jednou velkou neznamou. Na prvni pohled nic nerikajici, þlutoèerny obal a (jakjinak) neèitelne logo.
Otger Jeske, Iron Pages webmagazine [Germany]: Da schließen sich nahtlos DISSIMULATION aus Littauen an. Ihre CD »Maras« ist herrlicher old school Black Metal. Es thrasht schwarz! Dazu ein wenig Death- und neuere BM-Einflüsse mit leichten Pagan-Melodien und fertig ist eine fast schon grandiose CD. Gefällt mir außerordentlich gut, weil die Band irgendwo recht eigen und dennoch vertraut klingt. Und der Sound ist 1A, da gibt's nix zu mäkeln. Oftmals ja etwas, was mehr oder weniger großer Anlaß zum Maulen ist. Besonders, wenn man eigentlich nicht von Sound sprechen kann. Und der Mix von DISSIMULATIONs Debüt kann sogar im Baßbereich ordentlich punkten. Das wummert gut. Als Abschluß gibt's ein kleines Statement: ein furioses Cover von KREATOR.
Paolo Vidmar, Metalitalia.com website [Italy]: Non capita tutti i giorni di imbattersi in una band lituana. La casa discografica Ledo Takas, nota per alcune validissime produzioni underground extreme metal, punta ora su questi connazionali Dissimulation, autori di un thrash grezzo infarcito da un sottile tocco black metal epico. Finalmente l'Est europeo sta diminuendo quel gap che non gli consentiva di sfornare prodotti ben confezionati come ormai le orecchie ben abituate degli occidentali esigevano. Nulla da ridire, infatti, sulla produzione di questo album, potente, chiara, tagliente. Bello , come spesso si sente nei gruppi europei dell'Est, quell'istinto selvaggio, quella rabbia sincera, spontanea che rende 'autentica' la musica sfornata. Immancabile la cover dell'immancabile "Tormentor" dei Kreator (ovviamente), una canzone che non ? stata scelta casualmente visto che i Dissimulation pescano la loro ispirazione dai primi album della band teutonica, ma c'? un tocco anche black metal che, mescolato al background thrash, partorisce un ibrido apprezzabile... tornano alla mente un po' i primi Absu, anche se la classe qui ? inferiore. Possono piacere o suonar decisamente male (a seconda dei gusti di ognuno) alcune parti cantate con la voce pulita per dare un tocco epico all'atmosfera dei brani, ma il riffing ? meno grezzo di quel che sembra e sa farsi valere per buona durata di questo " Maras ". I Dissimulation a volte sembrano in possesso di una buona dinamicit?; il gruppo sa come cambiar ritmo e tempo al brano per non renderlo troppo monotono, ma chiariamo: le canzoni non sono trascendentali, ma per lo meno interessanti perché suonano primitive e, per aspetti difficili da cogliere, hanno un sapore particolare peculiare della terra natale della band. Il cantato, a parte quei due momenti sopra citati, ? screaming, selvaggio quanto serve. Giusto per la cronaca: sulla fine di "Genocidas" viene riportata la fine di un discorso di Hitler, ma mancano decisamente gli elementi per capire (per chi volesse capire) a quale pro. Da ricordare ancora la cover di questo " Maras ", una delle pi? macabre e inquietanti dei ultimissimi tempi: la veglia di alcune persone accanto alla bara con dentro il morto; le persone sono abbigliate con i vestiti del posto, i colori sono marroncini quasi in bianco e nero, come una vecchia foto di inizi del '900. Aleggia una cupa, funerea atmosfera, che si dissipa immediatamente alle prime, furiose note di questa thrash/black metal band baltica. Per chi vuole scoprire nuove frontiere... [6.5 / 10]
Paul ”Slayer” Grigoriu, Maximum Rock magazine [Romania]: Dupa un demo si un EP, lituanienii de la Dissimulation au convins casa de discuri Ledo Takas Records sa semneze un contract cu ei, astfel ajungandu-se in 2002 la editarea primului LP, "Maras".
Pedro Azevedo, Chronicles of Chaos webzine [USA]: This Lithuanian band managed to capture my attention even before I spun the disc: the artwork seemed quite good, so I looked inside the booklet. What it contains is a lesson for many a band; a lesson in how subtlety can increase brutality. Simply put, the lyrics are arranged around a tasteful layout that includes several ancient-looking pictures of funerals and corpses carefully made up before burial. It is subtle enough that one doesn't immediately realize what it is; and even though there is no gore or visual violence going on, it is a bit disturbing once it hits you. One other thing that virtually every review of this album is likely to mention (I wonder if the band betted amongst themselves about this) is the inclusion of a brief speech sample by Adolf Hitler -- the band biography states that they have no connection with the Nazi movement, however. The band has been around for a long while now (nearly ten years), yet this is only their first full-length; considering such a long time in the making, _Maras_ is good but not great. Old school blackened thrash is what Dissimulation have to offer, with the focus often shifting from black to thrash and vice versa throughout the disc. _Maras_ is very riffy, in the sense that Dissimulation do not go around crafting melodies or throwing in keyboards -- it's all about good riffs, but while Dissimulation do get a good vibe going and throw a lot of energy and commitment into their music, most of the riffs and song structures aren't terribly memorable or remarkable (let alone innovative). Still, _Maras_ is a decent album, and it is likely to do a fair job of quenching your thirst for old-school black/thrash. [6,5 / 10]
Proserpine, Metal.de website [Germany]: Oftmals sind es ja eher die unscheinbaren Veröffentlichungen, die im Nachhinein auf großes Interesse stoßen. So geschehen bei DISSIMULATION aus Litauen, die mit „Maras“ nach zwei Tapes hiermit ihr Debüt herausbringen. Komischerweise ist diese Platte erst jetzt zu mir durchgedrungen, obwohl sie bereits 2002 eingespielt und veröffentlicht wurde. „Gut Ding will weile haben“, heißt ja dieser tolle Spruch, der vielleicht auch auf „Maras“ zutrifft. Interessant ist hierbei sicherlich, dass Sänger Venemous komplett in seiner Landessprache singt, es aber zu jedem Song auch englische Übersetzungen gibt, was ich sehr begrüße. Die Lieder bekommen so einen sehr mysteriösen Touch, klingen fremd und bedrohlich. Die Musik trägt nur dazu bei, denn auf der einen Seite gibt es einige lockere Heavy-Metal-Parts (z.B. das recht heavige Riffing in „Sauksmas Lapkricio Miglose“) aber meistens dominiert recht fieser und hektischer Black Metal. Besonders stechen auch die folkigen Elemente hervor, die sicherlich das i-Tüpfelchen bei dieser Truppe sind und sie zu etwas Besonderem machen. „Demoniska Audru Naktis“ gefällt mir ebenfalls sehr gut, da zu Beginn sehr abgehackte Gitarren eingesetzt werden, um dann richtig loszuböllern. Der heisere Gesang passt hervorragend dazu und ist für mich ein weiterer Pluspunkt.
Rita Trondsgard, Metal-Norge website [Norway]: Tro det eller ei, men Dissimulation har holdt på helt siden 1993, og Maras er deres fullengderdebut til tross for at den kom ut i 2002, nesten ti år etter bandets dannelse. Men dette er allikevel ikke det f¸rste produktet som kommer fra denne kanten, bandet har riktignok både en demo og en ep på samvittigheten. Rett skal v¿re rett. [translation]
Sascha, BloodDawn website [Germany]: Ein Haufen durchgedrehter Litauer entfacht also mal wieder das Höllenfeuer...yeah! Ich fange gleich mal mit Namedropping an und behaupte, dass Suicidal Winds, Desaster und Nifelheim hier ihre Brüder im Geiste gefunden haben sollten. Dissimulation spielen wilden, rauen Deaththrash mit eindeutig schwarzer Ausrichtung. Die Lyrics sind mystisch, die Melodien der Gitarren haben oftmals eine eisige Ausstrahlung, können aber auch ein nordisches, heroisches Feeling verbreiten oder einfach nur die Sinne zersägen. Schon die infernalischen Rhythmen haben es in sich, werden mit großer Leidenschaft und Hingabe zelebriert, sitzen sehr exakt und haben doch diese unheimlich entfesselte Atmosphäre. Sie rangieren von mittelschnellen rockigen Momenten über treibendes Up Tempo oder wirbelnde Fills hin zu völlig irrsinnigen, niemals aber übertrieben dargestellten Blastpassagen. Die Stimme ist heiser und rau, mittelhoch. Ab und an bekommt sie einen harmonischen Counterpart, der sich dann nach Wikingerheldengesang anhört. Das vertieft den nordischen Charakter des Materials. Dissimulation bauen ihre Passagen flüssig aneinander, sie lieben es, derer viele in einen Song zu verpacken, ohne dass er überladen wirkte. Auch sind die Abläufe der einzelnen Songabschnitte immer sehr geradlinig und mitreißend konzipiert. Dissimulation verstehen es in der Tat, ihren Stücken packende Arrangements zu verpassen, die die Seele des Hörers mit sich in die tiefen Schlünde der Hel reissen, aus der es kein Entrinnen gibt. Ich liebe bei diesem Material den wilden, kriegerischen Ausdruck vieler Parts, die feurigen Harmonien, die das Bild kämpfender Wikinger vor Augen führen. Dabei ist das Booklet meiner CD eigentlich erfüllt mit düsteren schwarz – weiß Fotographien verstorbener Menschen im Kreise ihrer Lieben, Fotos, die um die 80 Jahre oder älter sind und eine unheimlich Morbidität verbreiten. Sie passen nicht ganz zum sehr lebensfrohen Gedonnere der Litauer. Besonders aus der Rolle tanzt das hymnische „Tamsiø Naktá, Juodø Ugná“, ein tänzelnder, folkiger Song mit fast ausschließlich klarem Gesang. Geil! Er ist der vorläufige Höhepunkt, dem nur noch eine furiose Coverversion des Kreatorhits „Tormentor“ folgt, wieder eine Parallele zu Desaster, die dieses Speemetalgoldstück auch schon auf ihrer „Stormbringer“ EP verwursteten! Gelungener Stoff! Insgesamt haben die Litauer einen sehr positiven Eindruck bei mir hinterlassen, ihre Songs gehen ab und bleiben auch noch hängen, was vielen neuen Black – und Deathbands einfach nicht mehr gelingen will. Topalbum für das Genre! [4 / 5]
Seb, Heavy Metal Universe website [France]: At first sight, with an album's title like 'Maras' (Plague in Lithuanian), DISSIMULATION is with no possible doubt a band which plays something brutal. Well it's the same thing at first listening, where it's quite easy to remark that it isn't some AOR act but some very fucking black metal hordes. But warning, it's neither some True Black Metal band thinking they are IMMORTAL, nor some Melodic Black Metal DIMMU BORGIR's second fiddle... On the contrary, DISSIMULATION try to present a style of their own, while waking the demons of the past in their black thrash compositions which remains the black's 'first fruits' such as VENOM or BATHORY. All this while developing a strength and a hate much more biggest than these ancestors, and adding a quite important dose of old school thrash stinking the old KREATOR. Moreover, the last track of the album, which is nothing else than KREATOR 'Tormentor's cover version, fits perfectly the mood of the other tracks which present only Lithuanian lyrics. This record is a very good surprise and it's very difficult to do without it. [4 / 6]
Skelos, Castle Of Vampiria website [Spain]: Las bandas de los paeses de Europa del Este, al menos para m?, tienen algo especial. Sera por su cultura, su localización geografica, o sabe Ishtar, pero poseen caracteristicas propias que les hace diferentes al resto de grupos “ corrientes ”. As?, que cuando a mis manos llegó el Cd de estos lituanos confiaba en que su escucha fuera una experiencia novedosa. Y las expectativas se cumplieron... Nos encontramos ante el album debut de Dissimulation (un nombre quiz?s poco afortunado), “Maras” (Plaga) después de una Demo y un Mini-Cd. Lo primero que llama la atención positivamente es su dise?o, en formato digi-pack, con unas sobrecogedoras fotos antiguas de principios de siglo de funerales y muertos, al estilo de la pel?cula “Los Otros”, para ilustrar esta “Plaga”. T?os vestidos de negros, y siniestras mujeres con pa?uelos en la cabeza junto al ata?d del pobre cadaver. He visto pocas cosas tan macabras... Musicalmente, practican un Black-Death con numeros?simos tintes Thrash (por las guitarras, sobre todo en los primeros temas y en el que cierra el album, una versión atronadora del “Tormentor” de Kreator). Son canciones directas, cortas (de 2 a 4 minutos), a la “vieja escuela”, contundentes, sin concesiones. 40 minutos que pasan como un ca?onazo y que te hacen desear un poco mas. A destacar el 5a tema, “Miglose” (En la Bruma), la mas oscura de todas, con tres tipos de voces; la penultima “Viesulai Kraujuojanciame Danguje” - la hostia, vaya palabrejas - (Vientos en un Cielo Sangriento), con coros rituales, me imagino extra?dos de su cultura; y, como curiosidad, la 7a, que acaba con un discurso de Hitler o alguno de esos. Por otro lado, se echa en falta un poco mas de “oscuridad” en su musica, pues se decantan claramente por el Death y el Thrash, y, personalmente, echo de menos mayor cantidad de contenido Black. Resaltar que escupen sus canciones en su idioma materno, algo que dice mucho en su favor y en su autenticidad, y agradecer su preocupación en traducirlas al inglés. Su tematica es la tipica: poderes oscuros, la p?lida luna me conduce al desfiladero, vientos demon?acos, etc... pero no pecan de pretenciosos como otros, y por mucho que digan algunos, en pasajes como éstos radica la verdadera maldad... Si pasa ante tus ojos, no lo dejes pasar. [8 / 10]
Stefan Franke, Voices from the Darkside webzine [Germany]: Well, I've never heard a band from Lithuania before, but DISSIMULATION's debut CD “ Maras ” (= "plague") proves, that good and orginal Black Metal can emerge from such a small country as well. DISSIMULATION sing in their mother-tongue, which definitely adds an exotic note to their stuff. Musically they do not try to orientate like many others on the northern Black Metal ancestors like DARKTHRONE, MAYHEM, but mix Thrash and Heavy Metal riffs with traditional Black Metal aggression and drive. The sound is raw yet transparent and powerful enough to give each instrument the acoustic space it needs. The vocals are hateful and skillfully vary between screams, short clean and growled parts. The booklet offers English translations of the lyrics, so everyone can enjoy DISSIMULATION's lyrical art as well, it is definitely worth reading. What I do not understand on this album, is why the track 'Genocidas' features a sampled Hitler speech, although the band makes clear in the info sheet, that they aren't Nazis or Fascists. I do not get the sense of this sample, stupid idea! Anyway, listen to this CD , if you like individual Black Metal that does not interpret “being original” with the massive use of keyboards, female vocals or even electronic shit, but concentrates on the essence of Metal – guitars, bass and drums. Enough said.
Stephane Ronvaux, Pull The Chain webzine / Toxik Waltz radio [Belgium]: Not that many echoes from the Lithuanian scene come to my ears these days and the fact is this album is a nice surprise. DISSIMULATION play what I would simply describe as traditional Black Metal, simple and direct with no keyboards or any atmospheric overdubs, choirs or samples. Vocals also remind the good ol' days of Black Metal being bearable without missing the point. Rhythm changes quite often and despites the whole album might sound slightly old-dated and a bit unoriginal, DISSIMULATION deliver the goods and belong to the bunch of promising bands that might really put Lithuania on the map.
Steven Cannon, Vibrations Of Doom webzine [USA]: This is one sick black metal project! The vocal work especially, and I say the sicker the better! 'Sauksmas Lapkricio Miglose' starts things off with some tribal percussion, which is cool enough in itself, before the black metal styled guitar work comes in. Basic and primal, but it gets the job done. Incidentally, though all the lyrics are in Lithuanian, as was Obtest (see issue #31 for details), there are English translations given. 'Blogio Triumfas' continues on, though the starting guitar work was a bit strange. Not an overtly fast tune, one will find that this isn't the atypical speedy black metal fare many are used to. Those long winded screams are pretty potent though! On to the title track, with rather fast guitar work and also some slower guitar parts to be found. This isn't the most exquisite black metal release around, but damn enjoyable enough to warrant repeated listens in your CD player. They do a rather nice Kreator cover in 'Tormentor,' though one of the "unnamed' tracks ('Tamsio Nakta, Juodo Ugna,' according to the CD DB database) was quite wierd and nearly unlistenable, starting off with slow drumming and extremely odd low end sung vocal work. Some of the vocal/instrumentation structures on 'Pazadintas Ritualu' were a bit hard to take, as well as some wierd, ghostlike blackened vocals on 'Demoniska Audru Naktis.' Dig the choppy, thrashy guitar work on the latter track, but sometimes the instrumentation seems a tad disjointed. And of course Dissimulation can pull off an insanely fast set of drumming and guitar riffs like they do on 'Miglose,' sure to please the most diehard of blackened fanatics. In addition, I forgot to mention lead screamer doing a strange power metal styled yell in one place on 'Viesulai Kraujuojanciame Danguje,' not to mention the fact that they like to jam a bit on the instrumentation before kicking in with the vocals. A very good release, one that's sick enough to keep you hanging around for more. [85 / 100]
Steven Van Cauwenbergh, Vampire webzine [Netherlands]: Hailing from the rather mysterious scene in Lithuania I got a promo from the black formation DISSIMULATION. Well I never heard of them also because that part of the scene is rather unknown to me I only know SKYFORGER (whom I like a lot). Judging from the logo I feared a rather childish display of death flavoured black metal, but the artwork of the promo gave me the impression of good taste and a dark fascination of death and decay (nice coverart indeed). So I gave them the benefit of doubt, and yes I was impressed they really have the skills to play sick, brutal and original black metal. The sound engineering was actually done by one of the SKYFORGER guys and it shows, a thick sound with a lot of those typical sharp black edges a thumbs up for the sound quality. So at that stage I forgave them their awfull logo and I only cared for the music. I did have to listen a couple of times to get into the deeper layers of the songs not meaning that it's very complex music but I was trying to understand the feeling they want to bring us, being that my mothertongue is far from that what they speak in Lithuania so I have to go with the musical flow. What I feel is anger and the need for conquering, maybe they mean something else but I don't think they want sing about the flowers and the sheep in the meadows. DISSIMULATION is in my opinion a band worthy to be reconned with. They have their cheeky side also, there is a short speech of A. Hitler woven into one song, although stating their not neo-nazi minded (I heard a lot of bands state this so we all have to take their word for it) this may cause some frictions with certain people but let us not break this band for these few seconds.
Sulpher, Black Minds webzine [England/Russia]: And their families were burnt, and their villages were burnt and no remorse was for children and aged and no salvation was given….The stench of human meat was in the air; alive but rotten corpses were wandering around the streets and praying crucified god, harvesting souls of his flock. Poisoned wells couldn't water travelers, hordes of rats nibbled dead bodies, lying on the streets….And the Dark Times came! Death is reigning here, here lays its kingdom. Plague…This is the translation of Lithuanian title of this conceptual album, that breathes death. Storm of the morbid, penetrating Black Metal merciless attacks this world with 11 blasphemous tracks heralding its fall. To magnify the aggression musicians use the old school Black with lots of thrash riffs and sang some songs on their native language, that emphasizes sharpness more than English one. I also would like to mention texts that were carefully translated by authors and printed in luxurious 6-panel digipack with 10 pages booklet. Dark lyrics were written with spirit and create vivid pictures in readers mind, one of the greatest during last times. Maras – Dissimulation's debut, re-recorded, re-mixed and re-released by Ledo Takas as a gold cd, with killing design and also the limited vinyl edition. The work of Lithuanians is great, it stands in my collection dividing place with masterpieces and rarities including both qualities! In my opinion it is the most cult and promising band in Lithuania that could prove it with deeds. Must have for all genre fans!!! [10 / 10]
Svarog, Pro-Rock magazine [Bulgaria]: [translation]
Titus, Live 4 Metal webzine [England]: Everything about this release screams quality. The lavish promo edition, the high quality printing and layout, the professional photography of traditional Lithuanian funeral ceremonies and lyrics in Lithuanian and English (Maras means Plague, and the cover art of the commercial release features a modern city-scape mouldering beneath an oppressive miasma of disease winds) - it all conspires to build confidence in this release. I'm delighted that a new black metal label, particularly one based in the atmospherically charged (but economically impoverished) northern climes of the east Baltic coast, should be investing this amount of time and effort on the presentation of its releases. This is often overlooked, but is of fundamental importance to black metal - a genre which is as much reliant on the intangible atmospherics as it is on the musical ability of its practitioners. Happily, Dissimulation do not disappoint on the musical front either, and offer an album packed with inventive riffing, hateful rasping vocals and a truly dark and oppressive sound that is successively augmented by a solid production. There is a definite thrash edge to many of the songs (and even a sterling cover of Kreator's Tormentor), but these retro-German tendencies are judiciously kept bound in chains of rusting filth in a dark subterranean chamber with only the ghosts of Bathory and Hellhammer for company. These tortured thrash leanings serve to inject welcome subtleties of pace and tone to the plague-ridden Dissimulation corpse, keeping it alive and animated until the bitter end. The thrash influence also gives Maras the benefit of being genuinely heavy - an attribute totally lacking from the vast majority of orthodox black metal acts, and a marked improvement over their previous Miglose ep. Aside from the thrash, Immortal are the most obvious reference point, but Dissimulation (although clearly fans of the Blizzard Beasts) have had the sense to draw on the full range of the Immortal sound, from the primitive crawl of Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism to the crazed fury of Battles in the North and the muscular black thrash confidence of the later era. By doing this, Dissimulation forge a unique sound from very familiar ingredients, injecting folk elements along the way which remind of Nokturnal Mortum and hosts of other politically incorrect eastern European bands. These comparisons will inevitably arouse suspicion as to the potentially right-wing leanings of Dissimulation (sadly it seems that nearly all quality traditional black metal has some sort of Nazi undertone), particularly when one encounters the track Genocidas and its Hitler sample. However, interviews with the band reveal remarkably intelligent and articulate individuals who are keen to disavow any right-wing sympathies, and who explain Adolf's cameo appearance as an ambiguous documentary comment on genocide. I suppose if you find it more distasteful to hear the late Nazi leader on a CD than to see his fruitcake oration being subtitled on TV, you will want to avoid this record; which would be a shame, because it is very, very good.
TK, Terrorverlag website [Germany]: Faustdick ist die Überraschung, die mit dieser CD in mein Haus geflattert ist! Eine litauische Black Metal Band, welche höchsten internationalen Standards genügt. 1993 in der Provinz von Venomous und Stabmeldys gegründet wollte man dem „alten“ Black Metal mit Thrash und Heavy Einflüssen huldigen. Nach langen Jahren on the Road konnte man 1996 endlich einen fähigen Gitarristen rekrutieren (Nekrofagas) und schließlich auch ein Demo Tape aufnehmen. 2000 folgte das zweite, „Miglose“ betitelte Tape. Leider waren beide Aufnahmen von fürchterlich schlechter Soundqualität (selbst für diese Art der Musik...) verunstaltet. Dennoch erkannte Ledo Takas das Potenzial der Truppe und nahm sie unter seine Fittiche. Das führte dann zur vorliegenden Debüt-CD, die immerhin in den Phoenix Studios in Lettland produziert wurde. Sound Engineer war kein geringerer als Gints Lundbergs (SKYFORGER, eine der wenigen ernstzunehmenden baltischen Bands). Das Mastering sollte in Berlin erfolgen, der zuständige Besitzer des Studios weigerte sich aber, weil in einem Track ein Hitler-Sample zu hören war. Sowohl das Plattenlabel als auch die Band selbst distanziert sich aber von jeder Art des Extremismus, somit habe ich auch keine Probleme mit derartigen künstlerischen Einfällen.
Torsten, Final War webzine [Germany]: Bei DISSIMULATION haben wir es, laut Infoblatt, mit Litauens "kontroversester Black Metal Band" zu tun. Nun sind mir jetzt nicht allzu viele Bands aus diesem baltischen Ländchen bekannt, insofern kann ich diese Aussage weder bestätigen noch widerlegen. Fakt ist, dass sie musikalisch nicht unbedingt besonders aufsehenerregend sind. Dies ist meine erste Begegnung mit dieser Band, aber einigen ist vielleicht die "Miglose..." EP (2000) bekannt, manchen vielleicht sogar das Demo von´97. Der Dreier spielt treibenden und traditionellen Black Metal, aber nicht direkt sehr nordisch, mit viel Thrash und Heavy Metal Anleihen, aber auch nicht direkt sehr nach BATHORY oder VENOM klingend, sondern noch ein ganzes Stück härter. Besonders das Schlagzeug knüppelt nur selten und zieht es vor in genannte Thrash Metal Ecke zu tendieren, astreine Black-Parts wie zu Beginn von "Demoniska Audru" sind spärlich gesät, aber vorhanden. Die Einleitung auf "Maras", was soviel wie "Plage" bedeutet, besteht aus irgendwelchem Industrial/Noise-Krach, der schon bald fließend von einem harten Riffing abgelöst wird, das wenig später durch rhythmisches Drumming Ergänzung erfährt. Atmosphärische Monotonie wird man bei DISSIMULATION nicht finden, dafür kurze, prägnante Stücke ( + KREATOR-Cover "Tormentor")... zum Glück keine lästigen Ohrwürmer, aber schlagkräftig. Sie verlocken ein ums andere Mal zum rhythmischen Kopfnicken - oder auch gern ein bisschen mehr. Der Sound ist dabei professionell, aber nicht zu steril, in diesem Sinne sehr gelungen, da sich alle Instrumente und der aggressive Gesang ansprechend die Waage halten und mit gehörig Druck die Boxen zum Zittern bringen. Der klare Gesang, der ab und an auftaucht, ist allerdings unnötig und hätte gern weggelassen werden können. Um auf das Thema "kontrovers" zurückzukommen, sei gesagt, dass das Album zunächst in Berlin gemastert werden sollte, doch dort weigerte man sich aufgrund eines Hitler-O-Tons am Ende von "Genocidas". DISSIMULATION möchte zwar nicht als "Nazi-Band" gesehen werden, aber was für eine Funktion der Sample nun haben soll, erfährt man aus dem Infoblatt auch nicht. Mit vergilbten Bildern und Fotos von Beerdigungen, offenen Särgen etc. verpasste man dem Album eine nicht alltägliche, aber doch sehr ansprechende, nekro-romantische Gestaltung. [translation]
Tribalchemy, Demonic Horde website [Norway]: Dissimulation, originally from Lithuania, unleash their first full-length 'Maras' (plague), planned on a German Label but finnally released by the UG Label Ledo Takas (Lit.).
Vanson, Saret webzine [Czechia]: The latest release of Lithuanian old school blackers was a really pleasant surprise to me. The "Maras" (Plague) album was preceded by a 7" 'Miglose' EP, which was only released on vinyl and didn't attract me very much, because it was a rather mainline piece. The "Maras" album is far more "artistic", it's more melodic and the guitar sure required much more work than on the previous EP. It could possibly be compared with early Bathory works, all tracks are "faster" and given their style they also contain quite a lot of transitions. Maras sure isn't a shoddy work, everything is brought off perfectly, the guitars, the drums, the vocals, in fact it's got no weak point. The high quality of music should also reflect itself in the quality of cover and booklet, and in the case of "Maras" it does. "Maras" came out as a digipack CD , LP and there was also an edition of T-shirts. The best of all is, however, the booklet, which comes in a special format - it's only about 1,5 cm longer and wider, but the design....... The whole bookled is filled with photoes of funerals. Remarkable is a coffin with a newborn baby and a coffin with some priest. There are 11 tracks on this album, one of which is a cover version. All 10 own songs are in Lithuanian and the booklet contains English translations, which resembles the Obtest geniuses. The cover makes a very good impression because it's an absolutely iconic piece: Tormentor from the KREATOR's cult "Endless Pain" album! "Endless Pain" is my favorite KREATOR album and I aver that the Dissimulation's presentation of Tormentor is absolutely great!! [7 / 7]
Vincent Eldefors, Tartarean Desire webzine [Sweden]: During the past decade there have been an intense extreme metal scene growing in the Baltic countries and some of these bands are now starting to get their names known in the rest of Europe such as Skyforger, Must Missa and Obtest to mention a few. None of these bands have made such an impression on me though as this Lithuanian black metal band called Dissimulation.
Wojciech Szymanski, Orgasm In Musica Magazine [Poland]: As stands on an info sheet it's "probably the most controversial Lithuanian black metal band". Maybe it is, but who really knows DISSIMULATION and other interesting acts from Baltic ex-states of communistic Russia? They had and still have a potential similar to those sides of Europe that have a chance to sign major labels and tour a lot, yet didn't and still don't have that chance to be recognized as they should be. Perhaps if Lithuania, Latvia and Estland will enter the European Union, a situation radically will change, but leaving social and political matters far behind I have to say that "Maras" - that is a debut longplayer of DISSIMULATION after almost ten years of their existence - is a pretty well done piece of aggressive and raw black metal from one of the leading bands of that kind in that part of Europe. Still having the roots in the 80's (a great example is a cover of KREATOR's "Tormentor" they have put on the CD), the Lithuanian trio added a few elements that characterize only the bands from middle and eastern parts of Europe. It's pretty hard to describe it in words and it isn't only a matter of lyrics written in their native language, but also in a specific atmosphere and sound. All in all, "Maras" is 40 minutes of simple yet effective BM with thrashy edges. To add a more information about this release, I have to write that CD is 6 panels digipak with funeral photos inside of the booklet. Perhaps it isn't as shocking as a label announces, but I would say that bands like DISSIMULATION really don't need to be oh-so-satanic to be provocative and extreme enough. [7 / 10]
Xak, Fluttering Dragon webstore [Poland]: This Lithuanian band managed to capture my attention even before I spun the disc: the artwork seemed quite good, so I looked inside the booklet. What it contains is a lesson for many a band; a lesson in how subtlety can increase brutality. Simply put, the lyrics are arranged around a tasteful layout that includes several ancient-looking pictures of funerals and corpses carefully made up before burial. It is subtle enough that one doesnt immediately realize what it is; and even though there is no gore or visual violence going on, it is a bit disturbing once it hits you. One other thing that virtually every review of this album is likely to mention (I wonder if the band betted amongst themselves about this) is the inclusion of a brief speech sample by Adolf Hitler -- the band biography states that they have no connection with the Nazi movement, however. The band has been around for a long while now (nearly ten years), yet this is only their first full-length; considering such a long time in the making, Maras is good but not great. Old school blackened thrash is what Dissimulation have to offer, with the focus often shifting from black to thrash and vice versa throughout the disc. Maras is very riffy, in the sense that Dissimulation do not go around crafting melodies or throwing in keyboards -- its all about good riffs, but while Dissimulation do get a good vibe going and throw a lot of energy and commitment into their music, most of the riffs and song structures arent terribly memorable or remarkable (let alone innovative). Still, Maras is a decent album, and it is likely to do a fair job of quenching your thirst for old-school black/thrash.
Interview: Vampire webzine [Netherlands] February 24th 2003
Radio airplay: 2PSFM Radio – Dark Inspirations show [Australia]
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