Label: Ledo Takas Records
Band: Dissimulation
Origin: Lithuania

Lithuanian black thrashers Dissimulation are one of the longest running bands in the genre for the Baltic country. Internationally the scene is little known, with rare exception for bands like Obtest and Luctus. Having been around since 1993, the band has plenty to show for it, which is released on this record ‘Juodo Mėnulio Archyvai’.

The record is a collection of their work, but therefor also a good introduction into the work of this band. The three piece from Kaunas plays a mixture of black metal and raw thrash. In the early days that was much more pure black. An interesting other fact is that as far as I know there was little time for other projects.

Listening to the album, you notice that the band clearly has that messy thrash element to them. That is interestingly combined with synths, creating folkish peculiar songs like ‘Būk Prakeiktas’. The energetic tune is captivating and fun for the listener and a little remniscent of Finntroll in their early days. The blistering, gritty sound features bleak lo-fi sound, blast beats, unearthly barks and an overall break-neck speed. The thrashy elements are easily detectable in the overall messy sound of the Lithuanians. That is, I think, what gives Dissimulation its unique dark flavor and raw fury. Peculiar vocals now and then are even adding to that sense of begin unnerved.

‘Mūšis Rūke’ is a typical track, with the heavy synths giving of the sort of epic dungeon vibe that is actually prevalent in all the work by Dissimulation. A typical looped synth jingle gives that special fantasy-feel of later ’90s black metal. It’s not sticking to that though, a few songs futher we get the blistering blackened thrash again, mayb exemplified by the cover of ‘Countess Bathory’, originally by Venom.

The quality on this record varies between some tight materian and rather distorted, gritty demo tracks (like ‘Pilnaties Kerai’, which sounds completely demented with its frantic, nervous roaring vocals). The all over impression of this record is a career spanning overview of extreme metal. Dissimulation definitely has their own flavor of raw, straight up black metal.