Practice Studio

Dissection - No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep - Guitar Tab

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

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Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E minor
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.

Dissection Black Metal E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep


Few early Dissection tracks demonstrate the band's cold precision quite like this one. Sitting in E minor with the whole guitar dropped to D Standard, every riff carries extra weight and tension, and at 180 BPM the picking hand gets no rest. The core challenge here is sustaining tight, clean alternate picking at that tempo while keeping the fretting hand locked into the melodic minor shapes that define the track's mood. Palm muting control matters a lot: the contrast between muted chugging passages and open, ringing melodic lines is where the character of the song lives, and sloppy muting blurs that contrast entirely. If you are working on the faster tremolo-picked sections, use the Practice Toolbar to loop them slowed down until the pick attack is even across every note. This is Death Metal that rewards methodical practice over brute-force repetition.

  • The D Standard tuning lowers every string by a whole step, giving the E minor riffs a heavier, darker resonance without requiring any relearning of shapes.
  • At 180 BPM, the tremolo-picked melodic lines demand consistent alternate picking technique, so isolating short phrases with the Practice Toolbar slowed down is essential.
  • Palm muting precision is critical here: the song's tension comes from sharp transitions between muted chug passages and open, ringing melodic phrases.

How to Play No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep

Tuning: D Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 180 BPM

Tuned a whole step down to D standard, the lower string tension makes bends feel looser, so keep an eye on your intonation. At 180 bpm it moves fast, so the real test is building picking stamina and keeping every note clean at speed.

Loop the hardest passage and creep the speed up from around 70 percent until it holds at 180 BPM.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Dissection's primary studio choice for tremolo-picked passages, with single-coil pickups delivering clarity that humbuckers muddy in dense black metal layers. The treble-forward response cuts through at 180+ BPM, making each 16th-note articulate and defined.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Used occasionally in Dissection's later live performances as an alternative to the Stratocaster, though its humbucker compression sacrifices the picking clarity essential to their tremolo technique. The thicker tone trades precision for warmth, making it less ideal for their intricate fretwork.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

A secondary live option for Dissection, offering humbucker darkness but compromising the note definition required for their fast, articulate picking passages. Better suited to sustained tones than the rapid-fire clarity their signature sound demands.

ISP Decimator Noise Gate
Pedal

ISP Decimator Noise Gate

Dissection employed this noise gate to manage feedback during high-gain sustained passages without relying on heavy-handed gating that would choke their tremolo picking dynamics. It maintains the raw, aggressive tone while keeping unwanted noise controlled.

Play with Backing Track

Play with Backing Track

Solo (Backing Track)

Solo (Backing Track)