From the moment I bought and ingested the Submit to Selfdestruction EP some 12-years back I have always been overly impressed with Shining. Even at its most primitive beginning, the band meshes perfectly in its music the worlds of blackened metal and all of the darkness and sorrow life can offer. The amazing thing about Shining is that since its first recorded release back in ’98 there was nary a misstep in the entire discography. While the original suicidal-all-over feel has given way to the more tangible negativity of life stance, VII: Född Förlorare (translated as ‘Born Loser’) is no less self-destructive or introspective.

When I hear the term “extreme metal” (as if we need yet another tag to accompany our music) I always sort of laugh at the pale attempts to make something even more feared and misunderstood than black metal. Shining is, pardon the pun, the bright example of extreme music by its very textbook definition; the band supplies the listener with some very twisted emotions and all-consuming dread in each and every release. From the cleanest vocal tones to the pained Quorthon-like yells, Niklas Kvarforth once more sets high a bar of total subservience to the mind’s veiled catharsis. I might say that with the exception of V: Halmstad the band has never been tighter in sound and despair. While music’s wandering nomad looking for Nattramn’s piercing screaming and horrid wailing might find Shining’s more modern work somewhat subdued, this fallacy is sure to be dispelled with just one listen to “Tiden Läker Inga Sår”, for the music here and throughout dishevels and manipulates the casual listener too easily, rendering him or her a pondering portal of mental malfunction.

What I also find to be a wonderful step forward for Shining is the unrelenting grimness of its guitar tone, especially potent in “Människa O'Avskyvärda Människa” or “FFF”, only to reveal a contemplative respite in “Tillsammans Är Vi Allt” as the opening piano lulls me into a plastic safety that subtly shatters, providing a truly diseased feeling of submission. The harsh vocal presents an almost commanding tone that, when combined with the clean delivery, finds all confusion easily satiated and otherwise rectified. There are moments of inner befuddlement here and there in the typical Shining tradition, but with a more straight-forward approach to tapping that cerebral shadow in the brain this album has the magical touch of both entertainment and education about the self. What VII: Född Förlorare finds within six tracks of carefully-crafted malady is the shade within the mind and soul that blurs the lines between total service to negativity and strength from within to choose a pathway to enlightenment. For this type of puzzle-making, Shining is a cut above the typicality we know of ‘extreme’ metal. It should also be noted that the Landberk cover of “I Nattens Timma” is a hauntingly beautiful piece that is the absolute perfect complement to an otherwise tumultuous album of inner conflict and mental anguish. I can’t think of a more perfect cover; while most of the metal contingent won’t know this name, I hear legendary crooner Roger Whittaker’s vocal style in this effort, and I offer no shame when I say I grew up on his music. It’s a soothing, almost hypnotic tone that offers pause and security and it’s spot-on in placement and performance. When “FFF” ends the disc in total battering fashion, you know you’ve been somewhere…just where is entirely up to you.

For your money Shining is the best example of this so-called ‘extreme metal’ simply because, in the grandest of design and sonic labor, the album can find your wells of sorrow and solitude and exploit them accordingly. You will not want to commit suicide (at least I would think your mind is not so inclined), but you will possibly understand the sea-saw effect such thoughts can attain with simple observation and find the road to whatever spot you call home.

TRACK LISTING

*By clicking "Submit" you agree to the following Terms of Use. You agree not to post any material that is obscene, slanderous, or threatening, or that may violate any law of your country of origin or the United States or of international law. Should you wish to restrict viewing of your email address by third parties, you must select "Hide My Email." You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Metal Psalter from any claims, actions, suits, damages, or other costs arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use.

*Comments:

1.  Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel
2.  Tiden Läker Inga Sår
3.  Människa O'Avskyvärda Människa
4.  Tillsammans Är Vi Allt
5.  I Nattens Timma [Landberk Cover]
6.  FFF

Total playing time:  41:47

Release Date: May 11, 2011
Label: Spinefarm Records

Shining - VII: Född Förlorare

Reviewer: Chris

June 13, 2011