FIENDE

"Fiende" ("Enemy") is an EP release by Swedish black metal act Shining. The EP was released through Season of Mist in November 2017 as a teaser release to Shining´s tenth full-length studio album "X: Varg utan flock" ("Wolf with No Pack"), which was released in January 2018.

The EP features two tracks. "Jag är din fiende" ("I Am Your enemy") was at the time a new original Shining song, which would subsequently be included on "X: Varg utan flock", but "No Rest for the Wicked", which is a The Coffinshakers cover, is exclusive to this release. "Jag är din fiende" is a brutal, raw, and heavy Shining track, in their trademark blackened metal style with lead vocalist Niklas Kvarforth sounding as deranged as ever, switching between raw snarling and odd semi-melodic shouting. It´s a great song also featuring some sharp heavy riffs and blistering lead guitar work.

Since "Jag är din fiende" is also available on "X: Varg utan flock" it´s of course The Coffinshakers cover which is the greatest attraction of this EP. Shining perform an almost one to one version of the acoustic horror rock song (which is obviously greatly influenced by Johnny Cash), and it´s not much different from the original version. It´s a bit of a shame really, that Shining don´t manage to put their own mark on the song, because it means that this cover is a bit redundant. It´s not bad by any means, but it´s unremarkable.

"Fiende" is a well produced release but as the only attraction here is more or less "No Rest for the Wicked" if you already own "X: Varg utan flock", I´d say it´s not the most obvious buy even for the hardcore fans. Still a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).