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SHINING

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • Sweden


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Shining biography
SHINING is a Swedish experimental black metal act formed in Halmstad in 1996. The band has gone through several lineup changes through the years and only lead vocalist/ keyboard player Niklas "Kvarforth" Olsson is left from the original lineup. The band is known for their fascination of lyrical themes such as Hate, Depression and Suicide and their style of music is often refered to as suicide black metal. SHINING released their debut full-length studio album "I - Within Deep Dark Chambers" in 2000. They did already release the "Submit to Selfdestruction" EP ( limited to 300 hand-numbered copies) in 1998 though. SHINING´s studio albums are numbered I, II, II and so forth. The latest studio offering at the time ( December 2009) is "VI - Klagopsalmer (2009)".

SHINING´s inclusion in the Prog Archives database was approved by the Progressive Metal Team.

( Biography written by UMUR)

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SHINING discography


Ordered by release date | Showing ratings (top albums) | Help Progarchives.com to complete the discography and add albums

SHINING top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.81 | 12 ratings
I - Within Deep Dark Chambers
2000
2.79 | 10 ratings
II - Livets Ändhållplats
2001
3.39 | 14 ratings
III - Angst, Självdestruktivitetens Emissarie
2002
4.00 | 23 ratings
IV - The Eerie Cold
2005
3.82 | 32 ratings
V - Halmstad
2007
3.79 | 20 ratings
VI - Klagopsalmer
2009
3.90 | 27 ratings
VII: Född Förlorare
2011
3.65 | 15 ratings
Redefining Darkness
2012
3.83 | 6 ratings
8 1/2 Feberdrommar I Vaket Tillstan
2013
3.30 | 10 ratings
IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends
2015
3.50 | 4 ratings
X - Varg Utan Flock
2018

SHINING Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

SHINING Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

SHINING Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.93 | 5 ratings
Through Years of Oppression
2004
2.48 | 4 ratings
The Darkroom Sessions
2004

SHINING Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

3.00 | 4 ratings
Submit to Selfdestruction
1998
3.42 | 5 ratings
Dolorian / Shining
2003
2.98 | 4 ratings
The Sinister Alliance
2007
1.50 | 4 ratings
Shining / Den Saakaldte
2008
3.00 | 2 ratings
Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel
2011
3.00 | 3 ratings
Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt
2012
2.00 | 1 ratings
Shining / Alfahanne
2012
2.00 | 1 ratings
Shining / Monumentum
2013
2.00 | 1 ratings
In The Eerie Cold Where All The Witches Dance
2013
2.00 | 1 ratings
Shining On The Enslaved
2014
2.00 | 1 ratings
Five Valid Reasons For Self-Inflicting Harm
2014
3.00 | 1 ratings
Fiende
2017

SHINING Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Fiende by SHINING album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2017
3.00 | 1 ratings

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Fiende
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

— First review of this album —
3 stars "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).

 Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt by SHINING album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2012
3.00 | 3 ratings

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Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by UMUR
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars "Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt" is an EP release by Swedish black metal act Shining. The EP was released through Spinefarm Records in May 2012 and it bridges the release of the band's seventh- and eighth full-length studio albums "VII: F'dd f'rlorare" (2011) and and "Redefining Darkness" (2012). "Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt" features four cover songs of Katatonia, Kent, Imperiet, and Poets Of The Fall (three Swedish artists and one Finnish).

While Shining are probably mostly known as a depressive black metal band, their post-2007 period (from "V: Halmstad (Niklas ang'ende Niklas)" onwards) have featured more and more progressive songwriting, excursions into goth/dark rock territories, and a generally more adventurous approach to writing music, so the release of "Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt" really isn't that surprising. Lead vocalist Niklas Kvarforth have always been vocal about his love for melancholic rock artists like Seigmen, Kent, and Katatonia.

The EP opens with the cover of "For My Demons" by Katatonia and although it's the most metal oriented of the tracks featured on this EP, it's actually the weakest of the covers. It's decent but Kvarforth just doesn't hit the melancholic heights and subdued vocals of Jonas Renkse. "Utan Dina Andetag" by Kent is a much more successful cover, and it's great to hear Kvarforth singing pop/rock style vocals with passion and conviction. "Kung Av Jidder" is a cover of Swedish 1980s dark rock/punk act Imperiet, and Shining does a good job with this cover, although the original song isn't beaten. The Poets Of The Fall cover "Carnival Of Rust" closes the EP, and it's a good quality cover, but not terribly different from the original rock song (a brilliant song by the Finnish band), and it's therefore slightly redundant.

"Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt" is well produced and upon conclusion I like the idea that a talented artists like Kvarforth stretches his wings and embraces other genres and musical ideas like his done several times before and since...mostly with success. I could have wished for more personal interpretations of the source material, so I immediately would be able to say that it was Shining playing, but when that is said "Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt" is still a good quality release and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

 I - Within Deep Dark Chambers by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2000
2.81 | 12 ratings

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I - Within Deep Dark Chambers
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars There are some people who are just born to be unhappy despite living in the most fortunate of circumstances. For some reason, Scandinavia has plenty of unhappy souls despite having one of the highest standards of living in the world. Such is the case with young Niklas Kvarforth who started his depressive black metal band SHINING (the Swedish band, not the Norwegian jazz-metal group of the same name) at the tender age of 12. Depressive black metal set itself apart early on in the 90s distinguishing itself other black metal in that it doesn't focus on misanthropy or Satanic themes but rather on self-destruction and all the negative emotions associated with suicide and self hatred. WITHIN DEEP DARK CHAMBERS is the full debut album by Kvarforth who contributes vocals, guitar and keyboard with his lineup of other sickened souls: Tusk on bass, Ted Wedebrand on drums and additional disturbed vocalizations by Andreas Classen.

This debut album is pretty much in line with the depressive black metal scene of the 90s in that it utilizes an overall repetitive, hypnotic and monotonous feel that incorporates the wall of sound guitar frenzy with atmospheric keys, occasional chimes and midstream drums meaning that blastbeats are uncommon and the drums lazily accompany the fuzz feed frenzy. Perhaps the most "depressive" aspect of SHINING's first album is not only the uncompromising fury of the music but mostly of Kvarforth's anguished and tortured vocals above all else. This is one of those albums that simply excels in distressed fury and keeps me on pins and needles wondering if dude isn't gonna do himself in on the final track just to have a musical place in history. Fortunately not so as i like future SHINING albums better than this one. But wow. This definitely fits the depressive black metal bill. Not recommended as music for grandma's funeral.

While this album excels at keeping every shimmer of light from entering the boarded up windows and screams a razor blade, case of aspirin with vodka and carbon monoxide party, the music is fairly straight forward as this was before SHINING started experimenting with more progressive elements as to add more sophistication to self-hating pity party. The music here has the regular black metal buzzsaw grunge, where the guitars and bass are one and the raspy vocals wax and wane between traumatic black metal tantrums about how horrible the world is with utter resignation to the life sucks affirmations. The weakness here is the percussion as it is as languid as a salamander in the arctic and merely keeps the beat and not much else. Overall, this is a decent slice of depressive black metal but some of the tracks which hint towards progressiveness such as "Stonelands" and "And Only Silence Remains?" tend to meander for far too long, however the inclusion of church bells and slow parts in the latter does make it a bit more interesting at times. 3.5 rounded down

 Redefining Darkness by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2012
3.65 | 15 ratings

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Redefining Darkness
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars I first heard of Shining and Niklas Kvarforth by reading accounts of the ludicrous "Ghoul" stunt perpetrated by the band a while back. This manufactured controversy was ultimately in aid of promoting music which is decent enough, though often thematically repetitive Aside from an obligatory black metal denunciation of Christianity in the final track, For the God Below, the album finds Niklas singing (screaming, roaring, growling, ranting) about depression, suicide, and murder in disturbingly frank terms, backed by dark and dirty black metal thunder from his bandmates. None other than Andy LaRoque - yes, King Diamond's Andy LaRoque - steps in to provide a guest performance, along with a range of other guests, and if the performances occasionally seem to lean in surprisingly commercial directions for a band with Shining's forbidding reputation, this is never so blatant as to disrupt the aesthetic they're going for. An interesting effort which prompted me to plumb the depths of Shining further, though ultimately I came to the conclusion that their music is interesting but rarely the sort of thing which becomes a keeper.
 VI - Klagopsalmer by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2009
3.79 | 20 ratings

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VI - Klagopsalmer
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Klagopsalmer finds Shining persisting with the musical approach they'd adopted on Halmstad, and whilst it doesn't quite feel as fresh as it did on that album, it's still nice to hear them really going to town on embellishing the quieter sections of their loud/quiet blueprint. Shining could probably be accused of sticking to their basic formula once again, but the additions to the formula attained during the Halmstad era have clearly stuck, and consequently their sound still feels moderately refreshed here. I don't think this album is the equal of Halmstad, and even Halmstad (which might be their best album) is ultimately just the most polished iteration of a fairly samey formula, but if you were very into that you'll be quite into this too.
 V - Halmstad by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2007
3.82 | 32 ratings

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V - Halmstad
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Emerging in the wake of the whole "Ghoul" debacle (in which Kvarforth and Shining tried their best to convince the world that Kvarforth had committed suicide without ever directly stating it for the sake of plausible deniability when the sham was revealed), V: Halmstad reveals a rejuvenated and refreshed Shining. It's not that their formula has radically changed here, but the application of the formula is a little more polished. In particular, the band have clearly honed their skills when it comes to the quieter instrumental sections, and the tightened up sound there really helps the compositions hang together. If Kvarforth needed to pull a tasteless prank on the black metal scene in order to produce this album, maybe it seemed worth it, but I can't help but think that if they just applied themselves a little more Shining wouldn't need such manufactured controversy to get attention.
 IV - The Eerie Cold by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2005
4.00 | 23 ratings

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IV - The Eerie Cold
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars With some of its calmer tracks approaching post-rock territory (complete with found audio snippets a la Godspeed You Black Emperor), Shining's fourth album is a confident application of what had by this point become a tightly optimised blueprint. It's a solid work, though it still doesn't quite represent a major creative breakthrough in the band's music; if anything, it risks creating the impression that the band were stuck in a rut at this point and only just about manages to avoid this. You have to wonder whether Kvarforth's infamous "Ghoul" stunt that followed the release of this album wasn't at least in part motivated by a desire to shake off the cobwebs and do something a little different.
 II - Livets Ändhållplats by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2001
2.79 | 10 ratings

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II - Livets Ändhållplats
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

2 stars Shining's second album is in most respects a reiteration of the formula of their debut, once again offering desperate scrabbling outbursts of black metal in between despairing acoustic passages. The main development here over Within Deep Dark Chambers is in a mildly greater level of polish to the production, and a deadening of the fury of the black metal sections, sinking even deeper into the melancholy, lethargic atmosphere that makes these early albums of theirs a simultaneously fascinating and worrying listen. By the end of the listen most listeners will feel that Kvarforth is badly in need of a hug; whether you consider this a positive or not is probably key to whether the whole "depressive black metal" concept is for you or not, though there's enough moments on here which feels more like a malicious attempt to encourage suicide than an expression of genuine feeling to make me mistrust it.
 I - Within Deep Dark Chambers by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2000
2.81 | 12 ratings

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I - Within Deep Dark Chambers
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by Warthur
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Shining's debut album mashes up Burzumesque black metal with gloomy, doomy riffs and subject matter to create a sonic journey down into the deepest vaults of depression. There's a certain lifelessness to the album which would be a detriment to most circumstances but works well to evoke the misery they are aiming for - this is music which has to make a conscious effort just to get out of bed and face the day, and is always half-tempted to grab a handful of sleeping pills and not get up at all. Niklas Kvarforth is, of course, still with us (the unspeakably silly Ghoul incident and other moments of absolute assholery notwithstanding) so clearly the process of making this music is therapeutic to a certain extent, and when I'm in the right mood it's an intriguing and maudlin experience, though I wouldn't want to listen to it too much if I were actually in a major grump and the band's schtick wears thin over time.
 Redefining Darkness by SHINING album cover Studio Album, 2012
3.65 | 15 ratings

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Redefining Darkness
Shining Tech/Extreme Prog Metal

Review by kluseba

4 stars After the short cover EP "Lots Of Girls Gonna Get Hurt", the controversial Swedish depressive black metal band Shining around front man, vocalist, keyboarder and guitar player Niklas Kvarforth is back for good with an eight full length record in only twelve years.

I haven't been a big follower of the band but I wanted to try them out for quite a while and I'm very positively surprised with this release that surely motivates me enough to check out further parts of their discography. The band is in fact much more epic and especially melodic than I expected. Harsher parts with unchained and fascinatingly unique vocals, sharp riffs and heavy drumming are as present as psychedelic with atmospheric keyboard sounds, chilling acoustic guitar passages and dreamy clean vocals that give the whole thing a very progressive touch. In these passages, the band is quite close to bands such as Anathema, Katatonia or Opeth. There is only one difference: Shining happens to be better than any of the talented other three bands. The band sounds very pure in its emotions, the song writing perfectly plays with contrasts and the tracks vary enough to never get boring.

A few years ago, I would have been discouraged by the quite brutal opener "Du, Mitt Konstverk" but as time went by, I began to understand what I would call the essence of black metal and find the bleak atmosphere authentic, extreme and profound. It's definitely one of the most diversified genres in the entire metal universe but it takes some time to get into this kind of music. Even this beast of an opener has though a melodic break in its second half that calms you down, puts you in a melancholic mood and plays with contrasts. On the other side, the closing "For The God Below" is probably one of the most epic and melodic tracks the band has ever written as far as I've heard and should also please to fans of other genres such as gothic or progressive metal for example. The acoustic guitar harmonies, the variable vocals and the great guitar effects and solos are simply touching and also technically very well executed. This track is by far one of the best songs of the year and any open minded metal maniac should try this out at all costs.

In the end, Shining deliver one of the most emotional and varied releases of the year and have won a new fan in me. There have been many amazing records out this year but this album is clearly among the twenty best albums and I feel that it may still grow on me. Those who like extreme emotions and imaginative music filled with contrasts should try this band out despite its controversial image. Madness and genius are quite close and even though Niklas Kvarforth might be very eccentric, what he delivers here can be called a true little masterpiece despite its short length and a few less convincing passages in the tracks of the record's middle part.

Originally published on the Metal Archives on November 5th of the year 2012

Thanks to UMUR for the artist addition.

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