I - WITHIN DEEP DARK CHAMBERS

I - Within Deep Dark Chambers is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish experimental/ progressive black metal act Shining. The album has been released on both CD and LP. The first pressing of the LP version was limited to only 237 copies. Needles to say it´s a very rare release in that version. Shining made a very intriguing 7´EP release called Submit to Selfdestruction in 1998 and I´ve been pretty excited about how I - Within Deep Dark Chambers would sound.

The music on the album is atmospheric/ melancholic black metal. It´s quite repetitive in nature but never boring. The pace varies from slow to fast. The vocals are raspy and the instrumentation consists of drums, guitars, bass and keyboards. The songs are both heavy and very atmospheric. The songs are all quality compositions but not really outstanding IMO. If I have to complain about something it´s that the musicianship isn´t all that tight. Especially the drums seem untight at times. The production is raw and a bit primitive too and it will depend on your taste if you find this charming or a problem. I noticed that Ren Djävla Angest is a rewritten version of Endless Solitude from Submit to Selfdestruction. It´s also the first song in the band´s discography were the lyrics are in the Swedish language. Something Shining would investigate further on subsequent albums. The six songs on the album are all pretty long with playing times between 6 and 10 minutes.

I - Within Deep Dark Chambers is a good debut album by Shining and while it doesn´t exactly make my blood boil, there are nods toward future greatness that can´t be ignored. A 3 star rating is well deserved.