II - LIVETS ÄNDHÅLLPLATS

II - Livets Ändhållplats is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish experimental black metal act Shining. The debut full-length studio album by the band called I - Within Deep Dark Chambers (2000) was a good effort allthough a bit imature in the songwriting department.

The same bleak melancholy ( read: extremely depressive mood), that made the debut such an enjoyable album, is featured here in large amounts. Kvarforth still spits out his frustrations with a raspy black metal vocal attack. The sparse lyrics focus on the bleak and depressive sides of life which is quite obvious when you read the titles. The lyrics and as a consequence the titles are in the Swedish language. I guess titles like Ett Liv Utan Mening ( "A life without meaning"), Att Med Kniv Göra Sig Illa ( "to Hurt Yourself with a Knife") and Död ( "Dead") says it all. Kvarforth is notoriously know for self-mutilated himself on stage with a knife during Shining shows. They are an extreme band in every way possible. But when all the sick theatrics are disregarded the music is actually very interesting. There are six tracks on the album. One pretty short one and five longer ones. The tempo is mostly slow to mid-paced and really heavy but not doomy as such. There´s a majestic and dark quality to most of the tracks ( and an actual heavy groove too) and while the songs have a tendency to become a bit too repetitive in nature for my taste, Shining really understand how to build epic songs. It´s on II - Livets Ändhållplats they start incorporating acoustic parts which are great for variation and the melancholic mood. My favorite here is Ännu Ett Steg Närmare Total Utfrysning ( "Another Step Closer to total Exclusion"). It´s such a majestic track that it´s hard not to be affected.

The production is raw but not annoyingly primitive in any way.

II - Livets Ändhållplats is a good album in my world, but only occassionally excellent and it´s hard to disregard the fact that Shining made much more interesting albums later in their career when listening to this one. But this is where the experiments began. A 3 star rating is deserved.