Conor Fynes 'Split' - Shining / Den Saakaldte (3/10)

Sometimes coming across a release, I try to understand that it probably isn't as good as it was outside of its context. This is a split live recording from two nights at Inferno Festival 2008. Swedish 'suicidal black metal' band Shining and Norwegian Den Saakaldte (a band named after a song by the great Ved Buens Ende) each throw in a recording of a song they played at the concert. This release was then sold in highly limited supplies, with an exclusive t-shirt to boot. What I'm thinking is that this was meant both as a souvenir and collectible for the hardcore fanbase of either band. It's nice to hear a rare live recording of Shining, and the music of Den Saakaldte has been pleasant to encounter, but there is one huge weakness with this split that leads me to believe that there wasn't much effort involved in putting it out.

In short, the sound quality for this live recording is, shall I put it, lacking. To elaborate, the performances of both- which sound well played in any case- are muffled, fuzzy, and barely audible over the cheers and conversations of the crowd. In other words, there is nothing done to hide the bootleg quality of this album. To its benefit, it does a much better job of giving a 'real' concert experience, and that's something I usually don't find with polished live albums. Even so, the performance here is difficult to enjoy when I'm hearing a recording of concertgoers talking overtop as well.

In terms of the actual music, Shining plays one of the songs off of their then-new record 'Halmstad', an album that is considered a modern classic of black metal by some. Den Saakaldte is the band here that I'm less familiar with, but they fare a little better on the split, thanks largely due to their inclusion of a horn section. Both bands evidently play well, but I get the impression I have missed out on alot of the details in each band's performance. For those that attended Inferno Fest in 2008, this would make for an amazing souvenir. For everyone else, this is an underwhelming and amateurish live recording.

UMUR Shining / Den Saakaldte is a split EP between Swedish black metal act Shining and Norwegian black metal act Den Saakaldte. The split was released in December 2008 by Darkness Records.

There are two tracks on the split. One by each band. Both tracks were recorded live a John Dee during the Inferno Festival on the 21st and 22st of March 2008. The Shining track Yttligare Ett Steg Närmare Total Jävla Utfrysning is taken from the V - Halmstad (2007) album while the Den Saakaldte track Drikke ens Skål is taken from the All Hail Pessimism (2009) album. Both tracks are harsh but clever and slightly progressive black metal. Note that the first minute of Drikke ens Skål features trumpet playing. While both tracks are really good, the sound quality is unfortunately really bad. We´re talking bootleg lo-fi sound production. Or should I say lack of production? The outcome of the bad sound is that I have a hard time enjoying the split and I actually don´t find it recommendable. Too bad because the songs and the playing are of good quality. I can´t give more than a 1.5 star rating. This one is only for the hardcore fans.