UMUR "Submit to Selfdestruction" is a 7" EP release by Swedish black metal act Shining. The EP was originally released through Selbstmord Services and limited to 300 hand-numbered vinyl copies but the material from the EP have since been released as part of the "Through Years of Oppression (2004)" compilation album which is easier to find. Needless to say that the original version is a rare collector´s item. The two tracks on the EP were recorded in 1996 by the trio of Wraith aka Niklas Kvarforth (guitars, bass), Robert Ayddan (vocals), and Impaler aka Ted Wedebrand (drums). The former (who was born in 1983), was only 13 years old at the time of recording the material...

...which is not audible when listening to the music, as both tracks are very well developed and cleverly composed. It´s a heavy and predominantly mid-paced (although occasionally a little faster-paced, but there are no blast beats or anything like that here) atmospheric type of black metal. The mood is bleak and depressing as are the lyrics. The vocals are screaming and desperate. The sound production is raw and primitive yet still effectful and powerful. While it´s not the most clear sounding production job, you still get a good idea of the band´s vision, and it´s not one of those lo-fi "recorded in the bedroom" type black metal productions, where the artist have made every effort to make it sound as noisy, murky, and raw as possible. On the other hand it´s not a production I´d call professional either, but it suits the music well, and that´s the important part.

Shining weren´t the most technically skilled musicians at this point, and considering their age, that´s not really a surprise, but the music is generally well performed and upon conclusion "Submit To Selfdestruction" is a promising first release by Shining. Featuring a playing time of 13:32 minutes the EP also allows the listener to get aquainted with the sound of Shining and in that respect it´s certainly a successful release. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy 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.

UMUR "IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends" is the 9th full-length studio album by Swedish extreme metal act Shining. The album was released through Season of Mist in April 2015. While there are 3 years between this one and it´s predecessor "Redefining Darkness (2012)", Shining has kept busy in the intermediate years with the release of the "8 ½ – Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd (2013)" album, which is an album with re-recordings of earlier material, and the release of a couple of splits/EPs. There have been a couple of lineup changes since the last album too as Rainer Tuomikanto has replaced Ludwig Witt as the band´s new drummer, and Euge Valovirta has been added to the lineup has second guitarist. The usual suspects are Niklas Kvarforth (vocals, guitars), Peter Huss (guitars), and Christian Larsson (bass).

Stylistically the music on "IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends" is pretty much Shining as we know them (in recent years). The depressive Swedish language lyrics are performed passionately by frontman Niklas Kvarforth who successfully combines anger and despair when he sings both his raw and clean vocals. You never quite know where you have him. One moment it sounds like he is ready to cut your throat and the next he sounds like he is about to slash his own wrists. The guitars pump out meaty heavy riffs, but also atmospheric riffs and acoustic sections, and lead themes and solos. The well playing rhythm section glues it all together.

The material is well written and while it´s based in black metal, there are also elements of death, thrash, doom, and progressive metal in the music. Acoustic sections have been a part of Shining´s material for years, and that trend continues on "IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends". This time even to the extent where they are occasionally leaving metal territory and entering depressive rock territory. Not completely unlike the Norwegians in Seigmen, which is an act main composer Kvarforth has admired for years, and who Shining even did a cover of on "VI: Klagopsalmer (2009)". So the material is quite varied, and occasionally even a bit quirky (both "Människotankens vägglösa rum" and "Inga broar kvar att bränna" fit that description).

"IX – Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends" is well produced, featuring a powerful, clear, and professional sounding production, which suits the music well. So upon conclusion it´s another high quality release by Shining. I don´t think it´s their strongest output in recent years, but both new listeners and fans should still be able to have a blast with this one. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Warthur 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.

Warthur 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.