Rare is it that Señor Suarez and, well, anyone else in the MS Mansion agree on a band. And though I’ve a feeling that Gary and I like the Norwegian version of Shining — and their most excellent 2010 release Blackjazz – for slightly different reasons, hey, I’ll take it.

So, since all metal musicians are broke by definition, help us help Shining win the Norwegian A-Ha Grant (yup, that A-Ha) of 1 million NOK (equal to $150,000 or €125,000) so they can get off their broke asses and hopefully come tour the U.S. The band is one of two bands that will receive the award — if they get enough votes, which is where you come in. Voting starts today and lasts until Friday, June 18th at 20:30 Central European Time (that’s 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time).

Vote here. Sure, the text is in Norwegian, but I’m guessing you can figure out how to click the box next to where it says “Shining,” and that you’re capable of figuring out where to enter your email address (hint: where it says “email”). If not, I’ve grossly underestimated the intelligence of the average MS reader.

-VN