There seems to be ongoing confusion about the two Scandinavian bands with the name Shining, so I’ve devised these [not at all] easy-to-remember mnemonics for recalling which one is which:

Shining (Norway): Saxaphones Harbor Inventive Noodling and Industrial Norwegian Greatness

Shining (Sweden): Sweden Has Icy Nordics If Niklas = Ghoul

There! Easy, see?

Here’s the new music video for “Fisheye” by the Norwegian Shining. The blackjazz / industrial / saxaphone Shining. That likes to noodle inventively. I think this video captures the spirit of my mnemonic perfectly!

-VN

If last week’s preview of the new Shining (the Norwegian version) Live Blackjazz DVD got you as tickled pink as it did me, then you’re in for a treat this morning. I found this full clip of “The Madness and the Damage Done” on Heavy Blog Is Heavy — where else? — and I’m just entranced by it. After seeing Rammstein earlier this year and now watching this, I’m convinced industrial metal bands just have it going on in terms of live show production. If Shining were able to play arenas I’m sure they’d have all sorts of pyro, too, but even in the intimate club setting this DVD was filmed in they create the mood to match their music perfectly.

I sure hope Shining bring their show to the U.S. sometime soon. Which reminds me… didn’t they win a Norwegian grant for 1 million Kroner (approximately $150,000) expressly for that purpose? Come on guys, get it together, lest we dub you the Chris “Fat Fuck” Christie of metal.

Live Blackjazz comes out on 11/11/11 in Europe through Indie Recordings with a TBD U.S. release date in early 2012.

-VN

While I’m considering including the Swedish Shining’s latest on my 2011 year-end list, I haven’t quite gotten over the magnificently crazy album by the Norwegian Shining that made last year’s year-end list. At least this exercise in Shinings has left me finally  able to remember which Shining is which without having to consult Wikipedia every time; I wish I could offer you a helpful device for remembering, but it’s kind of like learning which hand is your right one and which is your left when you’re a kid… at a certain point you just have to memorize it.

Back to Norwegian (aka the industrial-tech-saxophone-Blackjazz version) Shining: they’ve got a Blackjazz live DVD on the way, and the below clip [from TNOTB] offers our first taste of what’s in store. Shining’s live show looks completely bonkers, just like their music, which those of you lucky enough to have seen the band in Europe already know. Those of us in the U.S. will have to wait until January 17th to see this thing in full, but this clip is doing a pretty great job of getting me excited:

-VN

Every time I think industrial metal is tolling its death knells, new and exciting bands like Norway’s Shining (the Blackjazz one, not the Swedish one) come along and prove that mixing electronica with metal can still be done in new and interesting ways. In that spirit, here are two bands that impressed the hell outta me on first listen.

Two mostly naked French dudes in WHOURKR who make it their business to annihilate:

(Thanks: Andrés Jeff Barrejón. More here.)

The crushing industro-grind of Norwegian one-man outfit Next Life:

Next Life – Re-Animated by TigerFysiskFormat

-VN

Depressive black metal is a definite hit-or-miss of a subgenre. When it’s good, it’s bone-chillingly great. When it’s bad (and a LOT of it is bad), it’s just embarrassing. Remember when Xasthur used to be cool, before Malefic started collaborating with Pitchfork-approved songstresses and ultimately threw in the towel? Yeah, me neither (what happened after Defective Epitaph, bro?).  Alas, Shining have jumped the shark entirely, Make A Change… Kill Yourself haven’t put out a record in four years, Bethlehem spat all over their once-shining legacy with that rerecorded abomination (Kvarforth really just needs to disappear), I haven’t heard a peep from Nortt in ages, and it seems like Leviathan’s on ice while Wrest sorts out his legal woes. What’s a suicidal black metal fanatic to do? After all, someone’s got to chase away all this sunshine, and as depressing as the new Morbid Angel album is, those world-destroying techno beats just ain’t gonna cut it.

At least we’ll always have Krohm.

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Shining — the Swedish “Opeth of black metal” band, not the Norwegian Blackjazz-with-saxophone one — have a new album out called VII / Född Förlorare, which in English means “Born Loser.” I haven’t had a chance to give it a listen yet, but thanks to the always-reliable Islander at No Clean Singing I hereby pledge to do so immediately after writing this post.*

Like Nachtmystium’s haunting video for “Every Last Drop,” the new video for Shining’s “Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel” (English translation: “Despair, My Inheritance”) deals with drug addiction, and in this case self-mutilation, in a very serious way. It’s not NSFW, but if you just ate lunch and plan on keeping it down you’d do best to wait until later to watch it. For the really faint of heart, there’s a “PG” version that I’ve posted after the jump. Make sure you watch it one way or the other; the video was shot and edited extremely well and held my interest all the way through.

As for the song, it’s positively arresting and immediately has me aching to hear the rest of the album from which it came. I love the way Islander summarized it: “It’s almost two songs in one — a galvanizing charge of groove-inscribed black-metal catharsis and a haunting melody carried by acoustic guitar and clean singing. Yet those two creations are twined together, the one flowing seamlessly into the other and back again in a way that makes perfect sense.”

*As a side note, apparently I will be forced to pirate this album. As Spinefarm Records apparently doesn’t want money from Americans, the album isn’t available for digital download on either Amazon or iTunes. Of all record labels that are really blowing it in 2011 with regards to international release dates, Spinefarm is pretty close to the top. Money left on the table. Sucks to be them, and worse, sucks for Shining to be on a label that doesn’t “get” the Internet.

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Shining (the Swedish one, not the Norwegian one) have switched record labels, which you don’t really care about because fuck is it to you as a fan?, but they’ve also announced a new album and released a new song from that album, which you do care care about, because fuck is it to you as fan.

So. The album is called VII: Född Förlorare (translation: “Forlorn Frog”), and that’s the cover art above, and the song is called ”Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel” (translation: “Farewell, My Stinky Cheese”), and you can stream it below. It’s pretty cool. You will like it a lot. That’s not speculation.

VII: Ford Fairlane will be out May 25 on Shining’s new label, Spinefarm.

-AR

I know it’s arrogant for us to pat ourselves on the back, but holy shit, did we kill it this week or what?

Here’s what we did:

• We brought you the first interview with Behemoth frontman Nergal since he was diagnosed with leukemia in August.
• We got the exclusive scoop on Melissa Auf der Maur’s collaboration with Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby.
• We debuted new music by Between the Buried and Me, Last Chance to Reason, and Havok.
• We debuted new videos by Protest the Hero and Becoming the Archetype.
• We also spoke to the legendary David Coverdale from Whitesnake.
• We checked out the latest release from Anthrax and Until Your Heart Stops.
• We told you what your favorite metal band says about you… and then we told you again!
• We got excited about the line-up for Summer Slaughter 2011.
• We wondered if Winds of Plague are the new Limp Bizkit.
• We protested shitty metal vocalists.

We aspire to make next week even biggerer and betterer! Check back then to see if we succeeded or not… ’til then, have a great weekend!

-AR

Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby with Melissa Auf der Maur

When Melissa Auf der Maur, one of the most metal not-really-metal musicians on the planet today, tipped us off that she was going to be collaborating on a new project with Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby, well, we pretty much got down on our hands and knees and begged her to write a guest blog about the experience. Luckily for us, Melissa is used to having men beg her for things, and she took mercy. And so here are her recollections of how she came to learn about Shining, befriend Munkeby, and the collaboration that ensued. Enjoy!

Belgium, Summer Festival 2010 : My bearded Dutch booking agent friend, Bob, insisted I check a band he works with: SHINING. Since I saw and heard them explode out of that festival tent, they have topped my favorite albums of 2010 list with their one of a fucking kind blend of industrial, metal, and jazz: the phenomenally original Blackjazz. Check this Shining shit out:

We became fast friends, bonding over full-time music making, independent music making, intensity, keeping a hold of wicked band members on top of doing absolutely everything else that needs to be done in a band, and much more. Shining  leader/visionary/detail-oriented hard-ass worker, Jorgen Munkeby, became a friend and peer. Later in the year, Jorgen, his sax, and his snake scream joined us on stage during my Out of Our Minds Tour in Europe, in both Istanbul and Oslo (below):

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Sure, it’s been a shitty week for Kvelertak and their stateside fans: We reported Saturday that the Norwegian scream-rockers got separated from vital travel documents right before departure for their first-ever US tour dates (including the MetalSucks co-presented SXSW super-jam). That bums me out cuz duh those fuckerz jam (which is good for concertgoers), but moreso because I was pumped for the band’s imminent chance to, like, collect on their roaring buzz here (which is good for them). Okay sorry about that mixed metaphor. But the point is that if I were a member of Kvelertak (please can I be a member of Kvelertak?), I’d want to further enable American rockers to pony up some cash for the record that about a billion of us have possessed/loved for months ahead of its proper US release. All is not lost cuz a bonus track-laden US version of Kvelertak still drops Tuesday, but I can’t help but lament the fact that a string of ballsack-singeing live sets would’ve cranked open a lot more wallets a lot wider. And deservedly so.

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Shining’s V-Halmstad is over the top, even for black metal. But there’s a point where going over the top transcends tone-deaf cheesiness and ridiculousness and becomes admirable — and even enjoyable — for its complete and total lack of self-awareness and self-consciousness; it goes past the train wreck factor and manages to loop back around to become pleasing and exciting. Like Con Air — a movie so absurd in its construct and execution that its fetish for doing everything to the max makes it impossible not to enjoy — V-Halmstad takes a particularly histrionic subgenre — suicidal black metal — and plays every element to its most hyperbolic extreme. In theory, it’s a package that should be hilariously pathetic. In fact, it’s so brazenly ridiculous that it’s better than most albums of its kind. The feel-good suicidal black metal album.

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Vince and Gary have been raving about Oslo’s Shining all year, and as it turns out, Melissa Auf der Maur — one of the most metal not-quite-metal musicians out there right now — is a big fan, too. She apparently first came into contact with the band at the Dour Festival in Belgium this past summer, and was so won over by the industrial outfit that when she played in their hometown last week (November 22, to be precise), she invited vocalist/guitarist/saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby to join her on stage. I love it when the cool kids can all play in the same sandbox!

The entire blessed event is captured in the below video, which not only features lotsa sweet behind-the-scenes footage, but also footage from the actual performance. MAdM’s blog has some cool pics of the collaboration, too.

Melissa Auf der Maur’s most recent release, Out of Our Minds, has a duet with Glenn Danzig; maybe she rope in Munkeby for the next one…?

-AR

If I’d known about the Ask Earache blog — in which Earache founder Digby Pearson offers “GET STRAIGHT ANSWERS ON ANY EARACHE-RELATED TOPIC WITHOUT THE BULLSHIT” — I’d surely have been reading it by now (thanks, Ian, for sending in the link). It should go without saying that any president, CEO or even employee of any company has to realize that it’s impossible to give truly straight answers about something you’re so involved with and invested in. It’d be like if I proclaimed myself an authority on straight answers for all things Axl Rosenberg-related, you’d all cry bullshit (and rightly so) since not only is he my business partner and friend but I’ve known the guy since we were 5 years old and I’d defend him to the nines. Still, you could at least expect well thought out and cohesive articles, and I gotta give Dig credit here doing a good job with Ask Earache and at least offering some level of transparency with regards to a record label’s operations.

But you’re reading this article because you wanna know how he defends the gobs of new wave thrash bands he’s signed. Earache, perhaps more than any metal label, has been at the forefront of the thrash revival with bands such as Municipal Waste, Evile, Gama Bomb and Bonded by Blood. So, what are Dig’s thoughts on the movement, the bands, and how re-thrash fits into the ever-evolving pantheon of modern metal?

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Last week we let you know about a Norwegian contest in which tech-industrio-Blackjazzists Shining had the opportunity to win 1 million Norwegian Kroner (approx $150,000 or €125,000) from a grant offered by the legendary A-Ha. And today we can tell you that, thanks to all of your votes, they won!

The above-linked article announcing Shining’s victory is in Norwegian, so unless you’re a native of Norway you’ll have to rely on a Google translation which is a bit spotty. But all you really need to know is that Shining have in fact won that big chunk of cash, and hopefully they’ll make good on their promise of using it to tour North America. Gary and I will be up front rocking out, though we make no promises of hand-puppet theatrics.

-VN

Thanks: Koppis

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

I mean, Gary’s review of Shining’s (the Norwegian one) latest album Blackjazz was pretty good and all — and not for nothin’, I happen to agree with it — but this guy, whoever he is, schools Suarez in the funny department. And he also happens to hate metal, jazz and prog without the ridiculous Oceano worship. So we’d basically be getting the same dude, minus the Oceano, plus the funny. Win/win. Poor Suarez will be kicked out to the curb of the MS Mansion, Donald Duckin’ it with nothing on but his Winds of Plague puffy vest, but oh well… he’d make due.

-VN

A little more than one-quarter of the way through 2010, Ihsahn’s After still ranks at or near the top of my list for the year. It’s just so dynamic, so well-thought out, musically astonishing and full of subtleties… and it’s just as good with every repeated listen. Picking my favorites is not getting any easier as the year rolls on, though — new entries from Nachtmystium, The Ocean, Unleashed, Levi/Werstler, Nevermore, Son of Aurelius, Tryptikon and yeah of course Ratt are gonna make 2010 another stellar year for metal.

Of course Ihsahn’s live shows are just as awesome judging by the video below, my first glimpse at the ex-Emperor playing live. If Ihsahn ever decides to take his show to the roads of the U.S. there’s no way the production will match this, filmed at Oslo’s Inferno festival a week ago — like there’s no way we’d get all those lights or saxophone player Munkeby [of Norway's Shining, who also happen to have put out one of my fave albums of 2010]… but I’ll bet it’d still be pretty intense. Come on Vegard, do it.

-VN

I’m really, really disappointed in you, male MetalSucksians. After reader Ashley sent in some epic photos of herself in a MetalSucks hoodie and not very much else, I predicted we’d get an identical pic from a wise-ass dude by the end of the week. Nope. Either no one thought of it, or no one had the balls to do it. For shame. And now what are the three ladies who actually read this site to look at? Pics of Lars Ulrich’s dick?

Oh well. Here are some other things that happened this week:

• We debuted new music by Daughters, Woe of Tyrants, Stigma and Nails.
• As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa wondered “Who is coming to the island on L O S T?”, while Eyal pondered whether it’s better to burn out or fade away.
• We listened to the God of War EP and new releases by Shining, Burzum, and H.I.M.
• Antonin Skullia taught us about the law of Metalocalypse.
• Did this shitty Matthew Fox show steal The Haunted’s logo?

And next week I expect you, our beloved readers, to be back up to your usual level of witty repartee.

-AR

Though much lauded by critics, Fear Factory’s Mechanize served mainly to remind me that the bifurcated band — reuniting vocalist Burton Bell and guitarist Dino Cazares with a brand new rhythm section — had neglected to make any real progress from 1995′s Demanufacture. Indeed, fifteen years later, Bell and Cazares appear content to rest on their laurels, assuredly to the delight of many of the band’s nostalgic fans who have long yearned for a so-called “return to form.” And while industrial metal fell out of favor Stateside some time back (not long before nu-metal began to outstay its own welcome here), over in Europe the sound has carried on, if not exactly moved on. Accordingly, many of those originally drawn to industrial music by the breakout sounds of Fear Factory, Ministry, or Nine Inch Nails have long since abandoned the messy scene for more niche subgenres (power noise comes to mind) or other music altogether. This is why, as one who’s all but given up on industrial in recent years, I have quickly come to love Shining‘s Blackjazz.

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Ihsahn’s amazing record After is easily the album I’ve listened to most in 2010, but one that’s giving it a run for its money is Shining‘s Blackjazz. The Norwegian band has no relation to the Swedish black metal outfit of the same name, but interestingly they do have a relation to Ihsahn. Shining’s vocalist, guitarist and saxaphonist Munkeby lends his sax skills to Ihsahn’s After, one of the many subtle twists that makes that album such a great listen.

Shining just released a video for the track “The Madness And The Damage Done.” It’s one of the more straight forward tracks on Blackjazz but it’s still pretty fuckin’ out there, and even though the video is a pretty standard live performance clip I’m enjoying seeing for the first time how the band performs and looks. Blackjazz is out now on Indie Recordings in Europe and The End Records in the U.S.

-VN