“Every frame of this movie looks like someone's last known photo.” While these words were uttered in the infamous Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Manos: The Hands of Fate (“Manos” = “Hands” in Spanish FYI) were funny then, a few tweaks to the sentence makes the quote feel like a genuine application to the latest Shining album. Every second of this album sounds like someone's final moment.
The ninth studio album by Halmstad, Sweden's suicidal, depressive, volatile—whatever you wanna call it, black metal legends have turned over much of what you've come to expect from Niklas Kvarforth and crew. If the title IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere Ends wasn't enough to tip you off then have one on me: it's fucking depressing. And though there's plenty of sorrow sewn between the strings and beats the band turns over, there's always something more sinister lurking beneath the self-prescribed schnizophrenic violence.
Shining still clocks in at six tracks, as per usual with the band. However, those versed in the the usual Shining album structure will note that the instrumental has been moved from the fifth track to the first. The difference is actually somewhat astounding. With the first few wailing seconds moving into an epic sounding drive of electric guitars as well as booming base. Though the feeling of an oncoming horrific possession begins to move over the body. Yet the music has a picturesque beauty. Something that's almost operatic and serene. And then it claws forward.
For all the horror that Shining manages to conjure up, for all the feelings of hopelessness, the band does a damn good job at melding beautiful and unsettling without sounding like some contrived, second-rate project. The mastery that Kvarforth and crew exercise here brings out some of the best tunes the band has turned over since V:/Halmstad. IX is the kind of album that has an odd control over its madness. The second track on the album “Vilja & Dröm” give way to Kvarforth sounding like he's about to completely lose his mind, all while whispers coat the walls during any possible respite. The driving guitars weave between eerie and aggressive.
However, it's when the third track “Framtidsutsikter” comes on that it seems like Shining has motioned for silence over anyone that hasn't been paying any real attention yet. It's that track that has you by the face as the acoustic guitar picks, plucks and strums to the calm, even serene Kvarforth. It's a track that sounds like a gaping wound. Like a funeral. It erupts with more than just somber melodies, taking a turn for the aggressive as it gets on and then falling into an excellent guitar solo.
Following the course, Shining in no way relents as the album falls forward. There isn't a moment that feels boring or out of place. The slower melodic shards and sharp teeth of “Människotankens Vägglösa Rum” bleed forth a schizophrenic nature that the band that Kvarforth is right in defining. The album is at its roughest on its way out the door. “Besök Från I(ho)nom” has the aggressive push and slice that black metal is so well known for, though it is in no way the central focus.
Shining is simply concerned with continuing to be what it is. With IX the band has conjured up some their most deadly deliveries to date. It grows and nurtures the mood of despair and anguish Shining has always nursed. The band's name stands for the path to enlightenment, and with IX perhaps a greater understanding of pain has been met. Concerning the discography, it's one of the best they will ever release.
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