Shining : "s/t"

My favorite depressive black metal band is back for album 11. In the past the Swedish band strayed into a more rock direction , but this album finds them stepping back into their old ways. Niklas remains the only original member, it's basically his creative vehicle anyway. Peter Huss almost counts as an original member since he has been around since "Halmstad". They are joined by Nic Barker from Cradle of Filth to band this one out. He is not the only Cradle of Filth alumni in the fold this time as guitarist Charles Hedger also played with the Fithys as well as Mayhem. Former Necrophobic bassist A. Impaler is taking care of the low end here. The opening track is a more blackened  attack on your spirit that gets grim without resorting to a steady diet of blast beats. This is one of the reasons I love these guys is they have a very distinct sound and it is intact on this album. 

Niklas' voice is where it needs to be, equally angry, as he utter Celtic Frost like grunts , and sometimes even sings. By the second song things are becoming increasing melodic. Huss knocks out a very bluesy rock god guitar solo that sets his foot firmly on the monitor. "Allt For Dodden" is very commanding in the march of the guitars. It ebbs down into more nuanced melodic passages for Kvarforth to emote in . The riffs shift like restless water under the pain exclamations of the vocals. "Fidelis Ad Mortem" finds my favorite metal guitarist Andy La Rocque lending his magical fingers. It is one of the album's more melodic moments with layered vocals sung in a resonant baritone. La Rocque's guitar solo might be the best playing of this sort I have heard on an album this year. 

The album's most epic moment is in stark contrast juxtaposed by an interlude of piano doodling that follows it. The album close with a ten minute ripper. The first riff has a Slayer like buzz of aggression driving it. This is used to create a droning tension for almost three minutes before the drums kick in. Perhaps excessive, you can not say the are content to churn out color by numbers black metal. Things transition into a more flowing melodic verse which swells back up to serve as a fitting summary for the direction this album goes, as it as both one of the heaviest and most melodic. I will give it a 10 , if you are fan of the band it's not "the Eerie Cold" but looks forward while retaining who they are.