Band:	Shining
Album:	IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends
Style:	Progressive black metal
Release date:	April 20, 2015
A review by:	Windrider

01. Den Påtvingade Tvåsamheten
02. Vilja & Dröm
03. Framtidsutsikter
04. Människotankens Vägglösa Rum
05. Inga Broar Kvar Att Bränna
06. Besök Från I(ho)nom
07. Ohne Dich [Rammstein cover] [bonus]
08. Black Industrial Eleven [bonus]

I think we can all agree that Shining isn't a band that needs much of an introduction. Niklas Kvarforth and his colleagues have twisted black metal into sickness for almost twenty years. But now it is a new year, and it brought us a new album named IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends. Before we go in-depth I have to mention that I never was a huge Shining fan, but since I saw them on stage last year for the first time Kvarforth's attitude left me disgusted and most interested at the same time and one has to take this sick mind into account to form the whole picture of the music. Anyway, on a musical album there still are no pictures, but only audio that counts.

IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends features six new songs running for almost forty minutes, and apart from the intro track they lie within the 6 - 8 minute range. As someone would expect, there are song parts that are slow and acoustic with clean singing and then there's the faster, heavier minutes with more of a harsh voice topping. Some melodies are harmonic while others rather give an unpleasant feeling. So it already can be said that this mixture isn't something very new or original. Still there are points which make me recommend this album, and they basically draw from the performance and songwriting of the slower tracks.

While the opener and last track are still pretty solid but nothing extremely special, the gems lie in-between. "Framtidsutsikter" is a perfect example of Kvarforth's clean vocals, which can be considered unmatched within black metal vocalists. The feeling he delivers fits the music in an outstanding way. "Inga Broar Kvar Att Bränna" on the other hand features the well-known sick vocals and it's audible that after everything that band has gone through, it still got its balls. Together with the ending part this song can be considered the best on the album. The track in-between those two has got a really good bluesy guitar solo in it, but apart from that it is a rather nasty and unpleasant piece of music.

The production here is professional of course, but compared to the often intentionally sloppy voice the instruments maybe sound a bit too clinical, but that's just a small bit. A bit off-topic and off-standard-edition-of-the-album, the cover of Rammstein's infamous track "Ohne Dich" shows some dedication to learn a song in foreign language, but apart from some screams it isn't special really. So, whoever is in for another round of Shining should like this album, for it shows that Kvarforth still got it all to play in the highest league... but he also wouldn't care if people think otherwise. While it won't be discussed as an album of the year, IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends still is a very good and enjoyable piece of art.