01. Ytterligare Ett Steg Närmare Total Jävla Utfrysning
02. Längtar Bort Från Mitt Hjärta
03. Låt Oss Ta Allt Från Varandra
04. Besvikelsens Dystra Monotoni
05. Åttiosextusenfyrahundra
06. Neka Morgondagen

After their latest full-length release, it seemed like Kvarforth got it on his hips again. He started with doing a "Danzig" (kicking all other members out) and sought new ones. Fortunately, he didn't complete the "Danzig", but found new members that were actually better musicians than the previous. Then there were all the rumours of Kvarforth's supposed suicide and as dessert, his grandiose return, supposedly kicking the fill-in vocalist off stage and trying to break a limb. Shining (read: Kvarforth) has gone so over the top with his behavior that many suspect it to be a promotional stunt. Who can tell? Fact is, all those rumors created either very high or very low expectations for the fans of 2005's release "The Eerie Cold". And if you ask me they have blown away all expectations.

The madness begins with quite an unusual spoken intro. Someone utters the following words: "As I was going up the stair, I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today, I wish, I wish he'd go away." From any other band I would have died of laughter and silliness, but this time I got shivers and realized that Shining was going to destroy. Then hell breaks loose, to return to cold string-picking as fast as it came. The eerie vocals of Kvarforth show he is in for is best performance to date. Production wise "Halmstad" is blessed with the same sound as its predecessor and all instruments deserve to be heard. After the first song, the insanity continues in the usual Shining-fashion: six songs clocking in slightly over the forty minutes. Black Metal purists may complain that Shining drifts away and away from the Black Metal scene with each and every release, as the non-metal influences have once again increased (more rock and blues and even a piano-piece from Beethoven!). One can see this as negative, but for me they represent a shiny (bad pun intended), sparkling star across the heaven firmament, much brighter than any other "suicidal" or "depressive" black metal act.

In the end I can safely say Shining is still alive and kicking, and every single one of their releases has been an upgrade from the latter. Hail the King of Suicidal Black Metal!

Performance:	9
Songwriting:	9
Originality:	10
Production:	9