Band:	Shining
Album:	X - Varg Utan Flock
Style:	Progressive black metal
Release date:	January 05, 2018
A review by:	nikarg

01. Svart Ostoppbar Eld
02. Gyllene Portarnas Bro
03. Jag Är Din Fiende
04. Han Som Lurar Inom
05. Tolvtusenfyrtioett
06. Mot Aokigahara

Niklas Kvarforth is one of the most controversial figures in the metal scene, but even those who dislike his personality and behaviour - myself included - do admit that Shining's music is most of the time top-tier metal to slit your wrists to. However, X - Varg Utan Flock is so much more than just the depressive/suicidal black metal child of a troubled mind.

The album's title means "wolf without a pack" and this is exactly what it is; a lone wolf, true to his origins, standing out from the rest and leading his own way. While originating from the ashes of Celtic Frost and Bathory, X - Varg Utan Flock is a musical journey taking the listener through icy black metal blizzards, progressive paths and atmospheric musical landscapes with torturing melodies.

This record is the musical equivalent of bipolar disorder in psychiatry, frequently transforming from violent to emotional, from furious to calming, from fast-paced to slow-burning. Its opener, "Svart Ostoppbar Eld", combines thrashy bludgeoning with acoustic mellowness and black 'n' roll grooviness. Another example is "Jag Är Din Fiende", where brutal blackened riffing fades seamlessly into jazzy dreaminess. In between these two, Kvarforth provides one of his signature tormented performances, supported by goosebumps-giving guitar melodies in the borderline blackgaze "Gyllene Portarnas Bro".

The melancholic classical piano of "Tolvtusenfyrtioett" leads to "Mot Aokigahara" a nine-minute ode to suicide, with which X - Varg Utan Flock reaches its end. Aokigahara or the "Sea of Trees" is a forest in Japan, known as the world's second most popular place to take one's life and with a closer like this, Shining have created the perfect soundtrack to listen to when you head out to the perfect place to die. Self-destruction never sounded so appealing.

Despite being bleak and depressive, Shining's tenth full-length album is surprisingly addictive and listenable. It feels real and genuine; a diverse and extreme progressive blend of the new and the old and a gorgeous way to welcome 2018.

"I was born December 1983,
then I died December 2017."