Shining (Nor) - International Blackjazz Society
2015 / Avant-garde metal
The Norwegian Shining's music's progress has been a wild roller coaster ride. After forming in 1999, they first released two pure avant-jazz albums ('Where The Ragged People Go' and 'Sweet Shanghai Devil'), then added some heavier influences on 'In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster', continued to reduce the pure jazz sound and introduced vocals on 'Grindstone', added black metal influences, increased the role of the vocals and practically reforged their whole sound on 'Blackjazz' and then moved towards a more straightforward, groovy avant-garde metal on 'One One One.' 'International Blackjazz Society' is a logical continuation to 'One One One' even if the albums aren't as different as their albums usually are in comparison to their predecessors.
Straight from the beginning, Shining proves that they are still loyal to their roots. After the chaotic sax intro 'Admittance' we land on the groovy industrial influenced material that was introduced on 'One One One.' Some people might still be furious because of the movement of style Shining has been doing, but in my opinion it's great that a band succeeds in such extreme style changes and manages to do all of them in style. 'International Blackjazz Society' is one of the most interesting albums I've heard for a while, because every single one of the songs offer something new. One of the things I noticed was that 'Last Day' is probably their most straightforward song to date and is probably the easiest song done by them. Even though 'Last Day' might be the easiest one to chew on, it still offers enough intriguing parts to entertain the people who love the more complex side of Shining.
'International Blackjazz Society' has assured me that Shining still have got the touch to do something new and interesting and so it's certain that I will regularly spin this album around to find all the wonders it still has for me to find. I would recommend this album to fans of progressive metal and open-minded people who are on a journey to find something totally different.
Favourite track at the moment: 'The Last Stand' or 'House of Warship.'
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