Not to be confused with the gruesome Swedish black-metal band or the short-lived assembly of former Verve members who also lay claim to the name Shining, this experimental Jazz/Metal collective released one of the most acclaimed Norwegian albums of 2007; Grindstone. Now Shining are preparing to unveil their follow-up effort. The band will be recording ‘in a couple of bigger studios in March and May’ with a view to mixing the record ‘in June with a scheduled release October 12th 2009.’
Grindstone represented something of a culmination of a gradual melding of progressive jazz and metal, as the band increasingly indulged headbanging riffs alongside experimental classical and free-jazz elements. Crunching, screeching guitars were overlaid with a tin-whistling flute, and heavy tracks referenced Mozart; but it sounds like the as yet unnamed new record will eschew what occasionally came off as (albeit thrilling) whimsy on the breathless beast that was Grindstone. ‘The new album will be much more aggressive than any of our previous albums’, reveals frontman Jørgen Munkeby, ‘[t]he compositions will be more compact, the arrangements will be more hard-hitting, and the mood will be desperate, sinister, aggresive and violent. (Those of you that have seen us live in the last year probably have some idea.)’
As if to confirm this promised violence the band will be offering up a Myspace preview of the new material next Friday the 13th. Spooky.
Related posts:
