Shining - Shining (2015)

Shining have gone through a radical transition after starting out as a postbop jazz quartet before ending up as the uncompromising "blackjazz" metalband we know today, all under the determined leadership of composer and multi-instrumentalist Jørgen Munkeby. Still only 33 years old, Jørgen joined Jaga Jazzist at the tender age of 14, so it´s fair to say he has accomplished a lot for his age. Shining have gone through a number of members since the first album back in 2001, the only mainstay to this day apart from Munkeby being drummer Torstein Lofthus (also of Elephant9). This 2CD release collects the two albums they did for Rune Grammofon, In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster (2005) og Grindstone (2007). They very much represent a period of transition and are considered their most original and musically exciting albums, where they freely move between complex riffing, free jazz, filmic soundscapes and modern composition, with references to everything from The Mars Volta and Slayer via King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra to Henry Cow, This Heat, Ornette Coleman, Ligeti and Messiaen. Shining on In The Kingdom Of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster Jørgen Munkeby: guitar, sax, keyboards, bass and various instruments Torstein Lofthus: drums and percussion Morten Qvenild: keyboards and various instruments Aslak Hartberg: bass Tracks Goretex Weather Report, REDRUM, Perdurabo, Aleister Explains Everything, 31=300=20 (It Is By Will Alone I Set My Mind In Motion), Where Death Comes To Cry, The Smoking Dog, Magazine RWRK, You Can Try The Best You Can