Shining - IV - The Eerie Cold (2005)The bright ones in the crowd can see that this album is 4 years old. Still seems pretty fresh to me which says a lot to me coming from a genre where there is a lot of mediocrity. This is a Black Metal band, but that isn't the interesting part. Don't get me wrong...the BM parts are solid...even though to me they sound a little new school. Regardless, they do what they are supposed to do and I enjoy them. However, the elements that make this album far more powerful are the interludes before, between, and after the climactic parts. Slow, soft, clean, haunting melodies that enforce the overall theme of depression. Bass playing is usually not a showcase on most BM albums however, in Shining the bass is creeping along setting and enhancing certain elements bringing to mind, strangely, Rudimentary Peni...and even dare I say the Poison Girls' song that appeared on the A-Sides compilation. That's about it. It's worth the download if you are into "DARK SHIT BRO". I am sure a lot of the tr00 bros don't like this, and the album was met with a backlash of sorts, but it's good. At least good enough for me to dig, and I am kind of over bm for the most part.
