Shining - One One One

Most of rock is a dull paste of tough-guy posturing and swole; a rank abortion of date-rapist jocks and sneering party-rats that, if anything, merely flirt with artistic validity. Every so often, a band will stand out from the preening duncecocks with concerted efforts towards artistic and intellectual significance. Shining is one of those hallowed bands.

With their third release, One One One, Shining has redoubled their hold as the premier sound of weird hard-rock blackened jazz-metal. It’s not a contested title, so being the best might not seem very notable, but their skills make them a stand-out act in even general genres. They were damn good before, but with One One One, they’re something incredible. With this feverishly vitriolic and unabashedly violent record, they prove to the uninitiated just how valuable experimentation (and complexity-for-the-sake-of-complexity) can be for musical progression. It is this freedom that lets them seamlessly mix hypersexual throbbing percussion with prog-djent guitarwork, and then a saxophone, without sounding like a bunch of jazzcore cunts. Their music has that awesome ability to sound wild and disorganized and mathematically orderly and sane at the same time.  

Shining has looked into the abyss of wild, free-form aggression, and they found the abyss looking back into them.

Their sophomore release, Blackjazz, had a handful of exceptional tracks and a couple forgettable ones, par for the course with bands that are setting new trends. Where it was strong, it was raucous and brilliant: seizing spasms of saxophone honks ejaculating while vile lyrics steeped with complex numerical symbolism captured my imagination. It's one thing to put together a good sound, but to have truly meaningful expressions to back it up is another step entirely. Shining took this torch and ran with it, and One One One is a masterpiece of contemporary angst. I can’t wait to not be able to figure out what Jørgen is talking about.

There are clear similarities between One One One and early Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails, particularly their respective releases of Antichrist Superstar and The Downward Spiral. The vocal work is incredibly similar to a young Marilyn Manson, and the percussion employed around the beginning of the album is reminiscent of Manson’s later releases. It’s never similar enough to feel dishonest, but it’s most likely an homage to a predecessor. That being said, the songs contained between the two seminal records covered a great spectrum, from funeral dirge to achingly fast meditations on self-destruction. It is true that One One One lacks this breadth, but it doesn't come off as repetitive, but rather streamlined to an annihilating edge. Drop the needle on this album anywhere you please, and you'll wind up in a whirlwind of frenzied, grinding glory. 

Shining has refined their work to a finely tuned machine. They've earned their name, and they named their album accordingly. It's not often that a record is as complete and as satisfying as One One One and for that they should be commended. I can't recommend this album highly enough.

W.