SHINING — Animal (review)

SHINING — Animal album cover Album · 2018 · Heavy Alternative Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Kev Rowland
Jørgen Munkeby (saxophonist and guitarist, a graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music) has long been the driving force between Norway’s jazz-metal collective, Shining. Over the years they have broken down musical barriers and have refused to be categorised into any particular style of music, as they mixed progressive, technical metal, jazz, avant-garde and experimental sounds. But now he is back with something different “I was tired of doing the same thing,” he explains. “I was done with ‘Blackjazz’ and wanted to create something new and exciting. I needed a change. I’m finally at the point where I have nothing to lose and everything to win. We had 360 degrees to play with so we could’ve gone in any direction. This new record is more Muse than Meshuggah, more Ghost than Gojira, and more Biffy Clyro than Burzum!”

It is all over the place as one might expect from the quote, and given Shining are known for having the sax as a key instrument it is somewhat surprising for one not to make any appearance anywhere on this! Devin Townsend has been an obvious influence, as have Linkin Park, and it is when the guys are really pushing the envelope with downtuned guitars and stacks of groove that they really make the listener stand up and take notice. It is mainstream for the most part, and it will be interesting to see how hardcore fans view this, as while it is an okay album, it is never really much more than that, and certainly not one which would be expected from him/them. It is almost a case of treating this as a brand-new band, and while the sound is very modern and powerful, for some reason it feels as if it as all been produced at the same level and consequently there just isn’t enough drama for it to be consistently interesting.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I've still only heard Black Jazz from this Shining. I like that album a lot but for some reason none of the others sound interesting and reviews like this don't make them any warmer or fuzzier :/
Tupan wrote:
more than 2 years ago
it's a very boring album, in my opinion...

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Nova Atlantis Power Metal
KINGCROWN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Deep Down The Tides Melodic Death Metal
PRECIPITATION
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Years Ahead, The Miles Between Deathcore
CYTOKINE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

PRECIPITATION - Cosmic (Official Video)
PRECIPITATION
Bosh66· 1 day ago
PRECIPITATION - Hideout (Official Video)
PRECIPITATION
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Cytokine - Old Exit 50 (Official Music Video)
CYTOKINE
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Cytokine - Henry Law (Official Music Video)
CYTOKINE
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Cytokine-Man On Fire(Official Lyric Video)
CYTOKINE
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed