Available on black (500 copies)
Whilst the use of the number 8 ½ may seem a little strange to denote what would effectively be a 9th full-length album from the band, its use is deliberate because “8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd” is a rather special beast from SHINING, consisting as it does of six songs from the “Livets Ändhållplats” and “Angst” era in their original pre-production versions but with the addition of newly recorded bass and guitars, as well as Lars Fredrik Fröslie’s keyboards (ANGST SKVADRON, WOBBLER, ASMEGIN) which the band didn’t start using until their sixth album.
Additionally, the vocals on each of the tracks will be performed by six different vocalists, including Kvarforth, who have added their own interpretation and given a totally different dimension to all the songs.
It’s a project that the SHINING founder and frontman has wanted to do for many years now, and it is also serves as a kick in the teeth to all the bootleggers who have tried to illegally earn money for themselves off the back of the band’s hard work and creativity.
We all know Shining is a band the black metal community likes to shit on. Maybe it's deserved, maybe not, I don't care. I not huge on the band's later work, but I do like their first couple of albums and their compilation album "Through Years of Oppression", which features some of my favorite cover art.
That brings us to their next compilation album, "8 1/2 Feberdrommar I Vaket Tillstan". This is something different from the direction Shining has gone in last couple of years. It's distorted, haunting and reminiscent of the 2004ish era of the band. But, the best part of this album is the amazing lineup of guest vocalist, who all bring their own touch to the sound of Shining. It gives the overall album a weird atmosphere as you go through each artist's interpretation of the song they perform.
The album starts off slow and dreary and reaches a mid pace by the middle of the album. To start things off the first song
Terres Des Anonymes features Famine of Peste Noire. Followed by a haunting performance by Attila of Mayhem on
Szabadulj Meg Onmagatol. These two songs steal the show in my opinion, but that's not to discredit the rest of the album. There wasn't a song I disliked and it's easy to play the whole album start to finish. It also features Gaahl of Godseed and formally Gorgoroth, as well as Maniac of Mayhem and many other bands. Kvarforth only sings on the very last track, which was the last track on their previous compilation oddly enough.
This is a great mark on their discography in my book, it will probably be something I come back to occasionally I enjoyed it so much. If you enjoy Shining even on a casual level I suggest giving this album at least a playthrough. With the line up it has, there is something for a lot of black metal fans here.
FEBERDRÖMMAR (DEL TVÅ) takes the nightmare-inducing premise of the original 8 1/2 compilation and introduces us to five more alternate realities, giving us a glimpse of how SHINING, perhaps would have ended up sounding if the circumstances had only been a little different.
PART TWO put focus on songs written post 2011, and consist of demo tracks which Niklas Kvarforth have now, with the help of another five new vocalists, turned into something exceptional, adding keyboards and a whole bunch of other unspeakable things to the already pitch-black content, singers, the front-man have chosen purely based on his own taste in music. Lyrics for the selected songs have also been rewritten in each of the five vocalists own languages, and with stunning result at that!
Sample:
youtube.com/watch?v=8idOYvh-3wM&list=RD8idOYvh-3wM&start_radio=1
