“Sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy”…..this is the beginning of the Shining’s latest offering, Fodd Forlorare. [media-credit id=1 align="alignright" width="225"][/media-credit]From recent interviews with the notorious front man Niklas Kvarforth, he quotes that lyrically “Fodd Forlorare is the darkest album the Shining has ever written” As i can’t speak or read Swedish I can’t say yes or no, but it’s certainly different.                                              Fodd Forlorare is musical Schizophrenia,  one minute it is melodious and calm, like that of a child’s music box then out of nowhere its tainted by a feeling of bitter hatred, I find myself wondering is this a possible insight to Kvarforth’s mind?                                                                There appears to be a strong link between infancy and death from album art work depicting children in coffins and the use of what can only be described as lullabies to solemn pianos teamed with what appears to be a jazz style acoustic guitar riffs whilst all merged with the violent sounds of black metal. As soon as the black metal sections of this album kick in, it does so with full force: Kvarforth’s vocals are tortured and drenched in anger, Fredric Graby and Peter Huss don’t fail when it comes to writing grimy guitar riffs that are somewhat noticeably catchy, but what really holds Fodd Forlorare together is the many contributing artists like Rickard Schill who drumming is credible going from raging blast beats to subtle fills keeping a steady pulse throughout a majority of the tracks. Fodd Forlorare also features several guest artists including guest vocals from Erick Danielsson (Watain), Peter Bjargo (Arcana) and guest guitarist Chris Amott (Arch Enemy) each bringing their own twist to Fodd Forlorare.

The whole album comes across as Kvarforth’s personal outlet in regards to his instability and there are moments where you feel trapped in a child’s nightmare, it’s twisted, depressed and morbid but somehow beautiful. I have never been a big Shining fan mainly due to my utter disbelief regarding Kvarforth and his actions towards himself and fans on and off stage; also I’ve never properly sat down and listen to previous albums. However I enjoyed Fodd Forlorare and it has fascinated and intrigued me into wanting to see the Shining live. Here hoping for a UK tour soon.