The End - 'You Made The Rain Disappear... ' demo (Review)

The End is one-man experimental post-black metal band, mostly influenced by darkness, depression, suicidal thoughts, extream sadness and melancholy. 

While listening through abunch of promos I found this 4 track demo to be pretty interesting.        
I'm not really sure how to categorize the music, but somewhere between ambient,industrial combined with metal.

They have done a few split albums and the demo album You Made the Rain Disappear released in mid 2013 on American label Hammerkrieg Production and also sheduled to be re-released on Indian label Transcending Obscurity.

One thing is for sure it's quite out of the ordinary so either you love it or hate it.
Mainly it's slowly drifting music with calm piano and guitar parts and spoken french female who speaks.
On one of the tracks there is also some spoken male male vocals and even a screamy harsh vocals enter into the sound. 
After the calm parts it builds up with the typical fast & mid-tempo drums and distorted guitars and a some very cool synth sounds in the background.

I'm not sure wheter I like the faster metal parts in between.. It's like you're on a rollercoaster while listening.
It starts fo very calm then suddenly the faster parts enters which then again fades into ambient again.   
All in all this lends much more toward trancendental ambient than metal.

I have to admit that this grows on me each time I listen and if you're going to listen to this I suggest you use headphones or play it very loud preferably alone or with someone who knows when to shut up as that will give you the best experience!
It's a very good idea behind this and I think there are endless possibilities of how this band can progress in the future.

But we like out of the ordinary experiences don't we?

Tracklist : 

Lost Memories, 
Shallow Hearts, Empty Streets (feat.Tenebra)
Expectations (feat. Isabelel Garcet)
Ashes In The Wind (feat. Uruksoth L)

Shining 8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd Dark Essence Records Release: 23 September 2013

 
I found this somewhat hard to review since I've heard all the tracks before,even though they are newly recorded versions and with different vocalists,read below for more info on that.

While listening to the first track I have to admit that the cold industrial sphere and the mean,ugly vocals is quite suitable and surely sets the mood quickly.

The first tracks give a pretty good impression on me.
That being said ,I was somewhat disappointed by a couple of the performances/tracks here ,not that they are weak or anything, it's rather a matter of personal taste.

What makes this release interesting is of course the fact that instead of just re recording the songs he has also decided to hire in different vocalists for the tracks ,which is not a bad idea.

The production is more cold.industrial and raw than on the previosu releases,
so even if one has heard the tracks before, the new production makes new life to them.

The keyboards have to be mentioned here as they have a huge impact on the final result and are a very good addition to the musical journey we are going through here.

It's for sure that Shining has the ability to take the listener on a long dark, yet beautiful journey through your inner nightmares.
And I would say they have succeed with this one ,as it's refreshing and nice to experience this.



Niklas Kvarforth and his band Shining has never done things the usual way, and presents a rather special album with “8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd”. Dark Essence Records is proud to release an album with different Shining songs that hark back to an earlier era for the band.  Rather than simply re-issue the original tracks, Shining has decided not only to re-record the songs, but re-record them using a number of different vocalists.

The tracks on “8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd” dates back to the “Livets Ändhållplats” and “Angst” era in their original pre-production versions, with newly recorded bass and guitars on top and the malevolent brilliance of Lars Fredrik Fröslie’s keyboard magic. Six vocalists whom we all find both inspiring and “otherworldly” have blessed the album with their madness, some of them even in their native languages.


The vocalists are Famine, Attila Csihar, Pehr Larsson, Gaahl, Maniac and Kvarforth himself.

“8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd” looks back, but at the same time, it also brings new life and new elements to these classic songs.

           Photos by Fabiola Santini

Band website: www.shiningasylum.com

Label website: www.darkessencerecords.no