Shining

Blackjazz

There are some truly great moments in Blackjazz. Some of the highlights, however, are a bit lengthy and hover a grey line, separating 'innovative' and 'gimmicky' music. Still, I would not hesitate in recommending this to someone that has a unique taste in 'fusion metal', especially those that enjoy both industrial and technical metal. The over the top avant-garde jazz theme that encompasses this LP is, for the most part, quite delightful and extremely ambitious.

(from my decade in review: 2010 - 2019)
With Shining's Blackjazz, released january 2010, this decade started off with a bang and a saxophone. This record broke through a whole bunch of boundaries at once, and created a fusion of jazz, metal and industrial I had never heard before. You often hear the term "best of both worlds", but no record has fused two (arguably three!) genres together so well this past decade, especially while all the while maintaining a clear band identity. ... read more