SHINING Mastermind KVARFORTH: 'Death Is Always To Be Glorified'

StayMetal.net recently conducted an interview with SHINING mastermind Niklas Kvarforth. A few excerpts follow:

StayMetal.net: "V - Halmstad" is just around the corner and it will be the first release by your new and highly respected label, Osmose Productions. What were your reasons for leaving Avantgarde Music and what do you expect from your new label?

Kvarforth: At that very present time, right after the recording of "Shining IV", me and Avantgarde Music were having a few personal issues that weren't so easy to solve really, thus, I decided to move on and contacted a few labels that all did show quite an interest in the band however, at the end of the day Osmose Productions were the ones who came through as being the most honest and motivated enough to promote such a band as SHINING, something they have far from [been] able to prove as of yet. However, we'll just have to wait and see whether this collaboration was a wise decision or not. We had merely a few things in mind when choosing label, first off signing to a label with both money, guts and charisma enough to put effort into a future growth of the band, and secondly a label who wants their bands to tour. This was what we expected and more or less were promised yet, the promotional campaign for the album, ad-wise, is a joke thus far, and we have gotten strict information that Osmose Productions is not a booking agency but a label. Well, you get the picture.

StayMetal.net: I have listened to the album many times and I enjoy it a lot. It's a clear continuation from your previous album, but I found some differences, darkest atmospheres, more solos and acoustic parts, etc. But please, can you describe in your own words what people will find on the album and the biggest differences compared to "IV"?

Kvarforth: It's quite a natural progression from what I did on the fourth album, I have to agree on that, however, SHINING has always been a band that have evolved rather much between each release, no reason to fall into stagnation. All music and lyrics that I conduct come naturally to me, nothing is premeditated, and the new album just happen to turn out more bleak and atmospheric than the early for some reason, probably because of all the shit I have had to go through the last couple of years and probably the fact that we begun playing live after the recording of the fourth album might have something to do with it as well. For the ones who haven't heard the album yet I can but say that it's a little darker and a little more sinister than the previous album, yet the constant SHINING vibe is still present, perhaps even more than in the past, throughout the entire album, no matter what musical direction it takes.

StayMetal.net: The old line-up split up in 2005. What were the reasons? Maybe the band needed members with skills more oriented and available to live shows?

Kvarforth: I fired Hellhammer because I needed a drummer available at all times, him having MAYHEM and then also joining DIMMU BORGIR in the midst of it all this was an impossibility, and I also wanted a more "human" drummer, as I found his style more and more distanced from what I wanted with SHINING. Phil A. Cirone and I got into a huge disagreement and I fired him, fucking up a friendship that had lasted for nearly 13 years back then, however, we have both calmed down and he has rejoined the band. John Doe did last until the beginning of 2006 when he fucked up severely on the way to a show we were supposed to have in Germany, so badly that it was either him or the rest of the band and that decision was an easy one, however very sad as it is such a waste of potential. Casado left because I was an asshole. To sum up though, SHINING is somewhat of an asylum, and there's always new candidates being institutionalized, it really makes no difference, anyone is replaceable.

StayMetal.net: The band is working on a new DVD, including the controversial live show of 3rd February at Diezel (Halmstad). Will it show everything or did you have to censor some parts? Can you give us further details?

Kvarforth: I was very optimistic in the beginning of the process, thinking I would have the DVD ready during summer. However, now I know we will probably not be able to release it until next year unfortunately. The DVD will contain eight hours of material divided into two discs. The Halmstad show, uncensored, a few songs from different shows here and there filmed throughout our career, old television footage and reports and a two-hour long "rockumentary" which some people are in the making off as we speak.

StayMetal.net: Did you know Jon Nödveidt [DISSECTION]? What do you think about Jon's suicide?

Kvarforth: I met him and spoke to him over the phone a couple of times. He was in jail together with my father. I think his death was surely a loss considering the brilliant musician he was (Never been a DISSECTION fan, but "Reinkaos" is without doubt one of the best albums last year, all genres) and his dedication to the darkside which was, without doubt, ten times more serious than most mongoloids I've ever been in contact with. Yet, death is always to be glorified, so I praise what he did and wish him the best wherever he might be...

Read the entire interview at StayMetal.net.