SHINING: Special Release '8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd' Due In September

Dark Essence Records will release an album with different SHINING songs that hark back to an earlier era for the Swedish extreme metal 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 album, which will be available in both CD and LP versions will be titled "8 ½ - Feberdrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd" and will appear in September of this year.

Commenting on the idea behind the album, SHINING founder and frontman Niklas Kvarforth had this to say: "Some of you may remember that five years ago we revealed that we had plans to re-record our debut album and then have six different vocalists doing their own interpretations of the songs instead of merely having them singing on the already set paradigms. You may also be aware that recently we have been working extremely hard to reclaim our birthright by releasing older bootlegs through our webshop in an effort to put an end to this fucking bootlegging bullshit that has been infecting our aura for as long as we've been around. So we thought that since the new SHINING full-length album is still in the making now would be the right time to combine a bit of both those projects.

"'8 ½ - Febedrömmar I Vaket Tillstånd' consist of six songs from 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, which sadly we didn't start using until the sixth album. 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. At first, my initial thought was that it might turn out a bit too strange. But after hearing some of our classic songs in French, Hungarian and Norwegian, I am certain the whole concept will please not only our loyal fan-base but even the contemptuous ones as well."

Martin Kvam of Dark Essence Records, one of Norway's leading extreme metal labels, said: "We're very pleased to be working with Niklas Kvarforth on this special SHINING release. Dark Essence Records have always aimed to work with both innovation and tradition in the extreme metal genre, and this release is a perfect example of that. '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."