Line #75 Music/Shining


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d47e21a5e167c1315e7051e422bb3e43.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: They ''really'' hate the world...]]
3
4	->''"Shining Hates You Exclusively."''
5	-->-- Back cover from ''Within Deep Dark Chambers''
6
7	Shining is a well known Main/BlackMetal project that formed around 1996 in Halmstad, Sweden. The band is known for its vocalist and remaining original member Niklas Kvarforth, who's infamous for his lyrical themes of suicide, self harm, depression, and his overall misanthropic beliefs.
8
9	Having coined the name, they are often considered one of the best known bands of the DSBM (or "depressive/suicidal black metal") subgenre of black metal despite Niklas [[CreatorBacklash being heavily against the term due to later bands using it as a means of therapy instead of harming their listeners]].
10
11	Not to be confused with [[Literature/TheShining the novel by Stephen King, as well as the movies]], as Kvarforth has stated are not influenced by the band name. Same with [[VideoGame/ShiningSeries the video game series]]. Or with the Norwegian ProgressiveMetal band [[Music/ShiningNorway also called Shining]] (which started out as jazz [[GenreShift before passing through]] ProgressiveRock), as they often are.
12
13	!!Members:
14	* Niklas Kvarforth - Vocals, guitars, keyboards
15	* Peter Huss - Guitar
16	* Alex Friberg - Bass
17	* Charles Hedger - Guitar
18	* Nicholas Barker - Drums
19	* Tuomas Tahvanainen - Keyboards
20
21	!!Core Discography:
22	* ''I. Within Deep Dark Chambers'' (2000)
23	* ''II. Livets ändhållplats'' (Life's Last Stop) (2001)
24	* ''III. Angst - Självdestruktivitetens emissarie'' (Anxiety - The Emissary of Self-Destruction) (2002)
25	* ''IV. The Eerie Cold'' (2005)
26	* ''V. Halmstad'' (2007) [[note]] Named after Kvarforth's hometown and where the band formed. Also subtitled with "''Niklas Angående Niklas''", with stands for "''Niklas Regarding Niklas''".[[/note]]
27	* ''VI. Klagopsalmer'' (Hymns of Lament) (2009)
28	* ''VII. Född förlorare'' (Born Loser) (2011)
29	* ''Redefining Darkness'' (2012)
30	* ''IX. Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends'' (2015)
31	* ''X. Varg utan flock'' (Wolf Without a Pack) (2018)
32	* ''Shining'' (2023)
33
34	!!Lots of Tropers Gonna Get Hurt...
35
36	* AntiLoveSong: "Tillsammans är vi allt", which comes off as this, but actually is a love song, in the means of ''self destruction''.
37	* ArcNumber: Six, every album has six tracks in total. Whether this is referencing the NumberOfTheBeast is up in the air.
38	** Five as well: Every fifth track after the third album (with the exception of ''IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends'') is an electronic-based track, lighter than the rest of the album, or even just an instrumental.
39	* BilingualBonus: Majority of the time either the album title and songs are Swedish based.
40	* BlackMetal: '''Depressive/Suicidal''' Black Metal.
41	** Though they themselves dislike this term, and arguably there hasn't been anything black metal about their sound for several albums now apart from the occasional tremolo picking. One could say they're ProgressiveMetal with weird vocals now.
42	* BoleroEffect: "Mot Aokigahara" more or less takes this form. It starts off as a fairly gentle song that would be more typical of someone like Music/JoyDivision or Music/PinkFloyd (the guitar solo is very Gilmour-esque) before building to the expected metal climax. On the other hand, it doesn't keep the same melodic elements all the way through, and it does transition somewhat suddenly to metal, so it's not a completely straight example (but when it does go into the metal passage, it is just a metal version of the previous section, and the previous passage was so creepy that it won't really provide really much of a surprise when the transition happens).
43	* BreatherEpisode: Any fifth track off of an album can be this, whether being an acoustic song or just an instrumental in general.
44	** Averted with ''Within Deep Dark Chambers'' and ''Livets ändhållplats'' (though the second track on the latter of these albums fulfils a similar function), as well as ''IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends'', on which it is switched to the first track.
45	* BrownNote: The band's music is allegedly intended as this. It's supposed to induce listeners to commit suicide. Whether it actually ''succeeds'' at this (or indeed, whether the band is even telling the truth about this being the intention) is another matter. (For that matter, whether people even find their music ''depressing'' can vary - some people find a lot of their work starting at around ''The Eerie Cold'' or ''Halmstad'' to be energising.)
46	* CallBack: The song title "Besvikelsens dystra monotoni" reappears in the lyrics to "Mot Aokigahara".
47	* ChronologicalAlbumTitle: Somewhat. Every album after ''Livets ändhållplats'' started having a Roman numeral. [[AvertedTrope Averted however]] with ''Redefining Darkness'', to which Niklas stated they would be dismissing the numbering system. Then when the ninth album was announced ''[[SubvertedTrope the numbering system came back]]''.
48	* CreatorThumbprint: Starting with ''III. Angst - Självdestruktivitetens emissarie'' (and again, with the exception of ''IX - Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends''), the fifth track.
49	** Same can be said with the Roman numeral system.
50	** Every last one of their albums has six songs (unless there are bonus tracks, which aren't counted as part of the album proper).
51	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Niklas Kvarforth is usually seen as this, due to his stage antics and overall concept of life.
52	* CoverAlbum: ''8 ½ - Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd'', which is just a cover album of Shining songs which includes [[{{Music/Gorgoroth}} Gaahl]] and [[{{Music/Mayhem}} Maniac and Attila]].
53	* DespairEventHorizon: The band's entire shtick.
54	* DrivenToSuicide: [[Main/TakeThatAudience Inflicting this on the listener]] is the ([[Main/UnreliableNarrator supposed]]) goal of the band's music.
55	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Kvarforth's vocals on ''Within Deep Dark Chambers'' and ''Livets ändhållplats'' were higher and more early black metal inspired screams. Around the third onwards, his vocals began to establish the style that it has today.
56	** The band's first demo ''Submit to Selfdestruction'' can be considered this as well. For one thing, Niklas ''doesn't do vocals on this one''; instead, he did guitars and bass, while another member named "Robert" had singing duties. It wasn't until the release of ''Within Deep Dark Chambers'' that Niklas had singing duties.
57	** Also, the tradition of the fifth song being an instrumental or otherwise lighter in content hadn't yet been established on the band's first two albums (granted, this tradition was also broken on the ninth album). On the second album, the gentle instrumental is the ''second track''.
58	* EpicRocking: They seem do this this several times. Their song length is usually around a six-ten minute mark. Examples can be "And Only Silence Remains..." (10:51), "Ännu ett steg närmare total utfrysning" (10:22), the title track of ''Livets ändhållplats'' (9:21), "Mörda dig själv..." (9:08), "Besvikelsens dystra monotoni" (10:04), "Mot Aokigahara" (9:33), etc. Their longest track is "Total utfrysning", which runs for '''16:47'''.
59	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Niklas Kvarforth will shamelessly hand out razor blades to his fans and claims that he intends to use his music to drive its listeners to suicide, but he won't watch ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXFDVp4dZ8k because he thinks it's "too obscene."]]
60	* EvilSoundsDeep: Niklas. While he doesn't have a huge deep voice, when he starts singing, it's ''creepy''.
61	** "Mot Aokigahara" has several spoken-word passages where Niklas' voice is also almost incomprehensibly low-pitched.
62	* {{Expy}}: Some fans see Niklas like Music/GGAllin; the only difference is that Niklas isn't ''as controversial'' as GG and he doesn't have the obsessions that GG had.
63	** Discussed in an interview later on when he is asked if he relates to Allin. Kvarforth simply responds with [[SelfDeprecation "GG Allin is a genius; I'm not."]]
64	** Honestly, there's a bit of similarity between Niklas' (supposed) philosophy and [[Music/{{Mayhem}} Euronymous]]'.
65	* GratuitousJapanese: Of a sort. "Mot Aokigahara" refers to Aokigahara, a mountain (青木ヶ原) which has a historical reputation for being home to yūrei (幽霊, literally "faint spirits", i.e., ghosts) and has become a notorious suicide destination in recent years.[[note]]This is not the only suicide destination referenced in one of the album's song titles; "Gyllene portarnas bro" refers to the Golden Gate Bridge in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, which has a similar reputation to the point that the government began installing suicide barriers in April 2017.[[/note]] It's sometimes also known as the Sea of Trees (樹海, Jukai).
66	* HarshVocals: In spades, though they're often fairly atypical of black metal. Frequently, Kvarforth somehow manages to combine this trope with singing.
67	* HatesEveryoneEqually: Niklas invokes this. YMMV and such, Niklas has stated in an interview that he loves life, but hates everything around him because he is a misanthrope, hence why he writes the music Shining bases itself on.
68	* IAmTheBand: Niklas is the only remaining original member of the band, and is the sole controlling force of it.
69	* {{Jerkass}}: Niklas Kvarforth, who ''seeks to hurt his listeners with his music''. There's also the fact he's happy to know his music has ''influenced some fans to kill themselves''.
70	** The interpretation of Niklas usually is a YMMV; see Alternative Character Interpretation.
71	* KillAllHumans: The music's purpose. Not that it really does that.
72	* LargeHam: Niklas for some. Putting aside the heavy controversial image he built himself, the guy is a ''riot'' both when listening to him and on stage. His vocals are easily some of the hammiest in all of black metal, which is saying a lot.
73	* MadArtist: Niklas actively cultivates this image.
74	* MadnessMantra: From "Manipulation Mass":
75	-->DO ME A FAVOR, AND KIIIIIIILL YOURSEEEELLLLF! DO ME A FAVOR, AND KIIIIIIILL YOURSEEEELLLLF! DO ME A FAVOR, AND KIIIIIIILL YOURSEEEELLLLF! DO ME A FAVOR, AND KIIIIIIILL YOURSEEEELLLLF!
76	* NewSoundAlbum: Starting with the release of ''III. Angst - Självdestruktivitetens emissarie'', Shining became less early-black metal influenced and started developing the style they have today.
77	* ProgressiveMetal: Progressive ''Black'' Metal, for some. Probably best demonstrated on ''Född förlorare'', which features a cover of Swedish ProgressiveRock group Landberk and otherwise demonstrates greater progressive tendencies than many of their other releases.
78	** Taken up to eleven with the release of ''IX: Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends''.
79	* RevolvingDoorBand: As stated, the ''only'' original member remaining of the band is Niklas Kvarforth.
80	* {{Sampling}}: Quite a lot of it, including Creator/ChristinaRicci from ''Prozac Nation'' and Creator/ChristianBale from ''Film/AmericanPsycho''. A possibly incomplete list:
81	** "Någonting är jävligt fel" samples ''Ginger Snaps'' (2000).
82	** "The Eerie Cold (Samvetskvalens Ballad)" samples ''She's So Lovely'' (1997).
83	** "Claws of Perdition" samples ''American Psycho'' (2000).
84	** "Yttligare ett steg närmare total jävla utfrysning" samples a voice reading an excerpt of the poem "Antigonish" by William Hughes Mearns (incidentally, this excerpt is also the source of the name of the film ''[[Film/TheManWhoWasntThere2001 The Man Who Wasn't There]]'').
85	** "Låt oss ta allt från varandra" and possibly other songs on ''Halmstad'' sample ''Prozac Nation'' (2001).
86	** "Total utfrysning" samples the documentary film ''Ett anständigt liv'' (1979) by Stefan Jarl.
87	** "Vilseledda barnasjälars hemvist" samples an unknown female voice (later said by Peter Huss to be a friend's daughter in a Q&A) singing an excerpt of "You Are My Sunshine", a 1930s standard written by Jimmie Davis and Carl Mitchell.
88	* RockMeAmadeus: "Åttiosextusenfyrahundra" is a retitled version of Music/LudwigVanBeethoven's Music/MoonlightSonata with Kvarforth gently humming in the background.
89	* ShoutOut: It's not entirely clear if this is intentional, but the album ''8 ½ - Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd'' may have been made at least partially as a shout-out to the film ''Film/EightAndAHalf''. Niklas seems to be a pretty big fan of cinema. (In a bizarre coincidence, the [[Music/ShiningNorway Norwegian Shining]] has ''also'' made a reference to ''8 ½'': the song title "Asa Nisi Masa" comes from the film.)
90	* SongStyleShift: Their longer songs often have several of them. "Total utfrysning" in particular has at least four discrete movements (given that it's almost seventeen minutes long, of course, it'd almost have to).
91	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: Usually, the fifth song on an album. On ''Livets ändhallplåts'', it's the second song instead, and on ''IX. Everyone, Everywhere, Everything, Ends'', it's the ''first''.
92	* TakeThat / TakeThatAudience: The music to a listener. Also the quote above was on the back of the booklet for ''Within Deep Dark Chambers''.
93	** Debated with the track "FFF" from ''VII. Född förlorare'', which is a tribute song to Niklas' mother who passed away at the beginning of 2010, which is more of Niklas is saying his mother ''should have never created him''.
94	* {{Troll}}: At one point: Around 2006, Niklas had "disappeared", making fans think he really did kill himself. The band stated Niklas had indeed disappeared and they were continue the band with a new vocalist named "Ghoul", under the wishes of Niklas. However it was revealed during a concert in February of 2007 that Ghoul was ''indeed'' Kvarforth. The events of the concert after that was revealed were....[[{{Understatement}} controversial]].
95	* VocalEvolution: As stated, Niklas' vocals before were based on normal black metal standards, but evolved to a more understandable and standard style. See Early Installment Weirdness and Evil Sounds Deep.

Context Music / Shining