Shining - Ivory Blacks Glasgow
Shining from Norway were once again in Glasgow, at the tail end of 2015, winning new friends, and putting on a storming and intense performance. Their signature Blackjazz sound is an amazing experience live, combining extreme metal with the precision and elegance of jazz, and a unique visual look.
Standing at the centre of this is the charismatic Jørgen Munkeby on guitar, sax and lead vocals, clad all in black, with his hair slicked back. The band’s front line start the gig standing on the monitors with Jørgen blowing hard on his saxophone, and the intensity doesn’t lift for the whole show.
The One Inside has the most incredible groove, with Jørgen virtually screaming the vocals at the audience, and then swooping into the song with a great melodic sax solo. There is no time to catch breath as the band crash into the frighteningly anguished Fisheye, with some great psychedelic keyboards leading the intro, jarring into some massive rhythmic guitar riffs. At the midpoint of the song Jørgen swaps his guitar, and lets go a John Coltrane like sheets of sound solo, that almost feels like it is stabbing out across the venue. Its almost traumatic to experience.
’Its a pleasure to be back playing our own show’, says Jørgen, as they start up House of Control from the latest album International Blackjazz Society, with its downbeat blues influenced structure, crossed with prog dynamics, and a gentle piano and voice finish. Its clear from the smiles of band members that they are loving playing the new material, and it sounds amazing live.
Healter Skelter, an older song, with its impossibly tight ensemble playing, discordant keyboards and free form sax, feels almost like death metal in jazz form! Jørgen leans into the audience making piercing eye contact while still playing his sax. You dare not look away!
The Madness and the Damage Done is a suitably raucous encore with the band back standing on the monitors, and Jørgen spitting the lyrics out, as the music sounds like a decent into hell.
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A truly magnificent show by a hard working and musically very talented band. They deserve to see their audience grow for their unique visionary music. Jazz and extreme metal were surely meant for each other!
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All photographs by Lewis Allen.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 4 available.