When Shining's third album, In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster, arrived in 2005, they immediately made waves and were a frequent recommendation to fans of Jaga Jazzist, as the two groups share members. But if Jaga Jazzist straddle the lines between genres, Shining simply exist outside such considerations entirely. Grindstone continues in this vein, pretty much ignoring genre convention altogether, which is a good thing in that you never really know what to expect next, but can also be a negative in that the whole thing feels, inevitably, a bit disjointed.Still, in this department, Grindstone is a notable improvement over its predecessor, which I felt lacked any kind of flow whatsoever. It's also through-and-through heavier, with the rock, prog and metal influences shining through (ahem) and often dominating the jazz and ambient touches that characterized the previous album. Like In the Kingdom..., Grindstone begins with a trio of its most aggressive and extroverted tracks: the opening cut, confusing enough titled, um, "In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster," is a rather stunning six-minute workout full of odd-time metallic riffing. "Winterreise" is a weird pastiche of swooping orchestration, quiet tinklings on winds and piano, and big rawk guitars and drumming. Finally, "Stalemate Longan Runner" combines more metal riffage, an all-out noise-rock assault that would do Boris proud, and drifting, ambient keyboards. These first three tracks would make any fan of mathy metal (I'm trying to avoid the poisonous "prog-metal" nomenclature here) extraordinarily happy.
But then, after these three tracks, the bottom falls out into some quiet electronic noodling, which I don't find particularly compelling. Maybe it's the big dumb rock fan in me, but I definitely find Shining are at their best when they are kicking ass; when they get all delicate and dreamy, I think they're treading ground that's been done far better by other groups — be they ambient, electronic, jazz, or whatnot. Thankfully, the asskicking returns with "The Red Room," which is kind of like this album's "REDRUM," full of staccato horn blasts, unpredictable rhythms, and a growling zeuhl bass. More full-throttle moments are found on the brutal "ASA NISI MASA" and the sludgy "Fight Dusk With Dawn," and like the rest, these are top-notch blowouts, gliding comfortably somewhere above the borders of rock, jazz, prog and metal.
Grindstone is a flawed gem, full of beautiful moments and brutal noise often inhabiting the same sonic space, but also featuring its fair share of what seems to me like filler. Still, this stuff is unique enough, and this album is enough of a step up from its predecessor, that Shining have made it to my short list of bands to watch.
review by Brandon Wu — 3-14-07 —
