Ripping open with an extreme saxophone charge, International Blackjazz Society promises to react differently to your eardrums than anything else you will ever hear. Shining play off like a madman’s psychotic episode on their seventh studio record, more comfortable yet with an approach that differs from the conventional at every turn. Jørgen Munkeby, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist realized a vison of sorts with the 2010 fusion of metal and jazz and the release of Blackjazz, in some way opened up a portal into something even more strange. No one ciphered what Blackjazz meant, but the clarity with which it broached on the album had a precision of vision, which appeared to be upset with the subsequent release of OneOneOne three years later.
An altogether palatable record paved out of pop choruses interlaced with an odd assembly of instrumentation, but perfectly acceptable in a mainstream setting. It felt as though the pendulum had swung further from the experimental fiber of where the band had gone, but International Blackjazz Society plays like the culmination of the last five years in one aggressive thought. Combining a heavy industrial shell, arranged with openness not found previously and still proving catchy pop driven choruses, yet breaking from a verse chorus verse styling, they give opportunities for compositions to take root. If previously difficult to describe the Shining, this record supplants any class you might drop their music into.
The only descriptor that fits the Shining, and International Blackjazz Society, fascinating, no matter your relationship with Jazz, Metal or Pop music, undeniably the Shining fascinate more than any band has since the lofty experimental musings of Cynic and the fusion of strange atmosphere with expansive compositions. No way will this album resonate with a mass audience, but to listen and understand the nuance of something so delicate yet bellicose. Without diving into a track by track breakdown, my listening suggestion simply take a breath and give this album a chance you might discover something altogether unique in this world of regurgitated retreads.
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