SHINING – V.HALMSTAD – THE END  
V.Halmstad is six songs at over 42 minutes of ‘suicidal’ black metal promoting ‘self harm’. At least Shining can have some claims over originality. An interesting haunting intro leads to an often-acoustic track that manages to be catchy and include slow metal moments. More acoustic passages on the next track, one that is structured like a traditional metal ballad and one that manages to get heavier and faster and actually offer something for a few minutes. The third track again features metal mixed with some melancholy to fit the suicidal theme. The fourth track starts off in the classical realm before diving into aggressive riffing and solos and then into melancholy and agony producing an odd mix of emotions for a 10-minute period. The fifth track is more like a classical piano intermission. The last track starts off with something that actually sounds like black metal, unlike most of what is heard before it, and while it stays at it for longer than perhaps expected it does not avoid the acoustic and agonized vocals that take it in different directions altogether. – Anna Tergel