Album Review: Shining Black - Postcards From The End Of The World

Time is a funny thing. I remember sitting down to listen to the first Shining Black album, but it doesn't seem nearly long enough ago for the second one to be here already. Maybe it's just age playing tricks on me, or maybe the mountain of music we are always staring up at has warped parts of my mind, but the cycles seem to be getting shorter, even when they aren't. Records come and go, and even when they are good, they get caught up in the sweeping storm as the sands of time erode whatever memories the music might have etched in my mind. These are not the Nazca lines, after all.

Described as 'cutting edge melodic metal', I'm not sure the project ever does anything close to that proclamation. It's moderately heavy melodic metal, and it's more modern than some of the more AOR focused stuff, but it's firmly in line with any of the albums we regularly hear from Magnus Karlsson, et al. In fact, if you ever heard the album from The Codex that Mark Boals made with the aforementioned Magnus, this isn't that far off from that.

What that means is Shining Black is expertly played and produced melodic metal that sounds grand and big-budget. The mix is bright and clear, letting the guitars crunch as they should, with Boals' vocals ringing out beautifully. It's always better that way, but especially in a melodically focused genre, having the vocals sitting right is key to making those hooks stand out and stick. They still have to be written as such, but the production absolutely makes a difference too. It's hard to get hooked by something you can't hear well.

As for those hooks, that's where Shining Black still needs a bit more polish. These ten songs are lovely and enjoyable, but the melodies come from that school that are just a hair too tame, lacking the inertia to really turn over the engine of memory. Boals soars for many of them, but his notes ring out for stretches that are the style of melody I have always found staid. They are melodic, but lack the 'hook' factor. It's hard to put into words, but the end result is these are the kind of songs that don't latch on, and will slide out as the pick-axes can't maintain hold in the torrent.

For those less concerned with an album's lasting impression upon first listen, Shining Black delivers. As the album progresses, the quality seeps through and you get caught up in the soft and sumptuous version of metal they create. It isn't a fist-pumper, but rather the sort of metal album you put on while you close your eyes and let your thoughts wander. Maybe that's not what you want out of metal, but that's what I got out of this record, and by no means is that a bad thing, in my estimation.

So we come to the hardest question to answer. Am I going to find myself sitting here two years from now saying the exact same things yet again? I can't predict the future, but I would lean toward putting my money on 'yes'. For as enjoyable as Shining Black is, and the album is a lovely time, I don't get the sense from it I'm going to be drawn to come back to it months from now, let alone years. It's an album that gives me some pleasure right now, and that's nothing to complain about. Not at all.