PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT

Following yesterday’s exclusive release through the internet press of their new video for the track “Tillsammans Är Vi Allt” from the band’s seventh full length album “VII / Född Förlorare”, SHINING have today released the video on their own YouTube channel, and have revealed the real history behind the storyline.  The video can be seen below or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iULz19Cc7yw

Contrary to how the video has been interpreted by both some press and fans alike, who have mistaken it for a simple glossy music video, there is, in fact, a symbolism behind it, one which both SHINING frontman Niklas Kvarforth, and guest vocalist Håkan “Nordman” Hemlin, are all too familiar with.   Taking as its theme a wedding between a dominant and corrupting groom, portrayed by Kvarforth, and a desirable and deceptively innocent bride, portrayed by Swedish model December Wiklund, the video uses their marriage to symbolise the insidious effects of substance abuse.   By the end of the video, the roles have been reversed, with the bride having complete control over the groom, in the same way that substance abuse becomes a marriage between the drug and the user, subtly taking over and destroying the addict’s life, and leaving him unable to give up the very thing that is destroying him.

The “Tillsammans Är Vi Allt” video is more than a trite music video replete with the mandatory titillation of sex and blood.  It is Kvarforth’s vision of a life-consuming obsession depicted through imagery, as opposed to simply music and lyrics.  Both Kvarforth and Hemlin, who appears in live footage throughout the video, have experienced the effects of substance abuse in the past. They have survived the obsession that has destroyed others and come through to the other side with more control of their lives, but their performance both live and on the album itself clearly shows that re-living that past brought a sense of anguish to their interpretation.

Live footage was filmed during the band’s appearance at the Club Nosturi in Helsinki, Finland, in October of last year.  The concept itself was created by Kvarforth, working  together with director Martin Strandberg, who was behind SHINING’s first video “Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel” and with photographer Martin Eriksson of Hill Fifty and producer Jussi Hyttinen of FLC 415, to bring to life the blood infused, disturbing vision of addiction and obsession that anyone who has been there will recognise.

SHINING’s eighth full-length album, “Redefining Darkness”, is due for release on Spinefarm Records on October 29th.  More information about SHINING can be found on the band’s website at http://www.shiningasylum.com/

SHINING INFORMATION
Website:http://www.shiningasylum.com/
Merchandise: http://www.shininglegions.com/
Shining on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shiningofficial
Official  YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/OfficialShining
Shining on MySpace: www.myspace.com/shininghalmstad
Shining on ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/shining
Management: nelli.ahvenlahti@gmail.com
PR: patriciathomas@btinternet.com