Two years ago, Norway’s Shining completed an epic transformation. Led by saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Jørgen Munkeby, the outfit had moved from acoustic jazz to heavy, classically infused progressive rock to progressive industrial metal, all in the span of a few albums. Blackjazz, released in the United States in February of 2010, delivered a bold new genre to go with amazing material (and Munkeby’s nearly full-time transition to guitar).
On January 31, Americans will finally get to experience Live Blackjazz, the band’s two-disc CD/DVD document of its bewildering live show, via Prosthetic Records and Indie Recordings. It presents much of Blackjazz in its intricate, crushing glory, but it also includes older classics, such as “Goretex Weather Report” and “Winterreise,” with a much heavier edge. Today’s video premiere is one such hybrid, “Healter Skelter” — a track from Blackjazz that frantically rearranged the sax-led “Redrum” from In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster.