Considering that SHINING have officially been “on hold” since the release of their self-titled 2023 album, the announcement of a new album on a new label (Kvatforths very own The Sinister Initiative, founded in 2017 and exclusively distributing projects by the owners) came as something of a surprise to me.

However, as the title, which is almost identical to the 2013 album, suggests, it contains very little genuinely new material: Originally planned as a 1:1 re-release of 8 ½: Feberdrömmar i vaket tillstånd. it has now become sort of a “re-release plus” spread over two volumes - hence the suffix in Feberdrömmar (Del Ett), meaning as much as “part one”.

The only new track on the album is the intro Valkommen, unfortunately not even a real song, but rather a soundscape of wafting keyboards and dissonant effects reminiscent of a horror movie soundtrack. I have to admit, that it sets the mood for the actual album quite well, though. From track two onwards, we get the original tracks recorded for the 2013 release, featuring no less than five scene-renowned contributors (Ghaal and Attila Csihar, Maniac (also known from Mayhem as well as Kvarforth's other band Skitliv), Famine (Peste Noire) and lastly Pehr Skjoldhammer/Skjöldber (Alfahanne)). Only the last track of the original recordings, Through Corridors Of Oppression, was left out and likely saved for the upcoming part two.

This brings us to the main problem with this release: as interesting as the new four-minute intro may sound, it's not worth discussing any of the other tracks in detail, because there's simply nothing new, not even minor changes or even a new recording. Feberdrömmar (Del Ett), with its limited editions including old-school cassettes and vinyl releases of only 100 units each, is undoubtedly targeting hardcore fans of the band who simply want to have a complete collection: it honestly seems a bit like a cash grab that has only been half-heartedly justified with the addition of a new intro. I even find it somewhat amusing that Terres Des Anonymes is actually a “re-re-release”: the track had already been released under its original name Fields Of Faceless back in 2002.

Of course, the album is hardly worse than the 2013 original – how could it be with next to no changes - and is recommended to every fan of the band. But if you already have it and are not a passionate collector, you can save yourself the purchase just because of the new intro - especially as this re-release is even missing some of the original content. The rather lowish score is mainly for it simply being unnecessary.