Emperor ended… and Enslaved have carried on for 17 full-length albums (not including Eps, split albums or collections). They’re like a Black Metal factory at this point, staying true to the sound they’ve pioneered since 1994.

Their last album, Heimdal came out in 2023 and was covered by yours truly in these hallowed pages. I raved about that album like a dog with a new toy; now, three years later, here is a brand new album called Mið, and it’s fucking stellar.

Where Heimdal moved with the tempest of the waves, Mið seems to deal with the mystery of the forest and more of a spiritual path. Opening track “Non-Being” is a solemn instrumental that sets the tone of the album. The stillness is broken when “I am Ice (featuring Johan Sara Jr.)” comes bursting from the speakers, a literal avalanche of brutality that harkens back to such albums as Eld, Ruun and In Times. That’s to name just three, but if you’re familiar with the band’s timeless sound, you’ll be able to pick up on sounds from all over their catalog. It’s fierce and not in a bullshit Beyoncé way; this is elemental fury pulled up from the bowels of the Earth.

“Solar Will” is up next and it’s a scorcher (pun not intended). It’s sort of a Black ‘n’ Roll track that just bulldozes itself into your consciousness. Enslaved is not fucking around on Mið, proving they are still scene leaders in the Black Metal community.

“Mountain” comes on like the sun rising over the foothills; it’s slow and magnificent. The gargantuan riffs are powerful as the very stone of the earth. Slow and meandering one second; like a trickle of winter run-off. At around 2:45, an avalanche comes raging down the valleys and crevasses, slow and punishing until the final moments of the song when it continues to pick up speed.

“Spirit Helper (featuring Kevin Kickingwoman)” is a heavy, Native American-fueled powerhouse. Kevin Kickingwoman’s chanting is a revelation against the abrasive Black Metal fury. This is a truly revolutionary song and one of the strongest on Mið. “Parting” rises on swelling keys. Heartbreaking solemnity lasts until the 3:43 point, where it heavies up and gets downright depressing. “Tales of Trees” is a burly, short track. With a Ruun-ish chorus and a pulsing beat, this is prime Enslaved glory. Soaring vocals and fantastic Norwegian riffs… could you ask for anything more?

“I Miðju” is the final throes of this beast. A brutal mix of growling and clean vocals, as I said… PRIME Enslaved. The second half of the song picks up a sick as fuck Thrash beat and some sweet soloing. It’s like fighting a Yeti and knowing you’re going to get your ass beat but it doesn’t matter because the Yeti sounds badass while you’re dying.

Mið is a massive, crater-sized album. It sounds amazing thanks to the awesome production, and the artwork is suitably mysterious. It will benefit you greatly to go get this slice of Norwegian Black Metal, row your boat to the nearest record store now!

The albums to follow continued to show their progression; Frost, Eld and Blodhemn; the split with Satyricon in ’95 was another meeting between two Norwegian Black Metal heavyweights.

A change in sound and approach echoed in the 2000’s with Mardraum (Beyond the Within). The instruments got beefier; the clean vocals became more pronounced. Throughout the 2000’s they continued to grow this sound with powerful, enormous as a fucking frost giant choruses and Progressive ingredients started showing up more and more until they just started using a fucking Hammond organ around the time of Ruun and Vertebrae.

It’s been 3 years since the fantastic Utgard was unleashed and here I sit with this blistering, assault on the senses called Heimdal. The opener “Behind the Mirror” washes ashore with the soothing sounds of water hitting the earth. The track expands with the sound of a Gjallarhorn and the song kicks into a galloping stride, the vocals soaring like a raven over the mountains. This 6.25-minute track introduces Heimdal so well, this is the Viking Black Metal, album of the year.

“Congelia” comes ripping in with a twisting riff over the harsh as-hell, but completely understandable vocals. Around the three-minute mark, it goes fucking insane, the keys bouncing around the guitars like Valkyries in Valhalla. “Congelia” strides like a giant across a battlefield and when the final solo and push to the end happens it’s in such a triumphant way that you can picture it (probably not the way I did, but I’m the guy with a keyboard), it’s easily my first favorite song on Heimdal.

“Forest Dweller” starts off with stunning harmonies and an acoustic guitar before this massive organ solo and it rages from there till almost the song’s end when the raw guitar does this awesome riff and the clean vocals from the beginning come back. The single track “Kingdom” starts off right proper with a bombastic intro. Jesus fucking Christ, Enslaved knows how to write a song. Around two minutes in it hits this striding beat with this Black ‘n’ Roll riff that marches with the drums. The production on Heimdal is impressive, everything is clear as a bell and I cannot enjoy this record enough.

“The Eternal Sea”, the instruments mirror the crashing waves of the North Sea. They rise to the soaring vocals which mix within to create a magical track that I find myself typing in rhythm to it. “The Eternal Sea” is my second favorite, it’s like a York Peppermint Patty because five minutes into the song you get the sensation of snow on your face, and the blisteringly cold wind embraces you in its icy grasp.

“Caravans to the Outer Worlds” starts with a longing solo bass, reminiscing the awesome In Times album, and it’s at the three-fifty mark that the first blast beats rear their head, it’s brief but then it goes this whole other direction and, I wouldn’t say slow down; but Enslaved do this funky beat at the six-minute that is utterly uplifting to hear and it is what makes Enslaved the titans they are, because each song has it’s own identity while fitting perfectly with each other, like the cracks in the Arctic ice. At the end of it all is the incredible title track. “Heimdal” takes your ass on an eight-minute journey, changing time before hitting a beastly pace, at the six-minute mark that continues to crack skulls until the marvelous outro.

Heimdal is enormous. It’s synonymous with a boat ride across the vast, frozen seas to unknown lands; an album filled with sorrow, rage, revenge and the indomitable spirit of humanity. If you’ve never heard Enslaved, maybe you’re one of those “y’know, I’ve always heard of them but never really listened to them” sort of person… you need to hear this record, and then go back and listen to their discography and smack yourself for not doing this sooner. This is a pure, Norwegian Black Metal Viking Metal album that bristles with mighty riffs and pounding drums, goddamn, the time change at the five-six-minute mark in “Heimdal” is colossal which is why this is such an exciting album, it’s like an aural battery pack to fill the soul with courage and honor.

Obviously, I cannot recommend Heimdal enough. It rises like a dragon from the endless sea, trapping ships in its thrashing jaws. So, for fans of… let’s see; Satyricon, Emperor, and Amon Amarth (only by the Viking aspect though). At this point in their stellar career, they have nothing to prove, every album is an exploration into what Black Metal can be. Expanding on the spirit of the 90s, while cracking into 2023 with an album this phenominal.

In case you missed it, the band has just recently released a four song EP entitled Caravans to the Outer World, and if you did miss it I could undertsand why, as the band has also just recently released four smatterings of live releases. I get not resting on your laurels, but that kind of prolificness is more than a damn bit impressive. If you liked what was going on with the sounds of Utgard then you will definitely be satisfied with Caravans…Yeah, there’s only four tracks, two of which are instrumentals, so your’e not getting a massive amount of jams, but what you do get is extremely worth it.

A little wind and bass start things out on the EP’s title track, mixing quietly with synths and some “light” guitar before the track explodes out into a nice ripping form of 21^st century Enslaved. While the track is a bit more straightforward and aggressive, there are still ample amounts of what makes Enslaved well, Enslaved. Familiar riffing melds with Grutle’s blackened rasp nicely, as the song’s main riff gets stuck in your head. Throw in some great soloing and some well placed blasts behind some clean crooning and “Caravans to the Outer Worlds” really takes on a life of its own.

Fading right into “Intermezzo I – Lӧnnlig. Gudlig”, we get some trippy/proggy key-work paired with a simple accent riff and a halftime rolling snare fill before the track finds itself in proper full on band form half way in. Becoming guitar dominant, the drums and bass move along with the guitars in a simple mid-tempo half jam, half exorcism relief. While not an intense track by any means, it still manages to crush in that relieving feeling it provides. Up next we get a bonafide sequel track with “Ruun II – The Epitaph” and if truth be told, I may just like this track better than its orginal namesake. Progressive strumming and synths combine in a build up of Melechesh flavored proportions while some terrific clean vocals help in the feeling of something ready to explode forth at any moment. The song finally “breaks” around the 4:00 minute mark, but in a massively subdued way, becoming laid back and almost meditative in its presentation.

Closing out this brief affair is “Intermezzo II – The Navigator”, beginning with a prog infused awesomeness, the song breaks into a simple driving little riff about a minute in, while some psychedelic-isms of keyes and frets begin to swirl the ears and the mind’s eye as well, before fading out all too early leaving just a twinge of not being fully satisfied, and while that kind of irks me a bit, it also leaves me anticipating their next ventures even that much more. All in all, this four song EP doesn’t really help or hurt the namesake that is Enslaved. The fact is if you dig the band, then you’ll enjoy this. If you don’t, you won’t. But lets be honest, how can someone not like this band?

This deep into a career, one could be forgiven for wondering out loud what could Enslaved possibly offer different on full length number 15 (!). If you don’t believe the answer to that is “a lot,” then why are you here? So, you know, fuck around and find out, as the kids say.

Let’s start with the first track, “Fires in the Dark.” It begins with some chanting, which is probably just the beginning of some weird Democratic blood orgy (by “weird,” I mean “sexy”). Look, if you’re not into blood orgies, why are you even listening to metal? After the chanting, which lasts about 30 seconds, there’s a quick clean guitar part before the track really gets going. The chanting comes back briefly, too. Before the second minute, those familiar black metal rasps take over with an epic backdrop. Not too long after that, the familiar, almost gothic cleans make an appearance. It’s no surprise they switch off frequently with the black metal rasps. If you couldn’t tell by the long paragraph here, the opening track has multiple changes, but is well written as seemingly each one makes a repeat appearance. A great opening track from these guys. I do not apologize for the lengthy opining.

The next I wish to mention is track 4, “Homebound,” which was the first single released for the album and it’s easy to see why. Beginning with a bit of a bouncy, progressive riff, it quickly transitions into the black metal rasps. Of course, there’s a tasty chorus section and a fantastic, melodic guitar lead after the chorus. After the lead, there’s a clean section, back into the rasps, then the chorus. Small adjustments to your typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus formula such as this are why Enslaved are so revered in metal circles.

Directly afterwards is “Utgardr,” which has some strange spoken word, too. I say “strange” because it’s in Norwegian and I don’t speak the language. It sounds like an invocation, but it’s probably an ancient spell and you’re now all pregnant for having heard it. However, it’s a short interlude and does lead well into the next track, which is called “Urjotun.”

“Urjotun,” starts out sounding a lot like some video game fight music and borderline surf rock. Those surf rock vibes go away quickly, though. For the remainder of the track, the black metal vocals and cleans switch off harmoniously. In a track like this, though, those black metal rasps hit hard and sound positively feral. The juxtaposition is enthralling. When I mentioned above that Enslaved can do whatever they want, I meant it… and they take advantage of it.

Onward to “Storms of Utgard,” which is not the closer but it is the title track, so I believe it bares mentioning. It’s a quick little track very light on the vocals side. Both the cleans and black metal rasps are there, but in short supply as the music carries it. Specifically, the progressive side of Enslaved’s black metal hippy side carries it.

This can also be said for the closer, which is called “Distant Seasons.” It’s short, uses clean vocals exclusively, and is definitely more of a progressive rock track, maybe even gothic, as opposed to their typical progressive black metal. The vocals are predictably stellar, but as mentioned before, they’re all clean. There’s nothing wrong with that when the execution is masterful.

So, let’s quit screwin’ around and get to the verdict. One factor which had me a little lukewarm on Enslaved’s previous few albums was the length (insert dick joke here). That has been addressed this time. Instead of eclipsing an hour, this one sits around 45 minutes. So, that’s positive. It’s also well written, well produced, well executed, catchy, and fun. There are very few negatives, but they exist. Mostly, at the end of the day, if you’ve heard Enslaved since they predominately dropped the black metal, then you’ve heard this style and this album. Admittedly, as mentioned before, because of the replay ability which can be attributed to the shortened runtime, it has a little more staying power for me. However, if you don’t like modern Enslaved (and you’re probably not reading this if you don’t), then you’ll pass on this one. However, if you’re into it (and you damn well should be), then this album is for you and you’ll enjoy the ever-loving shit out of it.

M actually stands for E and is a reference to the ruin “ehwaz”. E is quite the transitional record for Enslaved in that it is the first record featuring new Keyboardist/Vocalist Hakon Vinje.  Vinje had previously worked with guitarist Ivar Bjornson and bassist Grutle Kjellson on the project Skuggjsa. E opens with “Storm Son” which may be the anthem track of the album.  At almost eleven minutes long the album opener slowly builds with a bellow and a blow of a horn and add in some neighing horses and you get a segue into a beautiful arpeggiated chord line with some subtle fuzz behind it to give the track some extra ambience.

Once the verse kicks in I must admit I was not expecting such a progressive forward effort.  The grim parts on this track and throughout the album are quite subtle.  For fans of older Enslaved this might not be up your alley as to me it feels a bit like a different band but given their massive body of work it is difficult to call this a bad album by any means. “Sacred Horse” might appeal more to older Enslaved fans as it sounds like a more traditional Enslaved black metal song. This is probably one of the more aggressive tracks on E.  Being that most of the tracks on E are around ten minutes long it takes a bit of commitment and patience to get through each track but there is enough variety throughout that I didn’t find myself losing interest often.

Tracks like “Feathers of Eolh” on the other hand shift the groups focus back to more progressive folk elements. If you are a fan of Enslaved you will more than likely appreciate this effort as the record sounds fantastic and the performances are solid throughout.  The additional of a new vocalist brings a new dimension to the groups evolving sound.  Maybe not their strongest record but definitely one of their most transitional ones. Check it out.

 At first glance, In Times is a short affair with only 6 tracks. That is a little misleading due to the fact that each track is at least 8 minutes with “In Times” being the lone song to break the 10 minute mark. “Thurisaz Dreaming” opens the album with maniacal speed then takes a slight turn to some midpaced proggy type cleaner parts. Grutle’s vocals haven’t missed a beat over the years and if anything can be said, it’s that they are even more abrasive. I can tell that they aren’t as high pitched as they once were but they seem to be a little more “throaty”. Herbrand’s cleans are very front and center with, at times, sounding like he can give Borknagar a run for their money in the ability to sound beyond majestic. “Building with Fire” follows suit and this song is fucking great. The cleans on this album give this album such an amazing atmosphere and sheen that I can see a lot of “purists” shaking fists and angrily disregarding this as pure blasphemy. I, on the otherhand, welcome it. Variation is always crucial and Enslaved have it in spades. The song is very midpaced in form and function. There’s an actual punk-like bass breakdown midway through the track but the main clean vocal verse seems to be the sun as to which this solar system of a song revolves around.

“One Thousand Years of Rain” has a punkier, ubeat backbone that is interspersed with some choppier, metallic parts but those aren’t very abundant. Herbrand’s vocals are scattered throughout and Grutle handles the bulk of the song. He very much enunciates a lot on this track and, at times, he reminds me of the vocalist from Nekrogoblikon (mainly their first album Goblin Island). It comes off slightly comedic which is unfortunate because I know that wasn’t the intention. I can’t help but make that comparison. The song definitely ends on a good note with some upbeat double bass and heavier guitar that gallops along. “Nauthir Bleeding” starts out very soft with Herbrand’s clean vocals. It seems to be a wholly different band. There’s some layered, barely audble background vocals (that seem to happen a lot on this album that I failed to mention earlier) and then it busts into some very atmospheric metal. The term majestic can certainly be attributed to this part. A scattering of symphonic synths and a really sweet solo solidify this song as probably the strongest on the album. Maybe second strongest. It gains intensity towards the end (pretty much right after the solo) and spends time between the slower midpaced parts and the heavier metallic parts to finish.

The title track could fit in on either Isa or Ruun. It starts off with a choppy guitar riff that isn’t too heavy on the distortion with a reverbed/echoed solo in the background. Some more wailing/singing stuff happens during this. At around the 2:30 mark the vocals and riffage kick in. Grutle seems to be hitting some wonderful lows on this album that tend to follow some of his throatier croaks. There’s an almost Pink Floyd/(later era) Opeth break down part that definitely has spaceey prog rock written all over it. A definite positive for those that expect some random things from Enslaved. “Daylight closes the album out with the most aggressive sound other than “Thurisaz Dreaming”. A very midtempo jaunt with some layered harsh & clean vocals. It reminds me a little bit of Solefald in that aspect but a little less bizarre. A very quiet part occurs around 3:00 that kind of threw me for a loop. An abrupt change in pace, tone, and feeling. It’s borderline post rock. A very interesting sidestep that picks up tempo around 4:20. Some layered cleans and some slightly distorted guitar. The song title is “Daylight” and that fits the feeling that is evoked. A slight Alcest (from their Shelter album) vibe could be gathered. Hopeful, earnest, and very very fucking random. They get back into the aggression around 6:30 and the song seems to have come full circle.

This album, in the realm of Enslaved, is truly a wonderful listen. The musicianship is very much what it has been over the course of the last 6 albums, the vocals are ever evolving/adjusting with age, and the songs are still as Enslaved-ish as ever. If you didn’t care for them before, you won’t care for them now. If you thought that some of their later releases were less than their earlier work, then this album won’t be for you. If you can appreciate what the band has done with their sound and you enjoy taking that journey, then this album is very much worthy of a listen or two. It won’t change minds, blow away expectations, or define a genre. It is what it is and that happens to be a solid entry in a solid lineup of albums by a very interesting band.

First off, a bit of context. Axioma Ethica Odini brought back the feral aggression and power that was somewhat absent from the ‘Floyd-ian and softer (relatively speaking) progressive wanderings of Vertebrae, but rather than stay put, RIITIIR proves to be an even more protean and shape-changing beast – as Axioma‘s closing moments in “Night Sight” and “Lightening” (plus the very exploratory Sleeping Gods EP) already suggested. This is the most aggressively daring collection of songs the band has put out since Monumension and Mardraum, but it also pulls in the dynamics, masterful clean singing, soaring melodies and yes, ’70s swagger that the band fine-tuned on Isa and Ruun. So there’s a lot of potential here to blend all of those elements into exciting and progressive compositions, and with “Death in the Eyes of Dawn,” and the epic album centerpiece, “Roots of the Mountain,” Enslaved succeeds magnificently.

“Death in the Eyes of Dawn” is the best-written, most cohesive track on the album (and not surprisingly, the one that reminded me most of Opeth, although even Akerfeldt’s work is sometimes more restless). The song seems to reach back through the ages, as if the band sliced into their veins and dripped their Viking heritage into a progressive metal paean that just oozes with grandeur. After opening with a rangy, mid-paced riff over stately keyboards, it crawls through a haze of progressive murk and snarled spoken-word. Then it crests into a gorgeous, ringing chorus that trades off between Larsen’s rich, supple vocals and Grutle’s subterranean croak – an approach which is repeated often throughout the album. Ivar’s guitar solo following the second chorus rises to an even more impressive summit – I can’t recall ever hearing something quite so fluid or rhapsodic from him.

That is, of course, until you get to the absolutely triumphant melodies shot through almost all of “Roots of the Mountain.” The rippling dual guitar lead at the 3:45 alone is worth the entire song – it’s godly and unrestrained, and you wish it would go on forever, but then there’s the heart-rending and glorious final two minutes to look forward to, and those are even better. Even given its batshit blackened berserker opening and bizarre, proggy mid-song lurch, “Roots of the Mountain” is just a tremendous and joyful peak in Enslaved‘s career – the sound of a band confidently and exuberantly embracing their unique dual identity. It’s so confident, in fact, that even Larsen’s soprano vocals throughout the song don’t sound out of place so much as they just feel honest and from the heart.

After such stirring and cathartic heights, the sedate and pensive pace of the rest of RIITIIR can’t be anything but frustrating, and although it has rarely lost my interest during my many listens – there’s just so much to take in on every track – it also never gets the blood pumping or sets the spirit on fire. Previously, the band’s progressive wanderings have rarely taken them far from their black metal beginnings – as speedy, jagged discography favorites like “The Dead Stare,” “Fusion of Sense and Earth” or “Violet Dawning” capture – but much of RIITIIR seems weighed down by sludgy mid-tempo riffs and equally sleepy clean croons.

“Veilburner” is a perfect example of this. It starts with an admittedly cool stomp, but then wanders off into a sing-songy melody and a dull chorus which is only made more interesting by the layered vocal approach of Larsen’s cleans over Grutle’s guttural growls. Almost 7 minutes long and I didn’t feel like I was taken anywhere really special in all of that time (the fact that it’s sandwiched between the album’s two most dynamic and exciting tracks doesn’t help either). “Materal” starts like like a droning Alice in Chains number, but then twists into something more blackened and insidious – an improvement –  and also features another rhapsodic guitar solo halfway through. Still not something I’m dying to skip to, though.

The title track has a bit more life as well- it kicks off with a swaggering Mastodon riff and features a briefly thrashy bit towards the end – but it too is weighed down by overly dreamy clean melodies. In fact, Mastodon popped in my head more than a few times during RIITIIR, but not the cool, sledgehammer-toting, shaggy-stoner-riff, crazy-octopus-drumming Mastodon – instead it was the overwrought noodling of Blood Mountain or the more dull and amelodic parts of The Hunter.

I’m also torn on the opener, “Thoughts Like Hammers,” which features the same amount of twists and turns as “Death in the Eyes of Dawn” or “Roots of the Mountain,” and starts the album with a monstrous lurch, yet its melodies aren’t as grand, and the sing-songy cleans don’t soar as high, and so it just feels like a summit barely glimpsed. Oddly enough, the one noodly segment on the album that has seemed to annoy everyone else – the very proggy keyboard odyssey in the middle of album closer “Forsaken” – sounded really cool to me, so much so that I wish there were more of it.

If this sounds unfair, perhaps it’s because I’ve been spoiled by some fantastic peaks elsewhere on the record, and also much tighter and compelling songwriting on albums like Isa and Ruun. I just went back and listened to Monumension again recently in preparation for this review, and it’s a lot closer to RIITIIR than I originally thought. It too has plenty of long, drawn-out and exploratory songs with slower, doomier riffs, but it also had a bizarre and outlandish energy all its own, which I don’t really get from this one.

Once again, I always look forward to a new Enslaved album as I am always assured of a unique and immersive journey, but I just couldn’t get swept away this time. If all of RIITIIR were composed of triumphs like “Death in the Eyes of Dawn” or “Roots of the Mountain,” or featured more of the satisfying melodies and groove that continues to keep Ruun at the top of my list, then this wouldn’t just be my pick for the year and my favorite album in Enslaved‘s discography, but likely one of the crowning achievements of progressive metal’s last decade. Oh well, at least that cover art is amazing.

Norwegian progressive extreme metal band ENSLAVED have unveiled the track listing to their twelfth studio album, RIITIIR, on their official Facebook page.

“It has been only two years since we last released an album [2010’s award-winning Axioma Ethica Odini], and we’ve been touring Europe and North America several times since then,” reflects ENSLAVED guitarist, songwriter, and founding member Ivar Bjørnson. “Some might think that this schedule, and the fact that we celebrated our 20^th anniversary last year, should result in some time off in the end.  Nah.  Like a space vessel that gains momentum by entering slingshot-orbits on its way through space, we seem to gain speed, direction, and strength on our journeys, through new releases and subsequent tours.

“Describing the sound on the new album is both easy and hard,” Bjørnson continues. “It is easy because it sounds like ENSLAVED, whatever that means.  It is hard because there are so many layers and different focal points.  I have a feeling that it has a deeper complexity than our previous efforts, but at the same time, I do find it more catchy and moving.  Then again, I am the opposite of objective in this, so again I’ll leave it up to the people outside the band to make up their mind.”

The track listing for RIITIIR’s European and North American digi-pak is as follows:

01. Thoughts Like Hammers

02. Death In The Eyes Of Dawn

03. Veilburner

04. Roots Of The Mountain

05. Riitiir

06. Materal

07. Storm Of Memories

08. Forsaken

The track listing for RIITIIR’s 2 LP double-gatefold is as follows:

Side A:

01. Thoughts Like Hammers

02. Death In The Eyes Of Dawn

Side B:

01. Veilburner

02. Roots Of The Mountain

Side C:

01. Riitiir

02. Materal

Side D:

01. Storm Of Memories

02. Forsaken

RIITIIR is due out in Europe on September 28^th and in North America on October 9^th.

Grutle Kjellson: Very good, actually. Pretty good turnouts due to the fact that there are a lot of tours going on at the same time.

Who’s your biggest competition right now?

I know that there’s Black Label Society with Children of Bodom, there’s Nile and Keep of Kalessin, there’s Watain, so we’re competing with four or five other tours.

I would think that this is the bigger draw though – isn’t this the first time that Enslaved and Dimmu Borgir have appeared together on a tour?

Yeah, actually, well, we had a European leg before this American leg, but this is the first time in the States. Though we did play a festival together back in ‘99, that was the first appearance together.

Well, hopefully it does really well for you guys because the new album is fantastic and it’s been getting tons of raves.

Thank you.

So let’s just jump right into that then. Axioma Ethica Odini. What does it mean and is there an overall theme for the album?

So Ethica Odini, the second part of the title, is the name of the Latin translation of the old Norse poem Haavamaal – it’s an old poem that’s survived orally for centuries before it was written down in Iceland in the 12th century, and translated into Latin in 1655, I believe.

It’s a poem with 164 verses and deals with well, old life wisdom – how one should deal with other human beings, towards nature, towards your own spirituality and so on. And there are a lot of ideas in that poem that have been lost for many centuries but still make sense in modern life. So that’s the red line through all the lyrics.

Obviously, Viking mythology has informed all of your albums – would you guys say that you’re well-versed in it? Do you get as well, “geeky” about it as Karl Sanders does with the lyrics for Nile? That’s a good thing, of course.

Well, it’s written down, but the language is kind of strange to most Norwegians nowadays because it’s written in a metaphorical, 8 or 900 AD Viking age poetic langauge. So we like to dig into it and find the initial meaning. That’s how “geeky” we are. (laughs)

Back to the title though, this book or poem is one of our biggest axioms, therefore Axioma Ethica Odini, like an absolute philosophical truth, as opposed to a scientific truth. An axiom is like an invincible truth.

So can you give an example of one of the axioms that you put forward on one of the tracks on the album?

The first song, “Ethica Odini,” deals with how you should always be aware of a situation before you act. Always use your eyes before you speak, use your ears and listen before you preach. Basically, beware. And try to stay sane.

The lyrics are still very mythological, so although there are a lot more personal and metaphorical elements, the mythological parallels are still there. You can find a lot of traces of that mythology, but you actually have to know the specific myths to find them. So that’s a little, how should I put it – easter eggs for the fans.

That’s great. It’s refreshing to actually have some content that’s worth reading into.

Yeah, I always write lyrics that you can just read as a piece of poetry, and there’s my initial meaning, but there’s also room for other people to interpret it their way. So it’s like a three-layered thing.

So let’s jump back to Vertebrae, which had a lot of your mellowest, most progressive moments to date, a lot of Pink Floyd elements bubbling up. But Axioma is much more aggressive, probably the most you’ve been since Isa. What brought about the shift?

Well, I wouldn’t say there was an actual shift in the inspiration or the actual music. I think if we’d used this production on Vertebrae it would have sounded totally different, so they’re actually not that far from each other. They would have sounded a lot more similar. It’s very organic though, that’s the way we wanted it to sound back then, so this time we wanted it to be more cutting-edge, with sharper guitars, a more ‘metal’ sound.

You guys changed recording locations and worked closer to home this time, right?

The keyboard player (Herbrand Larsen) and the guitar player (Ice Dale) have their own studio, and everything was recorded there apart from the drums, which were recorded in another studio in Bergen, which is run by a friend of mine. We wanted to record the drums there because you need a big room, so you can get the correct feedback from the room, from the wooden walls. The guys have kind of a small studio – not really suitable for the drum sound that we wanted.

You guys live in or near Bergen, right?

Yeah, I live in Bergen, everything was recorded there and then mixed in Sweden.

Did being closer to home make for an easier process?

Yes and no, I mean, if you are away and recording an album, it’s easier to stay focused all the time, and it’s a little more pressure. But on the other hand, if you have your own studio, and if you have the right focus, you are able to try out different ideas and focus more on the details.

So did you have any successful experiments or iterations this time?

Yeah, we did a lot of experimentation with the guitars and the bass sound, moving the microphones around, and spent hours to find the right sound. So that’s the biggest benefit to recording on your own, spending the time to find the ideal sound, or at least the closest you can get to ideal.

What about the track “Night Sight,”then. That’s somewhat of an experiment – it’s got a very distinct ‘70s vibe to it. What inspired that sound?

Well, it sounded a lot different to begin with, actually. It wasn’t supposed to be that way at first. Ivar made the riffs and a pre-production version, and then he and I just wanted to change it, to make it really mellow, and then explode into the rest of the song. So we cut away all of the aggressive guitars and kept a really mellow, down-to-earth sound, with mellow vocals and bass, and we actually used a different drum kit on that part too. An old, small 70s drum kit.

You guys like that contrast? You think you’ll do more like it in the future?

Oh yeah, we love contrast. And the idea behind the song was to use the dynamics as much as possible. That was the whole idea, actually.

Jumping back to albums like Blodhemn and Mardraum – it seemed to me that there was a really definite shift there in your sound too. At what point did the progressive or psychedelic elements you’re using now really come into play?

Well, it actually happened a lot earlier, on Frost I would say.

Okay, right, and the keys on Vikingligr Veldi.

Yeah, that was more like traditional, epic extreme metal, longer songs. But on Frost we started to experiment with clean vocals and odd beats and stuff like that. Still very aggressive, but I think those elements have just become more and more evident in the music over time. It wasn’t really a conscious move either – we don’t have any plans or rules or boundaries, and we just include whatever we feel. We’re not afraid of using any kind of inspiration.

Which is fantastic, because as a listener, every album has unveiled something new. I just remember with Vertebrae, the Pink Floyd really hit me full on.

(Laughs) Yeah, we listen to a lot of Pink Floyd. We like the music from the 70s in general, like Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Gentle Giant, all those good bands.

Most metalheads that are into you guys do too. No surprise. Speaking of metalheads, you guys are heading somewhere where there are apparently a lot of them. You’re heading to India next, right?

Yeah, for the second time. We went over in 2007 as well.

I wasn’t aware of that. I saw a documentary called Global Metal, and Maiden played there and the crowd was going batshit berserk, but it seemed like they were one of the first bands over there. How was your reception when you played?

Well, there are a lot of people in India, and obviously some of the people are into metal too, so the last time we were there the audience was maybe between eight and ten thousand.

Wow.

Yeah, it was maybe the biggest cultural coalition I had ever seen (laughs). You had metalheads with turbans and Venom shirts going like AAARGGHHH!! And women with saris and sarongs, dancing in trance to the music, it was crazy (laughs).

It might sound weird, but the difference between us and that kind of Indian folk music, and the distance from that music in energy, well, it’s not that dramatic actually when you compare it to extreme metal. It’s very easy for Indians to adapt to it.

So does that mean we can expect an Indian crossover Enslaved album one day? I’m joking, of course.

Hey, we could have some sitar and stuff, it’s not impossible.

Yeah, you could do a whole album depicting the Vikings going to all of the different cultures that they encountered and fought against, where each song has different elements from those cultures woven in.

(Laughs) Well, we never reached India you know. Pretty close though.

Well okay, America then. Native Americans. Those Indians.

Yeah, in Newfoundland. They kicked our asses and threw us out again. (Laughs)

* * *

Enslaved are currently on tour with Dimmu Borgir.

They set out to sea as young men, warriors, berserkers. Clashed, screamed and battled their way through early Viking black metal epics like Vikingligr Veldi, the Hordanes Land split with Emperor, then Frost, Eld and Blodhemn.

Lured by promise of greater spoils and darker bloodshed, they ventured too far out to sea and became lost in the swirling mists. Out there, at the edge of the world, the men encountered strange sights and ghostly voices, and sought to make sense of them on peculiar and experimental albums like Mardraum: Beyond the Within and Monumension. And then somehow, Enslaved found their way back to shore.

Back home again, but changed – now madmen and maniacs, screaming to all who’d listen of what they’d seen and survived. The music had changed as well – a hybrid, post-black attack of jagged riffing and soulful, swooning psychedelia. With Below the Lights, Isa and Ruun after that, the balance of madness to clarity shifted, little by little – those black metal berserkers became seers and visionaries. Their message became calmer, clearer and more entrancing than ever. Until at last, with Vertebrae, it seemed the fires were dying down and the once-fierce warriors were simply content to rest and weave their grand stories.

But that is not the end of the saga. Those of you that thought that Vertebrae’s blooming harmonies and mellow, stately pace signaled the end of Enslaved’s rage were mistaken.

Axioma Ethica Odini, Enslaved’s 11^th full-length, shows that these shaggy grey sages still have some chaos left in them yet. It retains the atmospheric texture and majestic, Floyd-ian melody from Vertebrae and Ruun, but brings back the raw, clattery aggression from Isa, Below the Lights, even Blodhemn. It’s the perfect culmination of the last several albums, and for those of you who lamented Enslaved’s recent direction, this will bring you back home as well.

For the first half of the album, songs like “Ethica Odini,” “Raidho” and “The Beacon” begin as relentless, scrambling gallops, their hoofbeats churning up gravel while Grutle seems to spew it from his ragged, cawing throat. And then, in the choruses, he switches off with keyboardist Herbrand Larsen, so that we go from gargled blood to silky, honey-mead croons. These moments are yearning, heroic, and more confident than they’ve ever been. Perhaps all that time spent on tour with Mikael Akerfeldt and company last year provided some inspiration.

The Opeth similarities end there, though. The album definitely has its share of shifting dynamics, but it’s not the balanced back-and-forth that you usually hear from Akerfeldt’s compositions. Most times you hear one of Larsen’s flowing, clean vocals, it’s accompanied by Grutle’s bestial vocals as well. There are plenty of progressive moments throughout the songs, but they’re rarely as ethereal or sweet-sounding as the softer moments of Vertebrae. Axioma Ethica Odini is overall rougher and more discordant than we’ve heard from Enslaved in awhile.

For the most part, it’s faster too. But then we also have slow, doomy stompers like “Waruun,” which staggers this way and that like a drunk raider with a faceful of volcanic shards (until it, too, brightens and soars). Later, “Giants” lumbers like its namesake, its head above the clouds and bellowing clean, shamanic vocals that echo down into the valley below.

After “Giants,” there’s a noticeable shift in songwriting, as the remaining three tracks become choppier and more disconnected than the first half of the album. Flow and melody are largely sacrificed for a more aggressive experimentalism, at times harkening back to Mardraum or Monumension. I had particular difficulty in connecting with “Singular,” which should have been the album’s progressive, epic crescendo – an “Api-Vat” or a “Neogenesis.” Instead, its flow left me confused and its clean moments failed to move me. “Night Sight” is a bit better, given its smooth 70s psychedelic feel, but it’s here that I wished Enslaved would embrace their softer side with abandon and just deliver a full-on ballad rather than an odd hybrid.

Album closer “Lightening” fares the best of all of these, but it’s also a real grower. Its loping pace and plaintive croon take some getting used to, but once the murk drifts away and the majesty of the chorus shines through (a bit too abruptly), it’s like getting an unbroken view of the northern lights on a cloudy night. Definitely worth waiting up for, and an appropriately transcendent ending to one of Enslaved’s most invigorating albums yet.

As its title suggests, Axioma Ethica Odini is a reaffirmation of Enslaved’s core values. In recent years, the band has shown themselves to be dreamers, explorers and mystics – but this is a clear reminder that their boats are still moored on black metal’s rocky shores, and those berserkers and warriors still remember the bloodshed of their early days. So do not be afraid. The madmen at the edge of camp may stink of filthy furs, and their shrieks may drive the others away, but their eyes are as clear as ice and moonlight. And there are stories there to be learned.

Don’t worry, Vertebrae is just as unapproachable to mainstream music listeners as Frost so no one can throw around the sell out tag. Until they switch to verse chorus verse structure and whine about relationship issues they will still be relevant to metal fans but how relevant depends on your tolerance for bending the boundaries. The list of bands that have moved on to critical acclaim and left me behind is a long one with the likes of Amorphis, Anathama, Therion, My Dying Bride, Arcturus, etc. yet Enslaved moves more and more toward Pink Floyd, a band I have always despised, and I am still here. I think they could record the theme song to Sesame Street and I’d like it. They still remember their origins. No matter how far afield they wander they are always grounded by deep musical roots. After listening to this album I felt the need to pull out Phobia. I swear elements in use today were swirling around in their heads even way back then.

If I rattled off my top twenty five Enslaved songs only one is post Mardraum, and once again nothing off this album will get a spot so I have had to do what many fans do, split at Mardraum, post and pre, and start a new list of favorite songs, to which I think “Reflection” might just join the ranks with “Sigmundskvadet”, “Queen of the Night”, and “The Cromlech Gate” on the tail end of the list.

The first song on Vertebrae that caught my attention was “New Dawn”, and my favorite song would have to be “Reflection,” just amazing. Honorable Mention, “Center,” with its rougher vocals interesting melodies and effortless flow. After living with this disc for a while I have come to the same conclusion I always do. Enslaved are the kings of extreme metal and I am too dense to remember this. I’ll have to erect a rune stone to that effect here in my dooryard so I don’t have to go through all this brain warping next time.

After writing this review I went to the Enslaved website to snag the cover art and discovered this gem: “Vertebrae is a travel through the history of the band, looking both back to the roots of grim black metal and into the future of progressive melancholy ala Tool and Pink Floyd.” That is really all you needed to know.

The songwriting is more straightforward, but track to track there’s surprises for those paying attention. In many respects, I see it as a return to the Vikingligr Veldi era with a modern edge.
I could agree with that to some extent. It has some of the same basic rules; each riff/part is given more room to roam and to develop within the mind of the listener. It is not as lengthy as the first mentioned; maybe due to having learned to find the limitations of droning in Enslaved songs? [laughs]

The guitar work especially is vibrant. From the great riff of the title track to the warm, inviting solo at the end of “Bounded by Allegiance.” I think you’ve outdone yourselves on ISA.
Thank you! I am totally into the leads too. My favorite is the leads towards the end of’ ‘Neogenesis’. I am only sorry to say that I am not playing any of the leads; that credit has to go to Arve. Yet I feel that also the rhythm guitar performance is the best I/we have done so far. The sound is powerful and the riffs are really emphasizing the ‘Enslaved sound’.

Is there a concept here? The song transitions starting at “Lunar Force” to “Ascension” are tied together.
There is no concrete concept, like for instance Monumension had. It is more a collection of songs that has the same coloring, the same feeling to them. They are linked somehow to the center of the album; the rune ISA. They all reflect the element of ice, the condition of stillness, the basic and unchangeable structures.

Do you think it’s the material as well as the production? I’ve always felt the production aspect of Enslaved changed the energy of the band record to record. ISA in many respects is open, warm yet very metal; kinda like if Opeth recorded Infernal Overkill.
That’s maybe a bit strong? [laughs] The production fits the music very well this time in my opinion. We wanted the drums to be more distinct, the guitar more massive and the sound in general to be more of an icy wall than before. It is nicely balanced out as there is a lot of energy and fire energy within the material.

I heard there were some stressful times recording ISA. Why was the album so rushed?
It was a nice example of how a small events can affect a larger process in a big way. We had the recording session booked well in advance. The same for the mixing. It was planned to go into mixing a week or so after the recording. So far so good. Then the mixing guy calls and cancels due to double booking or some lame excuse he made up. Luckily, Lars Klokkerhaug from Sub Sonic Studios (Red Harvest, Dark Throne etc.) stepped up and cleared room in his studio for our mixing. Also add a change of plans within several of the distribution offices concerning period of time between finished mastering and release date, and you’ve got quite a rush. Luckily, we work well under pressure, so it all turned out for the best.

I’ve always felt you strayed from the path of making albums. Blodhemn was step back to the savagery of metal, while Beyond the Lights was more elusive and angular. There’s an unexpected element to Enslaved. ISA is a perfect example of that. Care to comment on Enslaved’s album to album mantra?
There is no mantra as such. There is no conscious decision to change in any particular direction or to be clever and chameleon-ish. There are simply the processes of making the songs and shaping them together into albums. Why albums come out the way they do are due to more subtle personal and sometimes subconscious reasons that I guess wouldn�t function too well anymore if they were looked into too closely. Does that make sense? I guess not, but it sure made me feel smart saying it. [laughs]

ISA is an adventurous turn for Enslaved. The vibe I get is that ISA is your concious creative choice to come out from the obscurity that is the metal underground. Was there a decision to bring the band back into the public eye?
Nope, sorry. But you’re not all wrong. There was a conscious effort from my side writing the songs to make the song structures more ‘streamlined’ than what was found on Below the Lights and definitely Monumension. The reason had nothing to do with the public, rather a specific wish from the two vocalists. They wanted more space and room for their vocal arrangements, and I think that trying this out really paid off.

I’ve felt with albums Mardraum through Below the Lights Enslaved tucked itself into the shadows of extreme metal. The albums weren’t traditional metal affairs, even by Enslaved standards. Care to comment?
I think we have developed into a band that is true to our own ambitions and work ethics, not necessarily a particular genre. It has always been within the Extreme Metal boundaries in my opinion, but I dare say that we have contributed to the development of Extreme Metal through straying off into the shadows?

How do those albums fit in the overview of Enslaved’s career? I’ve always felt the EP to Eld was the high point of Enslaved, but ISA changed that. It’s your best album to date.
Wow, I can only say thanks! I think each and every album has its place in our career; they all fill a function so to speak. Even the strangest of them all; Blodhemn, which doesn’t fit in in any logical way (at least in my opinion), has a valuable place in being an absolute breaking point between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ era. Mardraum and Below the Lights are important albums in two ways; they are in my ears discovering new land with the world of Extreme Metal, and secondly they are essential to the development leading to where we are today.

Where does ISA fit into Enslaved’s discography conceptually?
It is a stabilizing album conceptually speaking. Every album since Frost has dealt with change, tearing down structures and fire dynamics. ISA deals with halting, freezing and preserving, and it was a very important counterpart to the albums between ISA and Frost. Conceptually, it can be seen as a later parallel to Frost.

How has the new line-up changed Enslaved’s outlook as a band? The core of Enslaved has always been yourself and Grutle.
Most importantly they have added energy and a renewed focus, which was the lacking ingredients leading to the departures before they joined. The new line-up has been working really hard together, and we seem to agree a lot more on where to go than before. It only proves that Enslaved could survive almost everything as long as the core is intact.

Is the songwriting shared outside the core of yourself and Grutle? How’s the group dynamic different with Arve on second guitar instead of Roy?
Except from Cato adding some input to the arrangements, all the music and most of the lyrics was done by me; while Grutle did two and a half lyrics (we wrote ‘The Return to Yggdrasill’ together). The group dynamics with Arve are a lot smoother, as Arve is more into adding his talent to ‘spice’ what is already there, whereas Roy could sometimes try and use his genius to change Enslaved into more of a Roy enterprise.

Are Arve, Herbrand and Cato bringing a new breath of life into Enslaved?
Oh yes, you got that right. I guess it is evident from my previous answers; They are definitely an integral part in Enslaved being at its best at this point in time.

After the line-up changes on Monumension and Below the Lights, was there a conscious decision to find members who would facilitate the Enslaved vision?
Yep, it was clear that we had to find members that could go that extra mile with us. With Arve we knew he was right for the job, but both Cato (drums) and Herbrand (keyboards, vocals) we had a period where they functioned as session members before we became a steady five-piece.

In many ways ISA is like a new beginning for Enslaved. New line-up, new label and new album. There seems to be more energy on everything that surrounds the album.
Absolutely, in every aspect. Especially being on Tabu Records, with Plastichead doing the states, has been extremely important. Osmose Productions has always fulfilled their obligations and everything, but we haven’t actually worked with a label that believed 100 percent in what Enslaved were doing. To be honest, I think Osmose were hoping for us to move away from the experimental stuff and become a straight forward Viking metal band.

You’ve been recording as Enslaved for many years. Have there been points in the history of the band where you felt like giving up, shelving Enslaved? Interviews over the last few albums had an uncertain air to them.
Really? I know that we had a low point around Blodhemn, which was point of exhaustion before we found a ‘new’ direction; but I think we have had a motivated edge since then. Maybe you’ve mixed up an air of uncertainty with an air of mental illness? [laughs]

Do you feel the perception as a Viking metal band is finally done? In many ways it exists conceptually, but the literal aspect of it is removed from the early days.
Exactly! I think we are a Viking Metal band in essence, but we don’t use the term actively anymore. Extreme Metal more than covers it, I guess. The genre of Viking Metal has become thinned out quite a bit, and as you say. The literal aspect is more or less gone.

It was your most unique identifier when bands around you were black metal in the early ’90s. I think the most important identifier now is the music. It sounds like no one…That’s quite an accomplishment. But you could hear the ambition to be more than a copy of your neighbor as far back as the EP.
Thanks again, man. I think this observation is very true. As we have grown more confident in our core activity; music. I guess the visuals has become more subtle. We want to attract listeners, not sensation seekers.

Does the world outside of Bergen, outside of Norway influence the way you approach music? There’s a lot going on in the world.
I don’t think world events influence our music directly. However, Enslaved’s music is inspired partly by our own lives and thoughts, and I guess these are somehow influenced by what is going on out there.

How have world events shaped Norway? Have they affected your daily life?
I am not to sure about that. I guess our leaders have proved themselves to be without spines once and for all. I doesn’t affect my daily life besides taking away even more faith in various human cultures.

Speaking of going on, there’s rumors of a U.S. tour with labelmates Vreid. What can people expect?
Nothing is settled for the U.S. yet. We have a European/Scandinavian tour scheduled for February/March with Vreid, but nothing for the states yet. Hopefully that will change soon!

You’re touring in support of the release of ISA. What’s it like having more solid label representation in the U.S.? The previous license agreements have more or less put the record out without much commitment in building the band.
It feels great!! As you mention, the situation in the U.S. has been totally necro/crap for us during the period with Osmose Productions. Osmose could not cooperate with anyone over there, but now we are lucky to be handled by Plastichead U.S. The album is not out yet, but already I have a feeling that this will be a lot better than ever before.

Any final comments?
Thanks a lot for the interview and all your extremely great words on ISA. See you on tour over there! Stay in school!

[Enslaved]