Genre: Viking Metal
Enslaved is a pivotal band in the current European death/black metal scene with a long, legendary and varied past. Originally forming in 1991 in Bergen, Norway, Enslaved has managed to stay relevant, original and influential over the last fifteen years (and nine full length releases) of its existence. Along side bands like Immortal, Darkthrone, Mayhem and Burzum, Enslaved forged the blistering sound that became Black Metal. However, they distinguished themselves from their compeers by branding themselves as “Viking metal,” openly treating themes from Norse myth and folk music in the context of Heavy Metal. For instance, the lyrics on their first full length, 1993’s “Vikingligr Veldi,” are written and sung in Old Norse. Throughout the nineties, Enslaved was the Viking Metal band par excellence. Albums such as “Frost” (1994) and “Eld” (1997) saw the band treating both mythic and historical material within strongly melodic and conceptual songs. The best example of this would be “793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne),” the opening epic track off “Eld,” commemorating the historic Viking raid on the Christian Anglo Saxon settlement of Lindesfarne, an event considered by many to have ushered in the Viking Age.
Then, at the turn of the 21 st Century the band sharply changed course and redefined the boundaries of what can be done in today’s “extreme” metal context. On “Mardraum - Beyond the Within,” (2000) the band brought together elements of hard rock, death metal, psychedelia and folk to create a complex masterpiece that never really settled on one style or approach. I remember being very exited at my first listen through this album, as it was refreshing to see a band so openly challenge themselves and their audience and have it “work.” The production gats murky at times, but the ideas are clear and were way in advance for their time.
The two follow up releases, “Monumension” and “Below the Lights” saw the band make a more experimental turn along side an open exploration of the Norse runes and rune-lore. It was also shortly after the recording of “Below the Lights” that the current formation of the band took shape. Over the years of varied styles and lineups, the constant within the band has been guitarist/keyboardist Ivar Bjørnson and bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson. Between the two, the vast majority of the Enslaved corpus has been conceived. Different musicians have participated in the group at different times, for instance the original drummer, Tyrm Torson, moved onto play with Emperor after the band’s first tour of the Canada, the US and Mexico. At the time of “Monumension” the band was a four piece with the addition of R. Kronheim on guitar and drummer Dirge Rep. Currently, Enslaved is a metal quintet featuring Bjørnson and Kjellson with full time keyboardist/vocalist Herbrand Larsen, lead guitarist Arve Isdal and Cato Bekkvold, the band’s newest drummer.
After a successful tour in 2003-4, this version of the band hit the studio to record “Isa” (the name for the 11 th rune of the Elder Futhark signifying “ice”). “Isa” (2004) saw the band make another compositional dovetail, this time towards a melodic accessibility. However this didn’t come at the expense of the intensity or “epic” style the band has become known for since “Mardraum.” “Isa” was also the band’s most successful album to date.
Now with “Ruun” (2006) we hear this same lineup of the band moving one more step into the realm of accessibility. The oblique experimentation of “Monumension” and “Below the Lights,” still a visible force on “Isa,” has now been all but subsumed within a more formal folk/rock/metal blend that sees the band once again departing for uncharted territory.
“Ruun” is the most controlled and best produced Enslaved offering to date. The songs are by no means simple or light listening fare, but they are probably more straightforward than some diehard fans might have been led to expect.
And while Enslaved is approaching a more accessible sound on “Ruun,” the album nonetheless still belongs to the world of metal and are a far cry from “pop.” To a certain extent, I see this newest album as a crystallization of ideas hinted at in “Mardraum,” but since abandoned during the bands experimental foray. To this extent, I hold “Ruun” in high regard as it demonstrates a band that is mastering it’s own sound.
I wouldn’t call “Ruun” a classic as I would its predecessor; but speaking as a fan of the band, Enslaved have yet to release a bad album.
The opening song’s straightforward rocking feel announces the overall mood of the album. “Entroper” is a brooding yet pummeling salute to the undying Promethean spirit of Loki that destroys as it creates. The song is as catchy as it is foreboding – “I will break the chains – I will slay the betrayers – one last time – The laughter shall resound.”
The album’s title track with its floating 7/8 spacey riff and ominous break in the middle (harkening back to the “Vikingr Veldi” days) capture the sense of voyaging within the world of the runes – “Communicating once again with Gods – Thread unto the impossible path – Talking with a different tongue – Heralding the unsung.” True to any mystery or secret, once one tries to “reach” for it the more it recedes from view.
While lyrically and conceptually rooted in the world of the Norse gods and Runes, Enslaved are slowly taking leave of these strict points of reference, aiming instead for the place where these archetypes become more universal. On this album, the word “rune” in used in its wider context of “mystery” (one of the earliest definitions given for the word) and so represents those aspects of a personality that are hidden from view yet somehow determine the shape of events.
The last four songs on the album showcase the chemistry of the latest Enslaved lineup. “Tides of Chaos” with its syncopated riff that hovers over the straight 4/4 rhythm gives off an almost Celtic rock feel before it is hypnotically permutated at the end. The song once again treats the mysteries of Loki who seems to ever be at war with life itself. “Essence” starts off with a mid tempo-rocking riff that later splinters off into a brutal blast of Viking Metal recalling the middle section of “Vetranótt” (off “Vikingr Veldi”). Lyrically it deals with the alienation from humanity that accompanies the exercise of will power. Ideals and morals are corrupted from this point of view – “it lasts forever when you let it go - purity and pain.” The last two songs treat different themes – “Api-Vat” deals with the awakening of universal memory and “Heir to the Cosmic Seed” is about the caprice of the immortal powers: “her splendor can cut you deep – her eyes can burn the fields” (referring here to the “evening star”).
Well this review has gone on and on! So much to say Enslaved have released another really good.
I highly recommend any album by Enslaved.
