Enslaved
Formed: 1991
From:
Haugesund,
Norway
Last Known Status: Active
Latest Enslaved News
Below is our complete Enslaved news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.
Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.
Displaying records 1 - 20 of 287 1 2 3 ... 14 15 Last
Dimmu Borgir Premiere New Single & Music Video
Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir have released a second single from their long-awaited tenth studio album, “Grand Serpent Rising.” The album—set for a May 22nd release—follows 2018’s “Eonian.” After first unveiling “Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel” with the album announcement, the band have now shared “Ascent,” accompanied by a music video directed by Patric Ullaeus (Arch Enemy, Amorphis).
Alongside delivering new material to fans, the band are also preparing to return to North America this summer for their first run there since 2018. The tour will feature support from Hypocrisy, Suffocation, and Hulder, with dates including: More...
Enslaved Releases New Two Song Single
Today, Norwegian progressive trailblazers Enslaved are honoured to reveal their latest creation - two unique recordings of sea shanties, made in collaboration with the Storm Weather Shanty Choir, who hail from Bergen, Norway's great sailing ship the Statsraad Lehmkuhl.
The shanties are titled "Fire Marengo" and "Anna Lovinda." "Fire Marengo" is a traditional shanty, whilst "Anna Lovinda" was written by the late sailor and Norwegian cultural figure Erik Bye.
Enslaved explained the collaboration:
"Enslaved was formed on the western edge of Norway, where mountains fall into the sea and history is carried by wind and tide. Bergen is not simply a coastal city; it is a threshold — between land and ocean, between myth and lived experience. The sea is not scenery here. It is memory, labour, departure and return.
"Among the most powerful living symbols of this heritage is Statsraad Lehmkuhl, the great Bergen tall ship that still sails the world’s oceans. Around this vessel lives and breathes the shanty tradition — songs born of rhythm, rope, salt, and collective effort. From this environment emerged Storm Weather Shanty Choir.
"Our connection to the ship began in 2014, when the Tall Ships Races concluded in Bergen. We were invited to compose and perform a commissioned piece on the deck of Statsraad Lehmkuhl. Metal echoed across the harbour that evening — a meeting of ancient wind-powered technology and modern amplified ritual. It felt less like contrast and more like continuity.
"Since then, a friendship has grown — particularly with Haakon Vatle, director of the ship’s foundation and one of Norway’s most devoted custodians of the shanty tradition. He often remarks that sailors were the first metalheads — people who faced elemental forces daily and answered them with song. There is truth in that. Shanties were not entertainment; they were functional incantations — rhythm as survival.
"In November 2025, during the choir’s 20th anniversary concert in Bergen, we joined forces on the traditional 'Fire Marengo' and the Norwegian shanty 'Anna Lovinda,' written by the late sailor and cultural figure Erik Bye. The collaboration felt less like fusion and more like recognition — two expressions of the same coastal inheritance meeting at the centre.
"After the performance, it was clear that this convergence should not remain ephemeral. We met again in early 2026 to record the material — not as novelty, but as continuation
"Because at the centre — at mið — we find not isolation, but shared origin. Wind, rhythm, voice. The same pulse that once moved sails now moves amplifiers. The same call-and-response that coordinated labour now shapes modern ritual.
"The sea remembers. And so do we." More...
Mystic Festival Adds Blood Fire Death To Lineup
They say that no one is irreplaceable. Well, that’s not entirely true… In 2004, the world of metal suffered an irreparable loss – Thomas “Quorthon” Forsberg passed away. The man who, under the sign of Bathory, singlehandedly changed this music and laid the foundations for contemporary black metal, and but a moment later, also for viking metal, forging the path ahead for the next generations of artists who combine the uncompromising nature of metal with their local, traditional culture.
In the summer of 2024, a black metal Quorthon tribute supergroup took the stage of the Norwegian Beyond the Gates Festival, performing the classic Bathory repertoire and proving that this flame is still burning. We are elated to announce that this special project, Blood Fire Death – A Tribute to Quorthon and the Music of Bathory, will come down to Gdansk in June to let you peek behind the gates of Valhalla.
The band will perform with the following line-up:
Erik Danielsson (Watain) – vocals
Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) – guitar
Blasphemer (Vltimas, ex-Mayhem) – guitar
Apollyon (Aura Noir) – bass and vocals
Faust (Djevel, ex-Emperor) – drums
They will be joined on stage by many distinguished guests… Their identities will soon be revealed.
The concept behind the Blood Fire Death – A Tribute to Quorthon and the Music of Bathory performance was conceived in line with Quorthon’s own conceptualisation of how a Bathory concert should be staged if his music were ever to be performed live.
Mystic Festival will take place in Gdansk, Poland at the Gdansk Shipyard on June 4th through 7th, 2025.
Tickets are available now on the Mystic Festival homepage here More...
Brutal Assault Announces All-Star Bathory Tribute
Twenty years after Quorthon's passing, his legend comes alive at a unique performance, which will bring the cult songs of Bathory - Blood Fire Death: A Tribute to Quorthon and the Music of Bathory at Brutal Assault led by members of Enslaved, Aura Noir, Watain, VLTIMAS, Mayhem and with a few more special guests! More...
Enslaved Premieres New Bonus Track "Gangandi"
Enslaved will mark the one-year anniversary of their latest album, "Heimdal," with a deluxe version set to release on March 1. The deluxe edition includes a bonus track titled "Gangandi," alternative versions of two album tracks ("Congelia" and "Forest Dweller") featuring cellist Jo Quail, and the complete recording of The Otherworldly Big Band Experience – a streaming event featuring Enslaved and fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant from 2022.
Check out "Gangandi" streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below.
Explains Enslaved vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson: More...
Enslaved Premiere New Live Music Video
Enslaved has debuted a live video for their song “Sequence,” filmed during the band’s 2021 livestream event, ‘The Otherworldly Big Band Experience’. This unique performance occurred on the winter solstice in Bergen, Norway, featuring the progressive black metal group alongside members of Shaman Elephant. Check out "Sequence" streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below.
Keep an eye out for the band on their upcoming tour alongside Svalbard & Wayfarer in the new year: More...
Report
Concert Report: Black Anvil, Insomnium, Enslaved
After a night of Gojira and Mastodon, I found myself in Berkeley the following night for another tripleheader.
First up was Black Anvil, the only band I hadn’t seen multiple times before.
Black Anvil’s 2022 release, Regenesis, made my list of best albums of the year.
Their quick set did not disappoint.
Insomnium, like Gojira the night before, is a band that I’ve always liked, but they’ve never quite crossed the rubicon into a band I would purposely play or follow with great interest.
The first time I saw them live, they were missing some key members—including Niilo Sevanen. That venue was miserable as well, so that evening didn’t leave a great impression on my mind.
The second time was at a festival, and I think their time slot overlapped with another band I wanted to see. Many other bands were more on my radar that day (Opeth, Bloodbath, Dark Funeral, etc.) so once again, not a huge impression from the partial set I witnessed on that 2017 day in Sweden.
This Berkeley show, though, was a whole different story. I thoroughly enjoyed their set from the outset until completion.
Insomnium has earned a place in my permanent music rotation.
The setlist was heavy on their new album, Anno 1696. The album is great, but it only came out a few weeks ago so I wasn’t super familiar with all of the tracks.
Enslaved is one of my favorite bands and have been for more than 15 years. I’ve seen them many times and in several different countries. Between Insomnium and Enslaved, Blue Oyster Cult's "Secret Treaties" was played in its entirety over the PA. That's one of my Top 10 albums of all time so it put me in an even better mood. I didn't notice the rest of the audience appreciating it quite as much as I did.
I was very disappointed when Enslaved announced at the beginning of the tour that Ivar wasn’t going to be joining them due to a family emergency. I thought the sound would be way off without him—especially since they weren’t temporarily replacing him. Rather, they were going to go with just one guitarist, Ice Dale.
Ice Dale is a great guitarist, but when you listen to Enslave you can easily hear two different guitars frequently doing very different things. How was this going to sound good without Ivar?
The band members came out one at a time. Ice Dale went to the side of the stage without a microphone which was very odd given that two were on the front of the stage. My puzzlement was quickly solved when Ivar walked out last. Happiness filled me as I verbally welcomed him back. Grutle did the same, into the microphone for the entire audience to hear, a moment later.
This was my favorite Enslaved performance to date, eclipsing the time I saw them at the 2011 Getaway Rock Festival in Sweden.
Like Insomnium, Enslaved spent a large portion of their set on their new album, Heimdal. I suppose my only complaint is that they didn’t play for a longer period of time. I would have also loved to have heard tunes off of Ruun, Vertebrae, Aximoa Ethica Odini, and RIITIIR.
Another stellar evening! I drove the six hours home the next day with a smile across my face.
Exclusive
Monument Of Misanthropy Reveal New Album Details
European technical brutal death metal institution Monument Of Misanthropy have teamed up with Metalundergound.com to reveal the initial details for their third studio full-length. That upcoming album is titled "Vile Postmortem Irrumatio - Kemper" and the artwork for it, done by Ukrainian artist Andriy Tkalenko of Daemorph Art, can be seen in the video streaming below.
A 2023 release date is being eyed for the outing via Transcending Obscurity Records, which like its predecessor "Unterweger" is a concept album about a serial killer. This time around the band has decided to write an album based on the shocking life of the American serial killer Ed Kemper. Kemper was nicknamed the Co-ed Killer, as most of his victims were female college students hitchhiking in the vicinity of Santa Cruz County, California.
The group commented: More...
Enslaved Posts "The Eternal Sea" Lyric Video
Today, Enslaved are proud to release their latest avant-garde creation, "Heimdal." Their breathtaking 16th studio album is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. It's a record that points towards new beginnings, and a dawn that’s on the other side of the apex of the land. Prepare for a psychedelic journey through arcane Norse folklore, to connect with one's ancient ancestors and our future selves.
Enslaved's Grutle Kjellson commented:
"After more than three decades, I still get excited when I hear Ivar’s demos; we may be older now, and as life has evolved are unable to spend as much time on music as we would like, but the song writing process for Enslaved hasn’t changed much. Ivar works on the seeds and shapes of songs, sends them to the rest of us, and we’ll form our own narratives - these phantom sketches eventually come to life and they speak to us, and hopefully they speak to our fans as well.
"In my opinion, our band is even more creative, more experimental, more diverse and somehow more musical than when we started. I suppose one of the main reasons we continue as a band is that we have never reached a place where we bore ourselves. Our passion for telling stories, writing riffs, put words to them and exploring the human condition through music and myth, has only increased over the years and 'Heimdal' is a reflection of who we are as artists, musicians and human beings in the year 2023."
Enslaved has also revealed a masterly lyric video, created by Ingo Spörl, for album focus track, "The Eternal Sea," which can be seen below. More...
Insomnium Premiere New Single & Music Video
Arriving together with Insomnium‘s new studio album “Anno 1696” is a new Riivata Visuals directed music video for their single “Godforsaken“ from it, streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below.
Comments guitarist Markus Vanhala: More...
Enslaved Debuts "Forest Dweller" Music Video
Enslaved have released a new single and video from "Heimdal," their 16th studio album due out on March 3rd 2023. "Forest Dweller" launches with progressive splendor, guiding the listener into a churning, psychedelic journey through archaic Norse folklore. One might ask what lessons we can divine from our celestial ancestors? We might never understand their true intentions, but their echo will live on regardless.
Enslaved's Grutle Kjellson commented:
"To me 'Forest Dweller' was the most immediate song on the album, at least in its earliest form as an instrumental demo. I spent quite some time to get into some of the other songs of the album, but this one seemed somehow logical, well logical by Enslaved standards that is. I had an idea for a lyric, and Ivar’s amazing and diverse riffs on this one made it easy to pan out the scripture. I made a rough plan on what to sing over it, and we actually ended up using some parts of those recordings on the album!
"The song sort of showcases our representative samples of inspiration: Led Zep, Genesis, Destruction, Iron Maiden and David Bowie, to mention a schizophrenic tapestry of influences. It mirrors in the lyrics as well, which deals about both darkness and light in connection to the nature of Heimdal." More...
Enslaved Premiere New Live Video
Progressive black metal band Enslaved premiere a standalone live music video for their “Caravans To The Outer Worlds“, which will appear on the band’s upcoming new record “Heimdal”, due out March 03rd.
Explains singer/bassist Grutle Kjellson: More...
Insomnium Premiere New Single & Music Video
Finnish melodic death metal group Insomnium premiere a music video for their new single “White Christ“, which also features a guest spot from Rotting Christ mainman Sakis Tolis.
Check out now "White Christ" streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you below.
Comments guitarist Markus Vanhala: More...
Enslaved Set To Release New Album In March
Bergen visionaries Enslaved are proud to announce their 16th studio album, "Heimdal," set to be released on March 3rd 2023, via Nuclear Blast Records. Today's news is accompanied by the release of a blistering new single, titled "Congelia," alongside an emotive, environmental video.
Enslaved's Ivar Bjørnson & Grutle Kjellson commented:
"It’s quite weird, yet pretty awesome that we are now talking about the release of our 16th album; yes our 16th full-length album release. That’s not too shabby for a couple of scallywags from rural western Norway, is it? If you count our stint in the short lived Phobia-act, we have been playing together for no less than 32 years!
"In all these years, Norse mythology has been our umbilical cord to the realms of mysticism and philosophy, and our gateway to the realms of deep psychology and the esoteric worlds beyond. One of the most fascinating characters of our mythology is Heimdal, and he has been lurking around in our minds like an enigma for three decades now. His first appearance was in a song called 'Heimdallr' on our demo tape 'Yggdrasill' back in 1992, and he’s had both minor and more significant roles in our lyrical universe over the years.
"This time we have decided to dedicate an entire body of work to this most enigmatic of characters and richest of archetypes - we give you 'Heimdal.' We have reached deeper and scouted further ahead than ever before - the past, present and future sound of the band comes together in songs born from sheer inspiration - it is the common force of a close-nit group of friends and musicians." More...
Enslaved Premiere New Single & Music Video
Norwegian progressive black metal band Enslaved premiere their new track and accompanying music video “Kingdom”, streaming now via YouTube and Spotify for you below.
Explains guitarist/singer Ivar Bjørnson: More...
Enslaved Shares "Bounded By Allegiance" Live Video
Left-field metal luminaries Enslaved are proud to reveal their single and video for "Bounded by Allegiance - Live." The track, which originally comes from their ground-breaking album "Isa" (2004), sees a live recording detailing a new avant-garde interpretation of the song, with nuanced accompaniment by fellow psychedelic Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. This extraordinary performance took place on last year's Winter Solstice, via the stunning streaming event "The Otherworldly Big Band Experience."
Frontman Grutle Kjellson stated:
"So here’s a little memory from last year’s musical endeavor. Our 'Big Band' collaboration with Shaman Elephant was such a trip! It felt like, and indeed it was, an avalanche of locked up energy just bursting out. The streamed concert plus a small tour in Norway was pretty much the only shows we did in 2021, so the energy level was pretty much turned to 11, on all of us. All nine of us!
"'Bounded By Allegiance' was one of the first songs we thought would fit being dressed for a nine man outfit, with its natural percussive nature. We hope we were right, enjoy!" More...
Enslaved Premiere New Live Music Video
Enslaved premiere a new song live music video for “Bounded By Allegiance”, taken from the band's “The Otherworldly Big Band Experience” livestream online performance, that aied on December 21st, 2022.
Check out now "Bounded By Allegiance" streaming via YouTube for you below.
Explains Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson: More...
Enslaved Releases New Music Video
Enslaved's new EP "Caravans To The Outer Worlds" has today been released unto the universe, alongside a beautiful video for the track "Ruun II - The Epitaph." Viewers should note that the video is part two - a second part to the video which accompanied the EP title track.
A new cycle is underway, and Enslaved find themselves on a bridge between the archaic and the unmapped. "Caravans To The Outer Worlds" EP is a tale of departure, of leaving behind a barren and desolate world, travelling boldly into the future. There are outer worlds to go to and new havens to rebuild in, to invoke a new dawn and to defend the new world for those of Sense and Earth.
Grutle Kjellson stated,
"Releasing an EP is a huge privilege, it really is. It is somehow reliving to go on a stroll away from the the album format, and take some leaps into obscurity in between two full lengths. There’s so many great and experimental EP’s in music history; Magical Mystery Tour, Garage Days Revisited, Deathcrush, The Golden Years… just to mention a very few. We hope Caravans To The Outer Worlds, our third EP in 30 years, can fascinate and inspire."
Ivar Bjørnson stated,
"This EP is an expression of the vital state Enslaved is in – the idea to create a transitory release between Utgard and what is to come next logically led to the idea of an EP. Iver’s idea of adding short intermezzos between the two main songs gave this release even more energy and depth. This EP is one that points backwards towards our early works as well as forward to a yet unknown place we seem to be heading for." More...
Nifrost Premiere New Music Video
Norway's Nifrost premiere a new music video for “Orkja brotna”, taken from their new album "Orkja". The record was released in June by Dusktone and features guest appearances by Stian from Windir/Vreid, Espen from Mistur, and Iver from Enslaved.
Check out now "Orkja brotna" below.
Enslaved Premiere New Song & Music Video
A new Enslaved EP titled “Caravans To The Outer Worlds” will sbe released October 01st. You can stream the recently premiered music video for the title track via YouTube below.
Tells the official press release: More...