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Sunday Old School: Enslaved

A couple of weeks ago, we concluded a month long look at the black metal genre, featuring such bands as Marduk and Sigh. While researching the feature, there seemed to be quite a few bands which began life as a black metal group, but had shed this style by their second album at the latest. One such band, who named themselves after an Immortal track, was formed by thirteen year old, Ivar Bjørnson and seventeen year old, Grutle Kjellson, and who were named, Enslaved.

The duo formed the group as a typical black metal band, but gradually brought in more eclectic influences and wrote songs much longer than many of their peers, moving them away from the black metal scene, although Enslaved’s first album, "Vikingligr Veldi," was released on Mayhem guitarist’s Euronymous', Deathlike Silence Productions label, albeit after he was murdered. The debut album contained only five songs but still clocked in at around fifty minutes, while being something of an oddity for containing lyrics mostly written in Icelandic, potentially because of its similarity to Old Norse. It was a very well received album and continues to be a favourite amongst fans to this day, with critics at the time claiming that the band were keeping younger Norwegian metal bands relevant.

Only six months after their debut, Enslaved released their sophomore full length, "Frost," which like its predecessor, was very well received and is considered a significant entry into the field of Viking Metal. It also represented a step up in creativity for the band, no longer relying on long tracks, though there were some present such as, "Svarte Vidder," as well as containing excellent drum work from Trym Torson, his last contribution to the group before leaving to join Emperor.

He was replaced by Harald Helgeson, who made his recording debut on the 1997 album, "Eld," which was another well received output, opening with the sixteen minute epic, "793 (Slaget om Lindisfarne,") as well as featuring two songs at eight minutes in length, with another only ten seconds short of that. Their fourth album, another pretty well received effort entitled, "Blodhemn," which was released the year after "Eld," dropped the long times almost completely, with the closing track, "Suttungs Mjød" being the only exception. This change in song lengths also represented a shift in song writing, bringing in something of a rock and roll element to their work, whilst retaining the Viking metal sound they were becoming known for.

Though the songs had been reduced in length, their next album, 2000’s, "Mardraum," was perhaps their grandest yet, featuring a number of multi-part epics, forging perhaps their best album to date and spawning an idea which would be continued on their sixth album a year later, "Monumension." It didn’t receive the plaudits "Mardraum" did, but was nevertheless still a well thought of record and marked another change for the group, as it was their first album to feature lyrics entirely in English. This trilogy of micro epics would be concluded in 2003 with the release of, "Below the Lights," their first album to feature new guitarist, Arve Isdal and last with drummer, Dirge Rep.

Herbrand Larsen was brought in to the band following the release of the album as a permanent keyboard player, while Cato Bekkevold joined as Enslaved’s new drummer, and this new lineup switched labels to Candlelight Records, quickly getting to work on new material. The result was the excellent 2004 release, "Isa," which was notable for its sharp dynamic changes and interwoven songs, some of which delivered in short bursts. Once again, the band would develop an idea on their next album, in this case the 2006 record, "Ruun," which won the Norwegian Spellman Award for best achievement in the metal genre, and rightly so considering how the albums works as both a companion piece to "Isa," and as a separate output featuring a slightly more scaled back tone.

By 2008, Enslaved had made a reputation for themselves as being a band which constantly creates greatness and strives to better themselves, which some may argue they did that year, with the release of their tenth album, "Vertebrae." Several magazines hailed it as their album of the year and reached number 49 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. It was also their first record to be released through Nuclear Blast, and featured a sound more in line with progressive metal than other releases, even containing a few softer passages. While the progressive nature stayed, it was in a different guise on their next album, "Axioma Ethica Odini," released in 2010, a more aggressive affair, though one of the most epic in their catalogue.

In 2012, Enslaved altered their sound somewhat again with, "RITTIR," increasing the level of clean vocals, making production it’s cleanest yet and showcasing a magnificent guitar sound. It was riskier than it may seem, with some long time fans being unimpressed by the move, but overall critics and fans who appreciated their desire to keep their creativity flowing by changing and challenging themselves were impressed by the album. Whether those same people will be impressed again by the latest offering from Enslaved is something which we will find out this week, as the band releases their twelfth full length album, "In Times," which looks to be yet another shift, this time back towards longer songs, none of which last less than eight minutes. Whether or not the group keeps this glowing reputation up will soon be a matter of opinion, but their legacy as a highly creative band who kept pushing themselves to break new ground before they’d even reached their twenties has earned them a place in the metal history books, and rightly so.

Enslaved - "Lifandi Liv Undir Hamri"

Enslaved - "Loke"

Enslaved - "Mardraum"

Enslaved - "Floating Diversity"

Enslaved - "The Dead Stare"

Enslaved - "Isa"

Enslaved - "The Watcher"

Enslaved - "Ethica Odini"