Enslaved

Like many bands of Norway's second wave of black metal, ENSLAVED formed from the ashes of a defunct death metal band. The death metal band in question--Phobia--managed to put out a demo before breaking up.

By the time of the demise of Phobia, band members Grutle Kjellson, Ivar Bjornson, and newly recruited drummer K. Johnny (later to go by Trym Torson) set about creating material for this new project, Enslaved. While the sound was definitely firmly in the Norwegian black metal style, the lyrical content moved away from the Satanic and toward Norway's pre-Christian past. Their early demos--1991's Nema and 1992's Yggdrasil (a classic!)--showcase this sound.

"Allfadr Odin" is one of Enslaved's classic demo tracks

Citing Bathory's mature viking metal albums (Twilight of the Gods and Hammerheart) as inspiration, Enslaved viewed their Norse pagan heritage more philosophically than most. For them, it wasn't ideological fodder or reactionary drivel, but a real, meaningful set of beliefs. This philosophical orientation permeated their song lyrics. At the same time, Enslaved's songwriting began to transcend the simpler aspects of the Norwegian black metal template. Beginning with the amazing 1993 EP Hordanes Land (which was also released as a split with Emperor), songs with multiple motifs and long, epic passages started to become the norm for this viking metal band.

One of Enslaved's more well-known songs, this is "Heimdallr"--off of Vikingligr Veldi

Following this EP, Euronymous--who had been a supporter of the band since the beginning--released Enslaved's full-length debut (Vikingligr Veldi) on his Deathlike Silence Productions. This album was a more mature effort at their epic viking metal. Thematically--and to a lesser degree, structurally--this album was quite different than what other Norwegians were doing, but it still fit in the camp of Norwegian black metal in terms of sound. The guitar riffing style, lo-fi production, screeched vocals, and focused use of atmospheric snyths were still a key component of Enslaved's sound.

Since Deathlike Silence went under with Euronymous's death, Enslaved had to search out a new label. Within a few months, not only had they landed a deal with French label Osmose Productions, but they had also released their second full-length album, Frost. This album did continue the viking-themed lyrics, but in terms of sound, Frost was a much more aggressive album. The synths were almost entirely absent, and the song structure resembled that of other Norwegian bands.

"Loke" is an amazing track off of 1994's Frost

Frost was a cold, harsh, unforgiving album. Like much of Enslaved's work from this era, it is an absolute classic of Norwegian black metal. They followed it up with 1997's Eld (Trym Torson had left to join Emperor, so they recruited new drummer Harald Helgeson). Also released on Osmose, Eld was yet another change in style. The production, song structure, and even musical approach stayed true to Enslaved's viking metal ethos, but it was pretty distinct from both Frost and Vikingligr Veldi. 

"Glemt" is my favorite song off Eld

1999's Blodhemn gives us songs like "I Lenker til Ragnarok" 

With these classic releases under their belt, Enslaved was now the master of the viking metal subgenre. With one more solid black metal album in the viking vein to come (1999's Blodhemn), Enslaved had more or less exhausted the possibilities of that particular style. There was nowhere left for them to go but to change the face of black metal completely.

With 2000's Mardraum: Beyond the Within, they did just that. While this album rested on a clear black metal foundation, it bore the influence of more progressive fare at the same time. Epic, long songs filled with time and motif changes, non-standard riffing, and vocal variation dominated this masterpiece. 2001's Monumension took it even further, with song structures that were not only progressive in nature, but borrowed from other genres.

Listen to the new direction evident on Monumension's "The Voices"

Since those early 2000s albums, Enslaved has continued to push the boundaries of their music. Their work still retains elements of the Norwegian black metal from whence they came, but they test the limits further and further with each release.

Select Discography:

Nema (demo) (1991)

Yggdrasil (demo) (1992)

Hordanes Land EP (1993)

Vikingligr Veldi (full-length album) (1994)

Frost (full-length album) (1994)

Eld (full-length album) (1997)

Blodhemn (full-length album) (1999)

Mardraum: Beyond the Within (full-length album) (2000)

Monumension (full-length album) (2001)

Next time: BEHEMOTH