Even on their earliest official release – the Hordanes Land half of the now-legendary split with Emperor – Enslaved were looking down a different path from that of their Norwegian Second Wave brethren. The longer songs, the somewhat progressive structures, and the fierce dedication to ancient Norse heritage were all signs that Enslaved’s future was flying along a different trajectory.
This is not to say that they were necessarily better at that time; in fact, many would argue that their peers were achieving greater things while Enslaved was still developing. But things changed. Emperor disbanded; Darkthrone and Satyricon eventually took very different (but admittedly great) diversions into rockish territory; and certain events took place in the Mayhem and Burzum camp of which you may have heard.
Enslaved, on the other hand, chose a path of constant evolution. Early on it was a touch of Bathory and a whole lot more “Viking” here, or maybe some violent blast-ridden black metal there. Then came the prog, and lots of it. From the Voivod tones on Mardraum to the absolute heaps of Pink Floyd delivered on about everything after, Enslaved started looking far outside of the Norse realms for their influences, and it resulted in the richest material of their career.
Through it all, the band has been about one thing: quality. There has never been a bad Enslaved album; hell, there has never been an Enslaved album that ranks below being “pretty damn good.” Each of the 13 have more than a few great things to offer, and because there are currently 13 of them, we did this Devil’s Dozen a bit differently: One song from each album, no more, no less.
Enjoy the tunes, and be sure to tell us exactly how pissed you are that this approach screwed over “Allfoðr Oðinn” and “Heimvegen.”
– Zach Duvall
•••••
VETRARNÓTT
[Vikingligr veldi, 1994]1994 was a heady year for black metal. Mayhem, Emperor, and Darkthrone all released albums that would define the face of the scene, but it was Enslaved that brought Viking heritage to the table and mixed it with a dose of prog excess, providing eleven minute songs stuffed full with melodies. The band uses the intense song length to emphasize the trance-inducing quality of the melodies. Despite “Vetrarnótt” translating as “A Winter’s Night,” Enslaved have a much warmer tone than the other frigid bands of the scene. The sounds speak of forests and firesides, and even the tremolo riffs invigorate rather than enervate. Using Old Norwegian for the lyrics gave the band an even strong sense of culture. This wasn’t just another Satan-loving rock band. Enslaved was doing something new. – Keith Ross
•••••
JOTUNBLOD
[Frost, 1994]An extremely tight, fast song, “Jotunblod” is typical of Enslaved’s sophomore, and breakout, album Frost. Besides the extreme speed from Trym Torson and the tight musicianship (a tightness all the more impressive given that Ivar Bjørnson was in high school at the time), “Jotunblod” has just the right amount of melody and sense of epic scope, indicating that Enslaved was quick to think outside of the box of the Second Wave of Norwegian black metal. – Dave Schalek
•••••
793 (SLAGET OM LINDISFARNE)
[Eld, 1997]By the time of Eld, Enslaved was fully embracing dramatic Viking epics as its source material, even more so than on previous albums. Case in point is “793 (Slaget Om Lindisfarne),” an exploration of a Viking raid on a Christian outpost off the coast of northeastern Scotland in 793. Opening with soaring, clean vocals and a pleasing melody, the song breaks into all out speed and riffing as the battle commences. The remainder of the song is a balancing act between melody and aggression, nicely showcasing Enslaved’s ambitious songwriting skills. Clocking in at over sixteen minutes and heralding the dawn of the Viking age, the length feels wholly appropriate. – Dave Schalek
•••••
URTICAL GODS
[Blodhemn, 1998]After the Viking-rich Eld, Enslaved decided to go for the kill. Blodhemn is among their most brutal, aggressive works, and “Urtical Gods” just about the most efficient, quick-to-the-draw track on the album. After a simple and downright intimidating opening passage, the song lays down the speed, complete with a nice banshee wail to signify the start of battle. The verse riffs provide a constant ascension in tone and intensity; the big pre-chorus impacts work like downward stabs to the enemy; and the wild, speed-picked chorus feels like a massive declaration of victory. When the initial passage returns for the end, it feels less like a needed respite from the insanity and more like a well-earned feeling of triumph. – Zach Duvall
•••••
ENTRANCE-ESCAPE
[Mardraum: Beyond the Within, 2000]Although in retrospect it’s easy to see Mardraum as a significantly transitional album in the career of a band seemingly always in the process of transitioning, at the time there was nothing to indicate that Enslaved hadn’t intended to be exactly where they were. And that’s why the album is so exciting: here was a band that had just kicked down the ladder they used to climb the heights of Viking black metal supremacy. In its place they were building, brick by brick, a new noise. “Entrance-Escape” is in many ways the cornerstone of this particular instantiation of Enslaved, with its searching Pink Floyd moves transmuted into an angrily psychedelic gallop, with the whole thing fired by guitars that buzz with an almost Swedeath HM-2 edge. You might say Mardraum is an exploratory mess; you might also say it’s all the better for it. – Dan Obstkrieg
•••••
VISION: SPHERE OF THE ELEMENTS
[Monumension, 2001]There’s a little bit of everything in Monumension, the second of Enslaved’s transitional albums. One could even go out on a limb and say this is Enslaved’s most experimental album, as it spans so many metal genres from song-to-song. “Vision” is much more grounded, and necessarily so given all the chanting and space-age sounds Enslaved was trying to play for the first time. “Vision” simply features classic metal riffage, a song structure that’s been proven to work and a guitar solo that will leave you yearning for more throughout the remainder of the band’s highly surrealistic album. – Konrad Kantor
•••••
THE DEAD STARE
[Below the Lights, 2003]Below the Lights was the beginning of a new era for Enslaved, and “The Dead Stare” is a microcosm of the musical path they have pursued since. After the intensely weird Monumension, the band needed a regrounding in that Viking sound that they had created and championed for so long. “The Dead Stare” delivers exactly that jolt of energy, taking intense metal chord progressions and tremolos and blending them seamlessly with organs and Mellotrons. Grutle’s vocals in particular have a raw, evocative quality that’s perfect for spinning tales of loss and woe. And make no mistake, that’s what Below the Lights is. Yet it’s a tragedy beautifully told, and one can make a convincing argument that the band has only gotten better from here on out. – Keith Ross
•••••
NEOGENESIS
[Isa, 2004]Because of its flowing, holistic nature, Isa will always feel unique within the Enslaved catalog. And while one could make an argument that the title track is its most iconic song and “Return to Yggdrasill” its centerpiece, the 12-minute “Neogenesis” is its climax, linchpin, and finest moment. Distant, drifty opening passages ease the listener in before things get all prog/black/thrash with the kind of chord artistry in which Enslaved so often excels. Before long, the intensity backs off for an extended Arve Isdal guitar solo that shifts and flows over the varying background music. This passage manages to elevate not only the ensuing return to more aggressive material, but the album as a whole. When the song has seemingly expended its energy, it begins a long exhale in which Isdal outdoes even his work from earlier. Like every track on Isa, “Neogenesis” is even better in the greater context, but no single song elevates the album more than this one. Legendary. – Zach Duvall
•••••
RUUN
[Ruun, 2006]To these ears, Ruun is a solid album somewhat typical of Enslaved’s modern approach to melody, accessibility while still staying true to its extreme roots; but the title track is what really elevates this album. A staple of Enslaved’s live show, the opening riff, the soaring clean vocals from Herbrand Larsen, and the downshift into Grutle Kjellson’s harsh vocals work so well that it ends up completely overshadowing the rest of the album. Enslaved is smart to play this song on every tour; at least, the four times that I’ve seen Enslaved since the release of Ruun. “Ruun” is the perfect melodic song from Enslaved. – Dave Schalek
•••••
NEW DAWN
[Vertebrae, 2008]Vertebrae sounded different from past Enslaved albums right out of the gate, with more prominent “happy” sounding synths, more clean singing, and more obvious Pink Floyd influence. It didn’t take long for the album to become a personal favorite, though, and “New Dawn” proves that the band can do dark and triumphal simultaneously. The syncopated chord progression that starts the song is an Enslaved staple, and the way the band can switch from swing to straight feels and back again without losing any groove is remarkable. In many ways, Enslaved’s new dawn had risen several albums before, but “New Dawn” proved that the sun was shining bright and still ascending. – Keith Ross
•••••
GIANTS
[Axioma Ethica Odini, 2010]Enslaved’s follow-up to Vertebrae, especially for long-time fans of the band, was essentially an entire album full of deep cuts. There are two songs, though, that really stick out in entirely different ways. Although the title track is as triumphant as any album opener could ever be, “Giants” is a perfect song that encapsulates just about everything Enslaved has been about in its late era: Pink Floydian psychedelics meet the occasional alternative / grunge vocals and a refrain that will leave its hooks in you for the rest of your life. In fact, nothing can adequately describe the feeling that first time you heard the chorus when the guitars changed to a higher pitch and you were lifted unexpectedly into the clouds. – Konrad Kantor
•••••
ROOTS OF THE MOUNTAIN
[RIITIIR, 2012]Because Enslaved has been such a consistently fantastic band, it can be easy to overlook the ridiculous craft involved in any particular song. “Roots of the Mountain” is, to put none too fine a point on it, staggeringly fucking good. But I don’t just mean that it compels my body to joy and movement (it does); I mean that the composition itself is flawless. The sputtering intro kicks into one of latter-day Enslaved’s more aggressive moments, and although you don’t realize it at first, the band introduces at least two or three themes that are revisited throughout the song. And then, before any hint of a verse, we get that chorus. The melody is simple and repeated without variation throughout the song, but its propulsive, emotive weight is irresistible. Even more important, though, are the words: “Seek and find / But do not try to understand.” Can you think of any couplet that better defines Enslaved’s restless genius? As it was, is, and shall be – Enslaved: better than your stupid band. – Dan Obstkrieg
•••••
ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF RAIN
[In Times, 2015]In recent years, Enslaved has slowed down their seemingly unstoppable evolution. Having the same lineup for over a decade now has seen them settle into a signature sound that they seem content to fully explore. “One Thousand Years of Rain” reveals that, even if the surprises are largely gone, that approach can yield spectacular results. An eerie, Monumension-esque intro gives way to a fluttery guitar part, some glorious Larsen/Kjellson vocal back-and-forth, and the types of subtle arrangement shifts that Enslaved tends to turn into gold. Chief among the latter: A massive wall of a riff jutting into the proceedings more than once, eventually being taken down to the depths only to see its phrase-ending hook transform into the song’s most grandiose moment. Masterful, even in middle age. – Zach Duvall
•••••
