Enslaved Norway
"This EP was recently released electronically and has generously been made freely available for download (get it here: )
It seems that Enslaved have used this EP to release some more experimental material which is far removed from their black metal roots, and I think that the material on this release is actually quite good. Not only is in an interesting EP, but it is also a varied one which covers a number of genres.
The opening track "Heimvegen" is perhaps the track on the EP that has more in common with Enslaved's 'normal' sound, being a dark progressive black metal track with an atmospheric bridge and an overall melancholic feel to the distorted guitars, which - at times - have an almost 70s rock sound to them.
The second track "Alu Misyrki" quite a punky track - with D-beating and all - and it reminds me a bit of some of Celtic Frost's early material which is quite inspired by Discharge. Still, there are interesting atmospheric vocals in the chorus and an awesome couple of heavier riffs that pop up now and then.
"synthesis" is a dark soundscape track, while "Nordlys" strikes me as being more of a melancholic alternative rock track, but with some similarity to Paradise Lost on their least metallic releases. Don't let the non-metalness scare you; this is a really awesome instrumental track, and perhaps my favorite of this EP.
The title track is more of an experimental viking chant song which, for some reason, reminds me of a Danish folk viking act called Krauka. It it probably because it draws on the same cultural repertoire of musical conventions and expressions.
you should not expect this to be a full on black metal - not even a full on progressive black metal - release, but rather, as mentioned above, "The Sleeping Gods" appears to be an outlet for more experimental tracks. If you can live with that, I suggest that you check it out, because it is actually a very interesting release with some haunting and compelling music on it.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"When a black metal band like is featured on a sampler CD distributed with a progressive rock journal, then you can make a safe bet that that band is pretty special. That's what happened with Enslaved, whose track "Ethica Odini" was featured on Prognosis 11, Prognosis being a series of sampler CDs that come with eacery issue of the Classic Rock Presents Prog magazine.
I checked out "Ethica Odini" and liked it. I liked how it was really dark and full of black metal elements and yet kind of progressive and complex, so I decided to buy the CD (I bought the one wit the 7'' vinyl bonus record), and I think it's a really good black metal release. What I like about it is that the black metal feel is always there - you know, the focus on creating an atmosphere - regardless of how progressive the songs get. The most progressive tracks are probably "Night Sight" and "Lightening" - "Night Sight" contains elements which remind me of alt. rock of the 1990s while "Lightening", for some unknown reason, remind me of Muse's latest record. Still, even these tracks are dark and bleak as hell, the way black metal should be. "Axioma" is the odd man out, being an atmospheric synth piece (the odd man out, but still, it fits the atmosphere of the entire record).
This should appeal to fans of black metal, who like the black metal atmosphere, but perhaps want more variation than what raw black metal usually offers.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
"A very strong effort ... if you're new to Progressive Black Metal, then this might be a good starting point. It's not too revolutionary, but at least in three songs they manage to really leave the confinements of their base style, adding symphonic passages with a lot of guitar-based texturing and void of any drums, let alone blastbeats. I'm not sure about the necessity of the BM vocals though ... I much prefer the clean vocals, although I don't have a problem with growling in general."
