Details: Even in the most primeval stages of their storied career, Enslaved was so much more than just music. Born on the outskirts of the infamous upheaval of teenage arsonists more commonly associated with a genre called Norwegian Black Metal, the Bergen based Vikings shared the inspiration and production ideals - yet steered clear of the non-musical dramas that have overshadowed so much of the artistic value from this movement. Shaking the very foundations of the young scene as early as 1993 with their iconic split release alongside fellow black wizards EMPEROR, they positively invented the term and art form Viking Metal with their icy monuments "Vikingligr Veldi" and, of course, the immortal splendor that is "Frost" and "Eld". Enslaved have perennially and carefully reinvented, refined and progressed their highly inventive brand of extreme metal to a wholly unique level, fluently combining blistering black metal with warm prog rock and archaic folklore with psychedelic thrall. Enter "Utgard", a record brimful with northern magic. Let all those other bands sing about Thor's mighty hammer and poor Odin hanging from that tree in miserable weather conditions. Enslaved are looking behind the mirror, tracing the origins of the well-known fables of the northern world back into each and every one of us. "Utgard" shows Enslaved both unleashed and thought-through, a lethal combination unfurling a potential that's easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. Enslaved in 2020 is a band in stellar form, a band at it's most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometowns' extraordinary musical history. "Utgard" shows them at a stage where simply everything they touch turns to gold. Icy black metal anthems walk hand in hand with refined prog rock gems and primordial, dark folk sorcery. It's Enslaved to the bone. And yet again a band that cast off it's old skin, delivering some of their shortest songs in years while still packing them with glimmering detail.

Enslaved - Utgard (IEX) (Vinyl)