ENSLAVED - Heimdal

Norway’s uncrowned kings Enslaved have never been as popular or media-oriented as other Norwegian black metal bands in their 35 years career, but they have managed to expand their audience a little more with each album. I’m sure they never imagined that things would come to this point; because Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson were only 17 and 13 years old when they founded Enslaved. Of course, many things have changed over the decades, but Enslaved has maintained its respected place at the top of the list among metal bands that deal with Viking themes but do not pursue pomp.

The band, which has gradually shifted from pure black metal to progressive metal and has now started to use black metal as a sauce, a side element in its music, has shown a very exceptional resistance against evil, so to speak. Jokes aside, we have not been able to talk or discuss Enslaved as if they were a pure black metal band for almost 20 years. Progressive, eclectic and often genre-hopping, these two very bearded, very haired Vikings.

It’s hard to enjoy these guys without accepting this fact. I’m not even going to get into the discussions about whether they sold the case or how much they sold it for. Go play your black metal stuff somewhere else. Let’s continue. Over the years, they’ve released such high quality albums that, let alone getting into genre debates, we couldn’t do much except praise them in unison most of the time. Whatever they did, they were very serious and they knew something, I don’t know if it’s because they were stuck at the level of their elder brothers or because of the slightly mystical air around them, but I’ve never heard anyone talk about them that much to this day. There’s a different atmosphere in these guys’ looks that reflect their ancient Nordic wisdom, their always dignified attitude, and their layered music, and this is actually what makes Enslaved so great. I’ll tell you the truth, even I felt ashamed when I was writing my critique of Utgard and said, “Man, big Enslaved, what kind of artistry are you doing?”

But now Enslaved has made a difference, friends, we have to it it. Especially in the second half of In Times, when the signaled movements became completely obvious with E and the feathers stood on end with Utgard, those of us who have been listening to it with pleasure for decades lost their tune a bit. I still can't stomach the fact that it completely abandoned the Viking toughness that defied the gods by processing genres that are not easy to blend with black metal such as Krautrock and progressive rock by giving weight to its rock base, let's not lie.

Enslaved, when Enslaved fired all the weapons in its hand at the same time. Its Viking-themed black metal, which it combined with progressive rhythms, cosmic post-rock-like moments, and psychedelic keyboards, kept it at the top for years. It made us feel like it was powerful, magnificent, commercial and much more than a musical formation. Bonds were formed, hands were kissed, respects were paid… Well, when you pull everything out of this flawless formula and leave only the kraut/progressive rock music of 50 years ago, our tune is naturally disrupted, my friend, what can we do?!

Come on, let me make this sentence to get a little more serious and to interpret it properly, let it suffice: There is a world of difference between doing something that hasn’t been done before and becoming progressive and reproducing works that were labeled progressive at the time.

I haven’t been able to talk about the album in almost a critical length yet, but it’s not easy to stay silent when it comes to a band that is this big and that I have a bond with. Oh, and I don’t really feel like talking much about Heimdal. If you ask why, Heimdal is great. Come on…

Like Utgard, Heimdal is not a work that lacks the atmosphere and layering we are used to, with the clarity of “Look, these are some of the bands we love!”. While this feature alone elevates it above Utgard in my eyes, it is also the most complete, most layered, and full of moments that make me say, “If only these maniacs could do this,” that I have listened to in the last few albums, and perhaps for the first time since Riitir, I have encountered an Enslaved work that I can comfortably praise. I am surprised, but according to Last.fm data, I have listened to Heimdal, which I have returned to at least for the 29th time, with a great sense of relief, pleasure and satisfaction.

Behind the Mirror, which opens with the sounds of oars hitting the water and Heimdal blowing on the Gjallarhorn heralding a new era, summarizes the album in many ways. The excitement of stepping into a new world surrounded by the unknown after the distant sound of WARDRUNA man Eilif Gundersen’s horn, combined with the unpredictability embedded in Enslaved’s genes, has created a wonderful atmosphere.

When the mid-tempo, keyboard-ed and dynamic drum-adorned music begins, you say for a moment, okay, the trees are green here too, the stones are hard, the water is still water, but when Iver Sandøy starts to lean on the ride cymbal and Ivar Bjørnson starts to show off his guitar skills, things get complicated. Still a big gun again, but you should be ready to encounter unexpected things at the beginning of some bars.

With its very good grasp of the minimalism at the core of black metal, Congelia has become one of my personal favorites, and despite its layered keyboard melodies, clean vocals and solos, it still feels like black metal. Krautrock is still there with a bond they never want to break; but even Forest Dweller and Kingdom behind it, where this bond is the tightest, make you feel organic and in the flow. With the short but explosive guitar solos they sprinkle in between, Grutle suddenly throwing in dirty vocals and Ivar’s sharp, clear riffs that reach the level of thrash metal (see Caravan to the Outer Worlds), the atmosphere they capture plants a vague seed of anger and anxiety beneath Heimdal. This seed affects the entire soil and ensures that everything I love about Enslaved sprouts again after years.

I guess I should just single out The Eternal Sea’s keyboard-bass combo intro, which can’t decide which way to go and stretches like gum. I can't place it in of either the instrument/composition or the narrative, and I don't think I could fully understand what was happening and why until the moment the vocals came in (the first two minutes) even if I listened to it 30 or 1000 times. I'm trying to explain it by going beyond the name and lyrics and using water, which is constantly moving and sometimes doesn't know what to do, but it doesn't seem possible. When Enslaved disappears, it disappears completely sometimes.

With Heimdal, Enslaved convinced me that there are still lands to explore and that he is excited about this exploration. The epic closing track Heimdal’s almost atmospheric, slow-paced structure that reminds me of MESHUGGAH’s works (Cato always has a special place, but Iver Sandøy also flows on the drums), the exquisite recording that can shake the heavens and the earth when the time comes, unlike Utgard’s thin, gauze-thick production, the keyboard solo in the middle of Forest Dweller that makes you say “la noliy”, the atmosphere that is both cosmic and Viking at the same time, I could go on and on about it, but since Enslaved is one of those bands that can establish a special relationship with its listeners, it is not clear whether my own experience will reflect on you.

The best thing would be to encourage you to listen to Heimdal in the name of creating your own relationship, for better or worse, and to give it a chance. Well, I guess you can go and look into it after this article and score. That will be enough for me. Til live!

#Heimdal

8/10