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Enslaved (band)

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Enslaved
Enslaved at Norway Rock Festival 2010
Enslaved at Norway Rock Festival 2010
Background information
OriginHaugesund, Norway
GenresBlack metal, progressive metal,[1] Viking metal
Years active1991–present
LabelsDeathlike Silence, Voices of Wonder, SPV, Osmose, Tabu, Relapse, The End, Candlelight, Nuclear Blast
MembersIvar Bjørnson
Grutle Kjellson
Arve Isdal
Cato Bekkevold
Herbrand Larsen
Past membersTrym Torson
Roy Kronheim
Per Husebø
Harald Helgeson

Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed in Haugesund in June 1991. They are currently based in Bergen, Norway.[2]

History

Enslaved performing live in Oslo in October 2012

Enslaved was formed in July 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson (also known as Kjetil Grutle) when they were 13 and 17 years old, respectively. The band name was inspired by an Immortal demo track, "Enslaved in Rot."[3] After many line-up changes throughout their career, Bjørnson and Kjellson are the only remaining original members. By 2004 the line-up solidified with guitarist Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal, drummer Cato Bekkevold, and keyboardist/vocalist Herbrand Larsen.

Prior to forming Enslaved, Bjørnson and Kjellson had been playing in a death metal band called Phobia, but like many in the burgeoning extreme metal movement, they were looking for new sources of inspiration and expression.[3] Though Enslaved began as a prototypical Norwegian black metal band in 1991, by 1993 they were incorporating song structures unusual for the genre; several of their earlier songs reach the ten-minute mark (their debut album, Vikingligr Veldi, has only one song that is under ten minutes). As such, the band has rejected the black metal label and prefers the term "extreme metal."[4] Mardraum (2000) contained several multi-part epics such as "Større enn tid - Tyngre enn natt" and "Entrance - Escape." Several of the band's tracks (most prominently, "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" from Below the Lights) have used mellotron.[5] Mardraum, Monumension (2001), and Below the Lights (2003) can be regarded as having somewhat similar styles. Isa (2004) and Ruun (2006) show a marked departure from previous sounds, most notably with the inclusion of sharp dynamic shifts.[citation needed]

Although the band has used mainly English lyrics since Monumension, their albums before that were mostly recorded in Norwegian except for three songs with Icelandic lyrics on their first full-length album; while the lyrics of the 1994 track Heimdallr consisted of an Old Norse excerpt from Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson. Most of the band's lyrics relate to Norse mythology. Following Ruun, in 2007-2008, Bjørnson, Kjellson, and Isdal collaborated with the Norwegian noise duo Fe-Mail under the name Trinacria.[6][7]

Enslaved released the album Vertebrae in September 2008, their tenth studio album and their first on Nuclear Blast. Terrorizer Magazine named it the album of the year in 2008, notably above other metal releases such as Meshuggah's obZen and Opeth's Watershed.[8] After touring Europe extensively, Enslaved embarked on a North American tour with the progressive death metal band Opeth in May 2009.[9] The album is noted for is shift in its approach and its diverse sounds; Sammy O'Hagar from MetalSucks.net even says that "to call [Vertebrae] black metal would be quite a stretch" because "there’s an impressive depth to [it] that surpasses the sour misanthropy so often (and rightfully) associated with the genre", and furthermore describing their sound as "heavy and surprisingly soft, focused and curious, true to their roots and longing to forget them".[10] The album's sound has been said to be akin to Pink Floyd's sound on a few occasions,[10][11] as well as other black metal releases in a similar vein.[12]

Enslaved released their eleventh studio album, Axioma Ethica Odini, on 27 September 2010 in Europe and the following day in North America.[13] In 2011 Enslaved released two new EPs. The first EP, entitled The Sleeping Gods, which was produced in partnership with Scion Audio/Visual, was released on 10 May 2011 and made available as a free download consisting of 5 original tracks.[14] The second EP, entitled Thorn, was released on 27 August 2011 in partnership with Soulseller Records in fulfillment of a decade-old agreement. The Thorn EP, released on seven-inch vinyl, was strictly limited to 1,000 copies and featured a more atmospheric sound than the band is currently known for.[15] Enslaved started their 20th anniversary tour "Circling Above and Within North America Tour Part IV" in September 2011 with Alcest and Junius in the United States and Canada.[16] An official tribute album called Önd - A Tribute was released on Pictonian Records in July 2012. It contains twenty covers from twenty bands (including Dordeduh, Fen, Kraków, Vreid and Wodensthrone) to celebrate the two first decades of Enslaved's career.[17] After having signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe, too, Enslaved released their 12th studio album, RIITIIR, on 28 September 2012 in Europe and 9 October in North America. In 2013 they contributed to the book "Think like a rockstar" Tenk som en rockestjerne,[18] written by Ståle Økland.

Enslaved's newest album, In Times, was released March 10, 2015 through Nuclear Blast.[19][20]

Members

Timeline

Discography

Main article: Enslaved discography
Studio albums

References

  1. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (8 November 2007). "On the Road to Spread the Word of Good, Old-Fashioned Evil". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  2. ^ "Enslaved Encyclopaedia Metallum entry". Metal-archives.com. 17 July 2002. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Enslaved". Tartarean Desire. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Enslaved Interview from 2009". Youtube.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Below the Lights review". BlackMetal.co.uk. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Trinacria". Myspace. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Trinacria". Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  8. ^ "ENSLAVED's 'Vertebrae' Crowned TERRORIZER Magazine's 'Album Of The Year'". Blabbermouth.net. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Enslaved Events". Enslaved.no. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  10. ^ a b O'Hagar, Sammy. "Enslaved's Vertebrae: The Sound of a Band at the Top of Their Game". MetalSucks.net. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Enslaved - Vertebrae: A Momentary Lapse in Norwegian?". Encyclopaedia Metallum. marktheviktor. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  12. ^ Metzengerstein, Frederick. "Nachtmysium's Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1 is a Solid Link between Psychedelia and Black Metal". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  13. ^ "Enslaved: New Album Title, Release Date Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  14. ^ "ENSLAVED to Release 'The Sleeping Gods' EP". Blabbermouth.net. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  15. ^ "ENSLAVED To Release Seven-Inch EP on SOULSELLER RECORDS". Blabbermouth.net. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  16. ^ "Enslaved: 2011 American tour announced, Release Date Revealed". facebook.com. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  17. ^ "Tributes to Enslaved and Emperor". nrk.no. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  18. ^ "Katzenjammer | LivingByCamera". Cameratravel.wordpress.com. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  19. ^ "In Times". Encyclopaedia Metallum. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  20. ^ Axl Rosenberg (15 December 2014). "Enslaved Announce New Album, In Times". MetalSucks. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
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