Enslaved ‎– E

Extra personnel
Daniel Måge – flute (track 5)
Kjetil Møster – saxophone (track 6)
Einar Kvitrafn Selvik – vocals (track 6)
Iver Sandøy – effects, drums (track 7)

Such a fantastic band, it’s hard to describe it. They have changed so much since their initial release, from black metal, to heavier stuff, to something remotely familiar with progressive blackened metal. They have great lyrics, beautiful clean vocals, and also excellent growls. If I had to choose another metal band to watch besides Opeth, it would be these guys. Their latest album is amazing, with chord progressions, heavy riffs and a certain edge which makes it stand out from the rest. I’m really looking forward to watching them live again, which I doubt will be long in the future. I ordered the Vinyl off their website, and my head wouldn’t stand still while I was listening.

Kicking off with “Storm Son”, a mighty track of nearly eleven minutes. A battle cry is heard above tribal drums, before an electric guitar plays some dissonant notes. As another guitar joins the mix, it becomes appearent that this is something very differen from the bands previous work. When the song kicks off at about three minutes, the singing is beautiful. Simple verse lines almost like a conversation, before the pace changes. At around four minutes its clear where the band came from. While adopting a progressive metal style, they have managed to keep their vicious sounding roots, which is quite an achievement. The singing is spot on , and the drums are just amazing on the entire album. The start of “The Rivers Mouth” reminds me of Sepultura’s famous “Orgasmatron” cover, with bang-on drums.The shortest track on the album, but not any less great than the rest. Not a lot of prog elements are used, keeping it a simple metal sound.

“Sacred Horse” feels like a throwback to their earliest work, with a lot of growls, and a dissonant guitar sound. The pace is quick, and even a hammond organ is included in the mix. The song has a major breakdown around the middle, giving way to mystifying tribal rhythms. In the finale the intensity is huge, before a lot of double drums and a final riff finish the song.

“Axis of the Worlds” further cements the overall theme of the album. Crushing riffs, and drums so tight that you’d be hard pressed to resist the urge to bang your head. At the same time, the breakdowns are playful, and gives another perspective on the song. Nearing the end, it adapts a similar style to the previous one, but is not repeating anything.

“Feathers of Eolh” starts out as a quiet-ilke piece, which then explodes in a brutal symphony of drums, guitar and Dimmu Borgir-like clean vocals. After three minutes, it adopts a different style entirely. Reminiscent of Kauan, a soothing breeze of soft drums and guitar ambience. But that doesn’t last long, before the main theme is back. The two styles are thereafter played in an atlernating fashion. Upon reaching the end, a theme of near constant drums are being introduced, basically beating the track to its demise.

The last track on the album starts out like a catchy tune, with its ¾ tempo. But when the vocals starts you are reminded that this is metal. It plays about with a lot of growls, and even a saxophone is introduced. Roughly halfway through the song, everything dissolves into a cacophony of guitar. At first, I thought that the song was over, but the drums reappeared again for the finale of the song. Like something Ulver could have thought up, a chanting voice is heard in the midst of saxophone, guitar and drums as the album concludes.

It's hard to say exactly what Enslaved is genre-wise. However, if you like the metal that comes out of Scandinavia but are sick of the same old same old, "E" is a great album. Some parts seem like they are going one way, then change direction in an unexpected but welcome way. I would give it 5 stars, but it doesn't exactly suit my tastes 100%. I have to give credit where credit is due though; just because I didn't like everything front to back doesn't mean you won't.

The colour on this is amazing - sweet etching too

Great release! Enslaved never lets down and are always exploring new sounds, which makes every album worth buying. Only issue with this release is why does the cd contains 2 bonus songs and the vinyl doesn't. I mean it's a dopple vinyl with an etched D side. They could have added two more great songs to the vinyl instead of a useless (but beautiful) etching.