Album Review: ENSLAVED Utgard (10/2)

 

Released by Nuclear Blast on October 2nd, 2020

Quick Background

Enslaved needs no introduction, but here it is anyways. Formed in Bergen, Norway, in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson (guitar) and Grutle Kjellson (vocal & bass), Enslaved emerged from the Norwegian black and Viking metal scene, but have always exhibited a unique approach to extreme music. Over the years they have been adventurous and progressive, incorporating elements of progressive rock, jazz, and other distinct influences into their sound. While increasingly admired in the prog world, they never lost their black metal edge. Though the band's lineup has changed many times over the years, Bjørnson and Kjellson have been the sole constant members. Currently Iver Sandøy (drums), Håkon Vinje (keyboard & vocal), Ice Dale (solo guitar) complete the line up. Between the debut Vikingligr Veldi (1994) and E (2017), Enslaved released 12 other studio albums. And almost all of them are fantastic while being different from each other. 

Utgard 

This brings us to 2020's Utgard. The 15th studio album featuring 9 tracks in 45 minutes. With Utgard Enslaved takes us into another direction. As opposed to previous records, this time we are presented with short and more straightforward songs. The longest song is "Sequence" which is only six and half minutes. Remember that in the last 3 albums there were only two songs shorter than that. While Enslaved always had a thematically direction in each album, Utgarg is their first concept album. According to the band "The album is a journey into and through Utgard. From Norse mythology we know it as a landscape were the giants roam; where the gods of Asgard have no control; dangerous, chaotic, uncontrollable and where madness, creativeness, humor and chaos dwells".  

Musically, despite the songs being much shorter than in previous albums, I see Utgard even more influenced by 70's prog bands such as Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Genesis than previously. Also, due to the shorter and more direct approach, the album seems to pick more from traditional heavy metal and 70's hard rock as well. Chugging guitars, power chords have gained more ground, and many songs have more groove and atmospheric passages. New comer Vinje (k) has perfected his vocal abilities and has quite a significant contribution with his clean vocals in most of the songs. 

"Fires In The Dark" is a very nice choice to open the album as it surfaces Enslaved's Folk/Viking roots during the intro. It also features some cool acoustic and atmospheric moments. A choice that will come back throughout the album. Also a constant in the album is that a lot happens in just a few minutes minutes! In the case of the opening track, the first 2:30 minute are packed with cool stuff, including some nice drum fills. I can also say that "Fires In The Dark" stays truthful to their sound of the early 2010's. "Jettegryta" is another song to pay homage to that period. More specifically, the nice groove brings me back to 2012's RIITIIR. But it could also be an Abbath song infused with 70's rock. There is this whole instrumental section with keys solo that is just great. "Flight Of Thought And Memory" is another song to display the old school Enslaved sound under their current filter.   

Other tracks like "Storms Of Utgard", "Distant Seasons" and "Sequence" are all groovy songs with clean vocals and the instrumental passages being a very similar to Genesis and Pink Floyd. Specially the early phase of both bands. The mellow and accousticaly dominated album closer reminds me a lot of 1971's Meddle by Pink Ployd. Another shout out to the atmospheric and spacy "Homebound" featuring the most interesting guitar solo on the album. I like the modern and bright production and also the album cover that reflects well the dark mood of the album.

The Picky Guy

My only issue with the album is one song! The instrumental with narration "Utgardr" is fine and relates well to the album opener and overal concept. But then we get "Urjotun" which I just can't listen to. I always try and end up skipping it. If you like 80's Depeche Mode or New Order then you may like this one. But that's not what I want from an Enslaved song. 

Wrap Up Opinion 

Utgard is a good album, Enslaved was able to accomplish something difficult, they achieved progressiveness without using very long songs to do so. In most of the songs despite the short length there's a lot going on. And while the prog rock influences are even more pronounced than previously, the black/Viking metal roots are still present. All their albums are growers and Utgard is no different, so it could be that i will end up appreciating it even more, but for now I personally prefer their four previous albums a bit more. I'm giving it 81/100, a good album that could be a very good one if it wasn't for the misstep with "Urjotun". 

SCORE: 81/100

Genre: Black Metal

Released by Nuclear Blast on October 2nd, 2020

Rating System*
99 - 100 Perfect
94 - 98 Excellent
87 - 93 Great
82 - 86 Very Good
77 - 81 Good
66 - 76 Mixed
58 - 65 Bad

* slightly adapted on May 24th, 2020 due to statistical review
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