Alright bitches, let's talk about Enslaved

[JayKeeley]

Last 24 hours I went through a bunch of Enslaved, so here's a recap to surely ruffle some feathers. Or not. It all depends on how much oompa blood you have running through your varicose veins.

Disclaimer: It's just assumed that everyone recognizes Vikingligr to be their best and most untouchable release yet.

OK.

ELD
"Kvasirs Blod", "For Lenge Siden" and the title track RULE SUPREME. But the rest of it is pretty blah. I dunno, this is hit and miss.

MONUMENSION
I honestly don't know how to comment on this one. I'm sure it's the type of album that takes repeated listens to make a fair judgement, so I'll plead the fifth. It's ok I suppose, nothing earth shattering.

BELOW THE LIGHTS
Awesome. No really, I'm serious -- I love everything about this album: production, that mellotron intro/outro to "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth", "The Crossing", that whole Jethro Tull thing in "Queen of Night". Just dig the whole vibe, no shit.

ISA
Big step down from BtL. I'll admit, it's not a disaster, but it's just too bright sounding. You know the rest. No need to beat the horse.

RUUN
Hahaha, oh god, this is just terrible. Seriously, you can sum this up in one word: BORING. The ironic thing is, the best songs are those that could have fallen off the ISA bandwagon, like "Essence". Best song on the album is the closer "Heir to the Cosmic Seed" but not enough to save this failure.

Seriously, RUUN sounds like the worst of Borknagar or something.

So anyway, in conclusion, so far in my journey through Enslaved land, my two favoUrite albums are: Vikingligr Veldi and Below the Lights.

 

[MFJ]

Yeah, Ruun is Isa part II. Sucks.

 

[NAD]

Monumension gets AMAZING after about the tenth listen. Keep at it.

 

[JayKeeley]

Monumension gets AMAZING after about the tenth listen. Keep at it.

Yeah, I thought it might. That's why I'll give it a chance o' plenty.

 

[Erik]

"Kvasirs Blod", "For Lenge Siden" and the title track RULE SUPREME. But the rest of it is pretty blah. I dunno, this is hit and miss.

oh my fucking tapdancing christ you're off by god damn lightyears

"793" is fucking BRILLIANT, one of THE best enslaved songs EVER

also: "glemt" (brilliant lyrics in norwegian too), title track both fucking rule. "alfablot" and "hordalendingen" are fucking class as well. actually "for lenge siden" is probably my least favourite track of the album, but i agree that "kvasirs blod" is supremely ruling

my 2nd favourite enslaved album

 

[Ellestin]

Monumension >>>>>>>> Frost > Below the Lights > Eld

I like how theses guys keep being their own influence and all, but the songwriting inspiration has clearly lost momentum now for two albums. I still need to explore "Mardraum". "Blodhemn" and "Vikingrliggrddgghhrrggr Veldi" just fell short of convincing me to keep them, they're good albums, but neither essential nor particularly affection-arousing.

Grutle is quite fat IRL.

 

[Dark One]

Gotta admit, I'm really digging RUUN, but then again I really enjoyed Isa as well, so count me in the minority here.

However, I will agree that Below the Lights is the best of the three latter releases.

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Eld AND Frost both fucking rule, you sod.

edit: and Blodhemn, ooops

sod

 

[grazim]

No one ever gives Mardraum any credit for being fucking AWESOME .

 

[Dev]

Monumension ftw.

The 5/6 first songs are INCREDIBLE.

By the way , someone tells me in detail about Mardraum plz.They played the title track live and it was the shit. Is the album that good grazim and how would you compare it to monumension/below the lights or the previous (I know blodhemn is a bit more straight-forward) ?

 

[General Zod]

Disclaimer: It's just assumed that everyone recognizes Vikingligr to be their best and most untouchable release yet.

Uhhh... I really need to listen to this[/ducks].

MONUMENSION - I honestly don't know how to comment on this one. I'm sure it's the type of album that takes repeated listens to make a fair judgement, so I'll plead the fifth. It's ok I suppose, nothing earth shattering.

I've often heard the same thing about this CD. I own it, but have yet to invest the time to "realize it's brilliance".

BELOW THE LIGHTS - Awesome. No really, I'm serious -- I love everything about this album: production, that mellotron intro/outro to "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth", "The Crossing", that whole Jethro Tull thing in "Queen of Night". Just dig the whole vibe, no shit.

This was my intro to Enslaved and it blew me away. "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" is just so fucking huge. "Below the Lights" and "Autumn Aurora" are two CDs that really opened my eyes to a new world of music.

ISA - Big step down from BtL. I'll admit, it's not a disaster, but it's just too bright sounding. You know the rest. No need to beat the horse.

Agreed. I bought this blind. I revisit it from time to time, but it always fails to interest me.

RUUN - Hahaha, oh god, this is just terrible. Seriously, you can sum this up in one word: BORING. The ironic thing is, the best songs are those that could have fallen off the ISA bandwagon, like "Essence". Best song on the album is the closer "Heir to the Cosmic Seed" but not enough to save this failure.

"Boring" is the best word to describe this release. That said, if "Isa" is any indication, critics will fall all over themselves praising it. For me, listening to this CD no different than listening to the new Evergrey CD; both make me feel as if I'm engaging in some bizarre act of musical self-flagellation.

Zod

 

[JayKeeley]

I tell you where Enslaved usually fail it for me: the songs are too damned long. That was the biggest problem with Eld, some of the tracks were just too exhausting including "793"!!

I'll give you another example: "Cromlech Gate" from Monumension. Holy batman, that song RULES -- with a great Celtic Frost like atmosphere, or well, it's scary sounding to say the least [cue Sirloin joke] -- but christ o mighty, couldn't they have thought about trimming it down a couple of minutes?

RUUN is just unbelievably bland. If it wasn't released by ENSLAVED CORPORATION (TM), people would have just walked on by. It's all about branding at the end of the day, innit.

 

[JayKeeley]

Monumension >>>>>>>> Frost > Below the Lights > Eld

Wow. I suppose I need to hear me some Frost.

 

[Erik]

^ frost is good but not as good as eld
it's very much what you'd expect the album between vikingligr veldi and eld to sound like
it's also enslaved's most brutal and straightforward album (excepting blodhemn mayhaps)

That was the biggest problem with Eld, some of the tracks were just too exhausting including "793"!!

short attention span huh! maybe you should go back to "hangar 18" </needlessly inflammatory>

anyway 793 fucking rules. enslaved was always at their best with the long songs: most of vikingligr veldi, 793, st&#248;rre enn tid tyngre enn natt, convoys to nothingness, etc

 

[JayKeeley]

short attention span huh! maybe you should go back to "hangar 18" </needlessly inflammatory>

Haha, you could be right, just with what I'm in the mood for these days. But otherwise, I have a really good attention span -- I never shuffle or click through tracks before they're finished. Truth be known, I've had Eld for a long while (longer than any other Enslaved album) and it never truly hit the spot. Like I say though, some of it is obvious genius.

Vikingligr oozes atmosphere and I suppose that helps hold the attention.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

My favorite is Monumension, then maybe BTL. I'm not big on their viking stuff, although 793 is probably the best song they've ever recorded.

 

[Erik]

793 is probably the best song they've ever recorded.

see? see?

 

[Dick Sirloin]

JK, can you post a track?

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

WTF

Vikingligr >
Eld >
Frost =
Blodhemn >
Below the Lights >
Isa

no comment on the rest

 

[Henrik Main]

Grutle is quite fat IRL.

Not at all. If anyone's fat, it's Ivar.

Henrik Main's "Enslaved releases ranking":

1. Vikingligr Veldi
2. Eld
3. Yggdrasil (this seriously rules and I rarely see anyone mentioning its greatness)
4. Frost
5. Hordanes Land
6. Blodhemn
7. Mardraum
8. Isa
9. RUUN
10. Monumension
11. Below The Lights

I think their only weak release is "Below The Lights". The others vary from MANDATORY RELEASE WORSHIP OR PERISH to GOOD SHIT.