Enslaved

[Nico16]

When I heard that they split up with R. Kronheim I thought..."ok, shit; it's never good when a band has line-up problems , but as long as the other 75% of the band stay intact, everything's fine". But now I heard the band split with Dirge Rep as well!! So now it's just the two founding members again... IMO this SUCKS!! I hope they won't split up because of this...Enslaved is one of those bands that I respect the most.

What do you think about that?

 

[BTK]

I've never been into Enslaved, so I really don't give a shit...

 

[Kveldssanger]

I just hope they release something as great as Monumension, no matter who their members might be...

 

[Henrik Main]

I am into Enslaved, so I really DO give a shit.. This is bad news indeed!!

 

[Nico16]

Originally posted by Kveldssanger
I just hope they release something as great as Monumension, no matter who their members might be...

Yeah, that's exactly what I think. Monumension is my favourite work of theirs until now ...they already recorded the follow up WITH Dirge Rep behind the drums. But Enslaved really have always been only Ivar and Grutle anyway...and they recoded classic albums almost 10 years ago with different drummers/2nd guitarists, so I think everything will be fine again after they've found the right replacements...

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Looks like no one has to worry...

Taken from blabbermouth.net:

ENSLAVED Finalize Track Listing For 'Below The Lights' - Jan. 3, 2003

Norway's ENSLAVED have set Mar. 3 as the release date through Osmose Productions for their new album, "Below The Lights". The follow-up to 2001's "Monumension", "Below The Lights" speaks for itself, but again we are proud to say we have gone further down the road of exploration," according to guitarist Ivar Bjørnson, "And on the other hand it is darker and contains more references to the early days of ENSLAVED in the sense of more ambience and structure to the songs. The progressive and experimental elements are still there, more refined and subtle than ever. You will also find pieces of traditional Northern music, this time more incorporated in the ENSLAVED core material.

"Melodic elements and complex harmonics is also a prominent feature on 'Below The Lights'," Ivar added in his official statement. "After returning from the UK in March this year (02) we all realized that R. Kronheim's days in the band had come to an end. Extremely unhealthy and unsociable habits combined with strong personalities and different musical tastes on both sides made it impossible to continue. But hey! That didn't stop us, and with the added force of lead guitarist A. Isdal, we went on to make 'Below The Lights'. The quality of the arrangements and the level of musicianship should prove that the core of ENSLAVED more than survived the changes.

"The cover art is once again under the brush of Truls Espedahl (who also made the artwork for 'Monumension'). This time the artwork will follow the music and lyrics even closer, and a surreal, dark and magnificent piece of art will meet you in the shops 03.03.03.

"After the finishing of the album, [drummer] Dirge Rep decided to leave the band. The reason is quite simple he is burned out according to himself. No point in arguing with that. Goodbye and thanx for the drumwork, brother-in-arms! We have a replacement for live and studio sessions in Freddy B., the drummer some of you might remember from the UK tour in March 2002 when Dirge sat at home with a broken foot!"

The complete track listing for "Below The Lights" is as follows:

01. The Crossing
02. Havenless
03. A Darker Place
04. Queen of Night
05. A Dead Stare
06. As Fire Swept Clean the Earth
07. Ridicule Swarm

I think this is good news for all fans of Enslaved. Now here's hoping they're added to Wacken 2003!

 

[Nico16]

Wow, thanx - you just made my day!!!! I'm also glad to hear that the split with Drige didn't happen because of some personal disagreement-bullshit. Well, I can't await the album.......

 

[MadeInNewJersey]

Here's some more great news from the Enslaved camp, courtesy of Blabbermouth.net, Jan. 11, 2003.

"ENSLAVED's IVAR: How Lineup Changes Affected Our Sound - Jan. 11, 2003

ENSLAVED guitarist Ivar Bjørnson recently responded to a fan question about the changes in the group's sound caused by the departures of guitarist R. Kronheim and drummer Dirge Rep.

"Of course, I think [Kronheim and Rep's departures] will affect the music, as you will hear on the new album. 'Below The Lights' is more consistent and 'tight' than the previous efforts like 'Monumension' and 'Mardraum'. Especially in terms of songwriting, I think the absence of R. Kronheim kind of invigorated us, to be cynical about it. Sure, when he entered the band around the time of 'Blodhemn', we were kind of burned out and lacked ideas and vision. He really injected life into the band at that time, he started to withdraw his deposits, so to speak. There was no longer a sense of unity in the band, and in combination with his neck-breaking, MÖTLEY CRÜE-ish drug habits, there was no way out. So, to get to the point, the new album is a kind of 'best of both worlds'. We have kept the 'new' direction from the previous two albums and at the same time returned a lot to the 'source'. You know, me, Grutle and Dirge are all kind of 'old school', even though we sound 'experimental' and 'new' from time to time. This is easy to hear on the new album. Please also keep in mind that I still wrote 70-80% of the songs and lyrics still when Kronheim joined the band, it was more a case of him overtaking Grutle's share of song- and lyrical writing when he joined. And now that he is out of the band, and Grutle still doesn't write a lot, I am doing all the songs and most of the lyrics. This is because the others [don't] write simply, if they had wanted to, they could have had all the songs they wanted. I guess some people think it is close to dictatorship in the band, which is totally wrong.

"About Dirge, it was a loss for his excellent drumming, of course but more important for the concept and lyrics, which he was getting more and more into. But we already got Freddy as a new drummer (he was on BLOOD RED THRONE's first album and played the UK March 02 tour with us), and he is simply the best fucking drummer I've been in the same room with. No kidding."

ENSLAVED's new album, "Below The Lights", will surface on March 3 through Osmose Productions."

Maybe it's wishful thinking on my part, but I take this to mean they'll be returning to their more epic, viking-ish roots! Let's hope!

 

[Mocika]

I just saw them 3 months ago.. and I like Dirge for his drummings..

 

[natten]

Enslaved is good. very good, i specially like blodhemn, mardraum and monumension

 

[Profano]

ENSLAVED’s new DVD/video release, Live Retaliation, is out through Metal Mind Europe on March 24th. The set includes the following live tracks: ‘Intro’, ‘Convoys To Nothingness’, ‘Jotunblod’, ‘The Voices’, ‘As Fire Swept Clean The Earth’, ‘Heimdallr’, ‘Loke’, ‘Queen Of Night’, ‘Mardraum’, ‘Ridicule Swarm’, ‘Wotan’, ‘Retribution For The Dead’ and ‘Slaget I Skungen Bortenfor’. It also features the following audio tracks: ‘Sleipnr’, ‘Starte Vidder’, ‘Wotan’, ‘Gylfaginning’, ‘Jotunblod’ and ‘Viking Metal’.



In other Enslaved news, The End Records will release the bands new album, Below The Lights, in North America on May 20th. The tracklisting: ‘The Crossing’, ‘Havenless’, ‘A Darker Place’, ‘Queen Of The Night’, ‘A Dead Stare’, ‘As Fire Swept Clean The Earth’ and ‘Ridicule Swarm’. The track ‘Queen Of The Night’ can be heard on MP3 through the following link: http://www.theend.cd/mp3/Enslaved_BelowTheLights_QueenOfNight.mp3

 

[Dionysos]

It's March 21 and the album is not out yet (at least here-GR)

 

[Morgana]

Shouldn't it be out March 24th? So it's not a surprise you haven't seen it yet...

 

[Dionysos]

[I]Originally posted by Morgana[/I]
Shouldn't it be out March 24th? So it's not a surprise you haven't seen it yet...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I thought it was for 3-3-3

 

[the_dying]

VIKINGLIGR VELDI is a masterpiece in black metal history! Abso'fuckin'lutely great!

 

[Sinister Heart]

Enslaved will be playing a one-off show in London on 23 January. There is no tour currently happening, so it seems this is the only Below The Lights show they will play outside the Scandinavian countries.

The venue is The Underworld, entry £10, doors 7pm. Tickets available from www.stargreen.com and www.ticketweb.co.uk.