Thirty-five years in, Enslaved shows no sign of slowing down. Not only have they released an album every two to three years, but each of their seventeen full lengths has explored different elements and had unique sounds. Early on the band overlapped with many of their peers in the Norwegian second wave of black metal, but their exploration of Norse mythology and Vikings set them off on a different path from the start. But by the time the 2000s rolled around Enslaved’s sound continued to transform, and the emphasis on more progressive songwriting has defined their music ever since. This year’s Mið embraces that same sense of experimentation and change but frames it in a very different way from the last few releases. The writing isn’t quite as complex as it was previously, opting for more of a hook driven approach alongside a bit more of the black metal side regaining the spotlight, but there are still plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting.
One of the biggest changes for Mið was how Enslaved approached the writing process, as rather than coming into the studio with a lot of ideas already fine tuned and ready to go they let a lot of the details form during the studio sessions and as a result the material has a more fluid and collaborative feel. It’s slightly less sprawling than some of their more recent output and you won’t find any major curveballs here, but that doesn’t mean that it is lacking in nuance either. “I Am Ice” has an earthier, folk sound for its first thirty seconds or so but then blasting black metal riffs come bursting in that recall some of the band’s earlier days. Enslaved never fully shed their black metal foundation, but some of their discography has used it a bit more sparingly and so it’s noticeable how much more of a role it plays on this album. Tracks like “Solar Will”, “Parting”, and “I Miðju” showcase how much power and intensity the band is still capable when they head back towards full-on black metal, but in between these moments you’ll hear more reflective melodies and arrangements that retain that folk/pagan approach as well as progressive rock. Highlights for me include the extremely dense grooves and almost doom sounding “Mountain” as well as “Tales of Trees” where the scorching heavy metal grooves fuse with their airier progs in a truly infectious way. It does come through as a bit more purposefully stripped down for comparison and the songs are oriented around specific melodies and harsher leads rather than being the types of winding journeys, they were in the past, but the formula varies enough to keep things interesting. The trade-off with this approach is that some of the tracks didn’t reach the same immense peaks as Enslaved has in the past, which dulled the impact the first few times through. In particular, while the shift back towards a bit more icy riffing early on was a nice change of pace, I found things didn’t really start to stick with me until “Mountain”.
Grutle Kjellson’s raspy screams have been one of the core elements of Enslaved’s sound over the decades, but their exploration of a wide range of singing pitches has also given them a different sound from a lot of other black metal adjacent bands. This current lineup has been in place since 2020’s Utgard, and with each member contributing backing vocals there’s a lot of different elements to take in on Mið. But what might be most surprising on this album is the incorporation of some Sami and Native American performances, as once the short intro track concludes the first vocal sound you hear is chanting from guest singer Johan Sara Jr. Later in the album Kevin Kicking Woman from the Blackfeet Nation delivers chanting that gives this Enslaved a very different tone and atmosphere compared to their usual Norse exploration. But the rest of the band isn’t overshadowed by these guests, and whether you focus on the harsher elements or are drawn in by the powerful singing on tracks like “Parting” there is a lot to experience on Mið.
With a more fluid and powerful sound, Mið showcases that Enslaved never stays in one spot from album to album. This latest effort reigns in some of the progressive sprawl in favor of some more stripped down hooks and songs that have a more defined flow, but there are still unexpected flourishes that make the journey enjoyable. It feels a bit more black metal forward than the band has been in recent memory, and while not every track fully stuck with me the power of later cuts like “Parting” and “Tales of Trees” have made me want to come back. It’s not quite a favorite or career defining moment, but the fact that Enslaved continues to transform from release to release and isn’t just on autopilot in their thirty fifth year is something to be celebrated. Mið is available from Nuclear Blast Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
