Artist: Enslaved
Label: Nuclear Blast
Released: 2012
Runtime: 67:00
Rating: 4/5
Enslaved are known as a band with a strong knack for defying orthodox black metal. In their »typical« metal era, the band’s albums could easily be pigeonholed into one of the many subgenres that fans love to use to organize and pin down specific metal sounds. But over the last few albums, the Norwegians have evolved massively. But into what, exactly?
The general consensus, though there’s always room for differing opinions, is that Enslaved are these days classified as progressive black metal, which sets itself apart from »classic« black metal by tackling more unconventional musical forms. Below the Lights, RUUN and Axioma Ethica Odini have somewhat softer, almost prog-rock influences, and definitely atypical rhythmic and melodic elements you’d be shocked to hear on records by old-school bands like Darkthrone, Bathory and Immortal. In short, Enslaved’s discography is steeped in a more progressive style of black metal, and that goes for roughly half of their output. Their style has become very consistent, while staying very different from some black metal norm. And RIITIIR is no different there. But – is it real evolution, real progress? Or is it the same familiar style the band has been playing comfortably for the last five albums?
RIITIIR still stays within the bounds of progressive black metal. There isn’t much resemblance between it and the band’s previous EPs Thorn and The Sleeping Gods, or their LP Axioma Ethica Odini, either. RIITIIR strives for what most good musicians strive for – to sound like a typical Enslaved album while also having something new, something unique to this record alone. But RIITIIR only pulls that off up to a point.
I won’t wade into the details of every track on the album or try to describe every single section, but I’ll give some examples. The opener “Thoughts Like Hammers” is probably my least favorite track on the album. Its intro is pretty misleading: you get one of the band’s most chaotic and complex riffs, full of breathtaking guitar harmonies that are barely graspable on a first listen. But don’t judge this track (or the album) by that riff alone, because everything after it slides right back into typical Enslaved territory. The overall style and mood of the track are very promising, but the execution kind of limps. None of the riffs that follow blew me away, and some parts are either too long or just plain filler. Luckily, from here the album only gets better.
The next three tracks completely overshadow the opener. I can feel those moments of awe again, that kind of spiritual connection with the music the band managed to create on a few earlier albums. Fascinating riff styles, even some that don’t recall anything the band has done before, start to dominate these three tracks, and the always fantastic (and brilliantly produced) vocals of K. Grutle finally get their moment. Even his clean singing has improved and matured a lot since Axioma. The highly distinctive chorus of »Roots of the Mountain« has some bits where his semi-falsetto (as I call it) drifts outside the proper range, meaning it veers into what could be called a technical flaw… but I like it. I like it a lot. Whichever euphemism you prefer to describe it – the texture or color of his voice, or just a certain emotional passion – he somehow pulls it off. Combined with the technical and emotional ability of his voice, he turns what would otherwise look like a mistake into something really interesting.
It’s worth noting that RIITIIR is the longest Enslaved album so far – a whole 67 minutes. It’s actually the band’s only album to go past the one-hour mark. And although I prefer longer albums to shorter ones, RIITIIR is sometimes just too long. The middle sections of »Thoughts Like Hammers«, »Matenal« and »Storm of Memories« in particular should have been trimmed. Whenever something feels too long to me, it’s definitely because it sounds either redundant or just musically dull. It’s not a huge strike against the album, since repetition isn’t necessarily bad, but it doesn’t change the fact that the least enjoyable parts of RIITIIR are exactly the ones with the most repetition. Still, »Forsaken« is probably the best track on the album and one of the best Enslaved songs ever, even if, like the album as a whole, it suffers from parts that are simply surplus – which maybe isn’t even surprising, since at 11 minutes it’s one of the band’s longest songs ever.
Lyrically, I’ve never been impressed by the band. It’s always struck me as odd how cliché their lyrics are, when their music is so paradoxically at odds with the very themes they sing about. RIITIIR is a slight improvement on that front. You can still describe the lyrics as grim, violent and generally dark, but at least some of the verses kick off a thought process that earlier ones didn’t. Some are even a bit less dark and therefore better suited to the band’s use of prog rock elements. That’s exactly why I recommend giving RIITIIR’s lyrics more attention than those of any previous album.
So RIITIIR is progressive music, but it doesn’t represent complete progress for the band itself. For years they’ve been working lighter prog rock elements into their music. In contrast, the Sleeping Gods EP brought in electronic ambient sounds, something I really hoped the band would explore further, but the only trace of that sound here shows up on »Forsaken«. Of course, I didn’t expect Enslaved to suddenly start building their niche around some kind of ambient mood, but an element like that would definitely add a ton to their experimenting, so I truly hope the band keeps heading toward a fusion of prog metal and ambient, the way Agalloch and Negura Bunget do.
While listening, I was repeatedly disappointed by how similar the mood of RIITIIR is to earlier Enslaved releases, since that’s definitely not what I expected. Then again, I could say that as long as the music is excellent and at the same time »pleasant« to listen to, the band doesn’t need a drastic change in what they do, which is completely true. So RIITIIR is a very solid album, and even though it’s not among my favorite albums by the band, it’s definitely one of the best metal releases of the year. Some tracks offer real intrigue and progress that only reveal themselves after repeated listens. I really feel the time for a new, substantial Enslaved evolution is getting close, and that the moments of chaos and ambience on The Sleeping Gods and RIITIIR are the direction that will mark the next step forward for progressive metal.
Written, translated and edited by: Tine Kolenik
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Enslaved is a band noteworthy for their sense of defying black metal orthodoxies. In typical metal fashion, their albums were easily categorizeable in one of the many sub genres that people use to organize and identify the specific sounds of metal. Enslaved was once known as Viking Metal and regular Black Metal. But over the past dozen albums, these Norwegians have evolved. But into what, exactly?
The general consensus, though there is always room for argument, is that Enslaved is now classified as “Progressive Black Metal”, a style of music that differentiates from the expected conventions of, comparatively speaking, “regular” Black Metal. Below the Lights, RUUN, and more recently Axioma Ethica Odini are known for bringing lighter, perhaps Prog Rock sounding influences, and more uncommon rhythmic and melodic elements one would be very surprised to hear in old school Darkthrone, Bathory or Immortal. To put this briefly, Enslaved’s discography has been very familiar with the style of a more progressive style of Black Metal, for approximately half of their discography. Their style has remained consistent and at the same time different from the norm of Black Metal…and RIITIIR is no different. But is it an evolution; a true progression? Or is it the same familiar style the band has played safe with for the past 5 or so albums?
RIITIIR is definitely more identifiable with progressive black metal than regular, or orthodox black metal. It doesn’t even sound all that much like their two previous EPs, Thorn and The Sleeping Gods, or the previous LP, Axioma Ethica Odini. But like what so many good musicians strive to do, it sounds like the essence of Enslaved while remaining somewhat new, somewhat unique, but only up to a point.
I won’t go into great detail for every track, attempting to describe the intricacies of every single section, though I will provide some examples. The opening track, “Thoughts Like Hammers”, is probably my least favorite from the album. Its intro is quite misleading: one of the band’s more chaotic and complex riffs, it provides a rush of overwhelming guitar harmonies that are difficult to understand on a single listen. But one should not judge the remainder of the track (or the album) based off this riff. Everything after that descends into typical territory for the band. The style and overall mood of the song seems promising but the execution itself feels lacking. None of the riffs totally “wow’d” me at all, some parts seemed to have gone on for a little too long as if they were filler. But thankfully it gets better after this.
The next 3 tracks seemed to completely overshadow the album’s opener. The uplifting moments of awe and that sense of a soulful connection the band has been known to make on previous records begin to become much more apparent with the following songs. Intriguing styles of riffs, some of which are even new to the band, start to dominate the core of these songs, in addition to the greatly performed and produced vocals that K. Grutle is known for. Even his clean singing has improved and matured noticeably since Axioma. The easily identifiable chorus of Roots of the Mountain has some parts in which his semi-falsetto (as I like to refer to it) sounds out of tune periodically. And yet despite something which would be deemed a technical performance flaw…I like it. I like it quite a bit. Whichever euphemism you prefer to describe it as, the textural or timbre quality of his voice, or the passion/emotion he pulls off, or a combination of both the technical and emotive skill and attributes of his singing, he takes advantage of what is generally perceived as a mistake and intuitively makes it interesting.
It should be noted that RIITIIR is Enslaved’s longest release so far, running at 67 minutes. It is actually their only album (sans bonus tracks or anything of the like) to exceed an hour. And surprising to myself, I find that sometimes this album runs a little bit too long. Particularly the middle sections of Thoughts Like Hammers, Matenal and Storm of Memories seem like they could have been cut short. Whenever I find something goes on for too long, obviously it is because it is either redundant or uninteresting sounding. I’d be fine with the consecutive 8-9 min song lengths if the band was more efficient with the time they provided us on this record. It’s not a major flaw, since the overly repetitive riffs aren’t actually awful, but the most repetitive sections on RIITIIR seem to be the least enjoyable moments of the record, with probably the exception of the chorus of Roots of The Mountain. Forsaken is perhaps the best track on the record and is maybe one of the best songs the band has ever put out, despite also suffering a bit at the hands of redundancy, which is not completely surprising. It is one of their longest songs ever, at 11 minutes.
Lyrically, I have never been impressed with Enslaved. I have always found it odd how cliché their lyrics are despite their music defying the very imagery and themes that they sing of so often. RIITIIR actually seems to be a bit of an improvement in this regard. It can still mostly be described as bleak, violent and just overall and simply dark. But certain lyrical passages seem to be a bit more thought-provoking and lighter in mood, which is a welcome change. Even some of their older albums had the very few phrases that really sparked something in me, so I do recommend paying attention to RIITIIR’s lyrics much more than any of their other albums.
RIITIIR is progressive music (abiding by the typical definition of the word in this context), but contrarily it is not a complete progression for the band themselves. For years the band has been doing the lighter/mellow metal feel with a combination of what could be called prog rock. The Sleeping Gods very interestingly introduced almost electronic-sounding ambient into their sound, something I really hoped would eventually be continued by the band. The only sign of this style of sound on RIITIIR exists on Forsaken. I did not expect Enslaved to incorporate major ambient elements on this album but it’s something they seem to be persisting with experimenting, and I personally hope they discover a new kind of combination for this prog metal + ambient mix, something bands like Agalloch and Negura Bunget are known to do to.
At times I am admittedly disappointed with how familiar the vibe of RIITIIR is to the previous releases and that it wasn’t as daring as I’d expected. One could say that as long as the music is great and enjoyable, they don’t need to change up their song drastically, and this is true. RIITIIR is a very, very solid album and though it is not my favorite album by them, not even in my top 3, it’s one of the better metal releases of the year and shows that this band has a high level of consistency when it comes to quality music that is definitely worthy of relistening. Some songs offer moments of pure intricacy that inevitably leave more to discover with repeated plays. I simply feel that Enslaved’s time of a new evolution is nearing, and perhaps The Sleeping Gods and RIITIIR’s moments of complex chaos and moody ambience are indeed foreshadowing the next progression of progressive metal.
Lineup
Grutle Kjellson – bass, vocals, synthesizer
Ivar Bjørnson – guitars, synthesizer
Arve Isdal – guitars
Herbrand Larsen – keyboards, synthesizer, organ, vocals
Cato Bekkevold – drums, percussion
Tracklist
1. Thoughts Like Hammers
2. Death In The Eyes Of Dawn
3. Veilburner
4. Roots Of The Mountain
5. Riitiir
6. Materal
7. Storm Of Memories
8. Forsaken
