Enslaved – Mið
Enslaved – Mið
Nuclear Blast
Release date: 30/10/26
Review by Oli Gonzalez
9/10
35 years and 17 albums into a career that’s taken them to every stage and every festival worth playing, Enslaved are back with their latest opus “Mið”. They burst onto the scene in the early 1990s with a sound rooted in black metal but with a fresh progressive twist on albums “Frost” and “Vikingligr Veldi”. Then came “Below The Lights”, capturing that intense blackened atmosphere alongside a refined and expansive compositional approach with production values that were ahead of its time (check out the stunning cinematic live performance of this on YouTube to understand what a masterpiece this is). Whereas “E” leaned more into psychedelic and prog-rock influences like that of Genesis and Marillion whilst still offering a frosty death metal bite. No matter what flavour their sound, Enslaved have always strived to push forward and never stay stagnant.
In many ways, “Mið” looks to the past and brings what worked then to the modern contemporary era. The album feels the most like a black metal album since the early 90s! This is achieved through the ever-present bloodcurdling shrieks of frontman/bassist Grutle that can rival any ‘KVLT’ vocalist. We see evidence of this on ‘I Am Ice’, as well as the sharp abrasive guitar tones and riffs that are designed to cause as much friction and dissonance as possible! ‘Solar Will’ also provides an emphatic reminder of Enslaved’s black metal credentials, in particular with the sheer infernal atmospheric undertone to this composition.
Though Enslaved are not aiming to be placed into the box of ‘just’ black metal. No, ‘Mountain’ is largely an acoustic folk like ballad in the opening, providing some kind of respite from the dissonance and carnage. Though order is resumed and with some chest pounding rhythms and crushing distortion, Grutle re-asserts himself as force to be reckoned with above this solid rhythmic foundation in a right old headbanger of a track! ‘Spirit Helper’ also leans into this more folky ballad sound, much like the band have portrayed in older songs like ‘Havenless’.
What you’ll notice is that the song lengths are typically much more conservative – as compared to their older material – and frequently hovering around the 4 minute mark. Whether this was a conscious decision to provide snappier bite size chunks to entice newer fans or just a compositional coincidence is up for debate. What’s not up for debate is what a blistering and cinematic journey ‘Parting’ is! Abandoning typical song structures and taking you multiple movements inside the 8 minutes exposes you to various dynamics and textures. Whether it’s Grutle’s filthy guttural growls, Herbrand’s soothing cleans, the more ambient and tranquil segments, or when the full band join in to create an indulgent and immersive wall of sound that washes over and consumes everyone and everything in its path! And then we get that jaw-dropping guitar solo that acts as the songs zenith and crushing catharsis that will get played on repeat again and again!
There’s no doubt about it. Enslaved have produced something quite remarkable in “Mið”. They’ve always been consistent and guaranteed to give you a stunning live show no matter where they play! They’ve remained consistently underrated and somewhat overlooked in the world of extreme metal. If there was any justice in the world, “Mið” will give grant them the adoration and respect from extreme metal purists the world over and grant them a place at the table of progressive metal undisputed royalty.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Non-Being
02. I Am Ice (featuring Johan Sara Jr)
03. Solar Will
04. Mountain
05. Spirit Helper (featuring Kevin Kicking Woman)
06. Parting
07. Tales of Trees
08. I Miðju
LINKS:
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