Review Of Vertebrae by Enslaved
A Overview of the Latest Album by the Norwegian Band Enslaved
Mar 19, 2009
The evolution of Norwegian black metal and is so expansive that some metal aficionados may not even regard the latest album from the Vikings as black metal at all. In a recent interview both founding members Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson admitted to listening to a lot of Pink Floyd recently, and on this new record, it shows.
Still Bleeding Black Blood
Enslaved’s heart still pumps black blood and sustains a heathen spirit, however the gaze has slowly shifted windows over the years. To say Enslaved are more epic, or more progressive is twofold foolishness, to pigeonhole their expansive music as progressive or epic is a bit feeble and if it is, then they have been this ever since the early days of Yggdrasil (1992) and Vikinglir Veldi (1994)
Some may argue that Vikinglir Veldi (1994) was simply long songs comprising of one or two riffs strung together and looped to no great effect, but the emotion conjured on those songs is still very similar to that laid out by the beautiful songs on Vertebrae.
Enslaved's Journey To The Stars
Even if you disagree with the direction of Enslaved's journey, everything is in its right place on this new album. The dictatorship of the drums at times is fantastic as the tracks despite all their beauty and wandering glory, are led by the hand and dominated by mostly simple patterns carried forward by the pulse of the beat. This is not to say the drumming is not stunning in other places, the scaling of cymbals in 'To The Coast' is amazing.
This album will definitely divide opinion, some may see a departure from the Below The Lights (2003), Isa (2004) and Ruun (2006) era to an even more phased out and relaxed approach, but hell, a challenging album is always better than a mundane one.
Take Time Out To Discover The Beauty
What this writer suggests is if possible listen to Vertebrae completely subjectively, and disregard all that you know about Enslaved. This may allow the listener to discover the organic beauty for themselves, and then decide what place and part it plays in the history of the band.
Vertebrae is pure, and unfiltered. Raw and real, it feels like a band exploring the possibilities open to them. Did anyone really expect a band such as this to make a straight forward black metal album? That has never really been Enslaved's ethos, and if one was to question whether this is black metal or not, the band themselves would probably agree.
