Enslaved – “Heimdal” CD/Blu Ray Review

Introduction

One of black metal’s most consistently engaging and experimental acts, Enslaved always stood apart from their peers, eschewing Satanic posturing for the richer tapestry of Norse mythology. Their journey has been one of exploration and growth, with each subsequent album seeking to build upon what has gone before. And so, we arrive at Heimdal, Enslaved’s sixteenth studio effort. Perfectly named for the gatekeeper between the nine Norse realms, Heimdal is a restless album that looks back across the band’s career, the result being an eclectic, mature offering that stands as one of the finest outings in the band’s catalogue to date.  

Special Edition

Released both as a standard single-disc edition and as a special, two-disc digi-pack (the version reviewed here) Heimdal is an appealing package and it’s more than worth shelling out for the deluxe version. Featuring the full album on disc one (with a bonus track, Gangandi inserted into the tracklist), the second disc is a blu ray featuring the band’s epic 30^th Anniversary streaming performance from December 2021, celebrating Enslaved’s thirtieth anniversary. Captured in a studio setting, with Bergen prog-rockers Shaman Elephant as extra personnel, the set was filmed in full HD, and makes good use of the blu ray format, although it’s a shame (given the band’s cinematic proclivities) that a surround mix wasn’t crafted for this release. Still, this is a minor issue and the quality of the performance, the filming and the mix are all, as you might expect, first class, making it a fantastic bonus for fans of the band.

The Album

Introducing the album, Behind The Mirror opens with the ominous sound of oars dipping gently into a body of water wreathed in fog and mystery. As a mood setter, it is incredibly effective, and when massed guitars break through the wall of sleep, it is to draw the listener into an oblique world where the scabrous rasp of Satyricon is offset by the haunting melodicism of Opeth. Not everything offers such a slow build. The searing Congelia is pure black metal, with frozen riffs and blast beats very much to the fore, conjuring an atmosphere of dank horror. Yet, while Congelia would be a remarkable piece, even if the band were to remain on familiar ground, as the piece expands, so it draws increasingly from art rock, the riffs devolving into something altogether more disturbing. As melodies emerge from the fog, it becomes apparent that Congelia is a masterclass in how to craft engaging extremity. In contrast, Forest Dweller could just as easily be an extract from Gabriel-era Genesis as the work of a black metal band, with acoustic guitars, rich synth lines and mellifluous vocals. After the systematic deconstruction of Congelia, it feels a natural progression, which only serves to make the track’s devolution into savage black metal all the more brutal. With melody and might coalescing, it’s another track that roams roughshod through the wilderness, and the results are stunning to behold. The first half of the album concludes withthe remarkable, arpeggiated riff of Kingdom, a track underpinned by jazz-infused drumming that once again sees the band exploring the art rock realm with aplomb, as if Sonic Youth and King Crimson had decided to form a black metal offshoot (and what a prospect that would be).

Opening the second half, the eerie synths of The Eternal Sea give way to a nautical melody that seems to wash in and out as if in time to the rhythmic sweep of a great ship’s oars. It’s a captivating, cinematic piece of music that takes in folk influences and savage black metal bluster, proving once again that Enslaved are the absolute masters when it comes to expansive, dynamic flights of fancy. No less enigmatic is Caravans to The Outer World, a piece that emerges from the stuttering synth and crashing gong of its predecessor, only to suddenly explode with all the majestic intensity of Emperor. It’s a remarkable trip, combining post-rock haze with black metal aggression, and it leads the listener neatly to Gangandi, a bonus track available only with the two-disc edition. Finally, there’s the doom-laden finale, Heimdal, which sees some of the album’s most inspired lead work, aired over a sludgy riff so monolithic it could blot out the sun. It’s a remarkable conclusion to a remarkable album, and it leaves the listener in awe as to the depth of Enslaved’s artistic vision.

Those who have followed Enslaved’s remarkable career will not be surprised by the depth and diversity on display here – Enslaved have long been one of the most captivating and progressively inclined extreme metal bands out there, but that does not make Heimdal any less remarkable. Played with the band’s trademark mix of passion and precision, it’s nothing less than a masterpiece, and it shows just how flexible the boundaries of black metal can be. 9.5/10

CD Tracklist

1. Behind The Mirror
2. Congelia
3. Forest Dweller
4. Kingdom
5. The Eternal Sea
6. Caravans To The Outer Worlds
7. Gangandi (Bonus Track)
8. Heimdal

Bonus Disc Tracklist

1. Ruun II – The Epitaph
2. Bounded By Allegiance
3. Sequence
4. Caravans To The Outer Worlds
5. Havenless
6. Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor
7. What Else Is There (Royksopp cover)
8. Hindsight