Damn, I really liked that bass.

René Ackermann of Contraband Candy had the privilege of meeting up with Grutle Kjellson during the first leg of the band's Ruun Tour 2007 at London's Mean Fiddler for an exclusive interview (discussing black metal, metal gigs in India and "South Park", among other topics). You can watch the 10-minute clip at this location.

They put on an awesome show in Tempe earlier this week. I hope to have a review up shortly. No pics, sadly. Most of the set was taken from ISA and Ruun ("Isa", "Violet Dawning", "Ruun", "Path to Vanir" amongst the seven tracks taken from those albums) - they also did an outstanding rendition of "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" from Below the Lights as well as appeased the old material fans with "Jotunblud" of Frost and a thundering encore rendition of "Allfadr Odhinn" off of the split with Emperor.

The absolutely rocked. Great show.

And no Rickenbass was nowhere in sight. I do like the Gibson, though.

MetalKult.com has posted a 21-clip video interview with guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson. You can check out these clips at this location.

Enslaved our mighty indeed, they stand out from the BM pack with ease. You can see that they're more innovative, and because of that well the music is a very interesting listen. Love the stuff, love the band, you CANT go wrong with these guys it's impossible. I think i made my point. Hail almighty Enslaved

Enslaved definitely are one of the better Black Metal bands out there. Besides being generally good, it is their lyrical themes which draw me in yet I am glad that they don't try to add really any "folk" elements to their music, as native instruments can often become annoying when fused with Metal. While I have yet to hear their entire catalogue, what I have heard has been in the upper spectrum of even the "good" Black Metal bands of the day. Hopefully they can keep progressing in the direction they are without losing too much of their original touch.

Written by Clintagräm on 09.04.2008 at 06:45

Enslaved definitely are one of the better Black Metal bands out there. Besides being generally good, it is their lyrical themes which draw me in yet I am glad that they don't try to add really any "folk" elements to their music, as native instruments can often become annoying when fused with Metal.

I agree with you, it's great that despite their lyrical themes they've never been too "folky" (I think they were most "folky" on Frost, and it worked quite well there).

I really like Havenless on Below the Lights

Enslaved is such an awesome band! Its killing me waiting for the new album, but when it comes out, I'll be sure to own it!

They make such moving songs, powerful at moments and then sometimes just emotionally drawing you in. The video for Essence is pretty cool too! Of course I love Frost, but I'm not stuck in the past, I love to see Enslaved moving forward!

Written by TheBigRossowski on 11.08.2008 at 12:42

Enslaved is such an awesome band! Its killing me waiting for the new album, but when it comes out, I'll be sure to own it!

They make such moving songs, powerful at moments and then sometimes just emotionally drawing you in. The video for Essence is pretty cool too! Of course I love Frost, but I'm not stuck in the past, I love to see Enslaved moving forward!

I cannot wait for the new release as well.

The best thing about enjoying a band that is constantly evolving - and constantly doing so in an interesting manner is that you can enjoy both the back catalog as well their newer material. The new material is not stale, and if you yearn for the 'good old day', you can always put "Frost" or "VV" in the cd tray.

Written by BitterCOld on 11.08.2008 at 20:50

Written by TheBigRossowski on 11.08.2008 at 12:42

Enslaved is such an awesome band! Its killing me waiting for the new album, but when it comes out, I'll be sure to own it!

They make such moving songs, powerful at moments and then sometimes just emotionally drawing you in. The video for Essence is pretty cool too! Of course I love Frost, but I'm not stuck in the past, I love to see Enslaved moving forward!

I cannot wait for the new release as well.

The best thing about enjoying a band that is constantly evolving - and constantly doing so in an interesting manner is that you can enjoy both the back catalog as well their newer material. The new material is not stale, and if you yearn for the 'good old day', you can always put "Frost" or "VV" in the cd tray.

They are a band that no-one can ever accuse of musical stagnation. And the great thing is, if you listen to all their material in chronological order, it's rather easy to trace their evolution. They should be a model for other bands to emulate in this respect.

Any thoughts on the new album Vertebrae? Personally, I don't really enjoy it. Not to say it's a bad album just not my cup of tea anymore. The whole Pink Floyd influence has become too prominent, any semblance of black metal has all but gone now. All in all it's still some very good progressive metal if you enjoy that kinda thing and it is a logical progression on from Ruun.

Written by [user id=4365] on 26.08.2008 at 21:08

Any thoughts on the new album Vertebrae? Personally, I don't really enjoy it. Not to say it's a bad album just not my cup of tea anymore. The whole Pink Floyd influence has become too prominent, any semblance of black metal has all but gone now. All in all it's still some very good progressive metal if you enjoy that kinda thing.

It is has been spinning its rounds reguraly in the Hubregtse residence ever since I got it and I like it very much.
But... and this is a huge but... the Pink Floyd influences shouln't get anymore prominent or else they will slip into new The Gathering territory and that would be a crying shame. Now there are still some slight black metal influences left as well and that in combination with the progressive Pink Floyd sounds make it a unique and intriguing band.
But this is actually about borderline progressive I like anything more progressive and they are lost for me.

Seems I'm where you are but one album back. I think the style on Ruun was as far as I would have liked it to go and if I had more way there'd be more Isa style albums (still the perfect blend of psychedelica and black metal). God I loved the overall tone of Isa. The album was almost boring to behold yet so one of the best things I've ever heard due to it's subtlety.

Written by [user id=4365] on 26.08.2008 at 21:51

Seems I'm where you are but one album back. I think the style on Ruun was as far as I would have liked it to go and if I had more way there'd be more Isa style albums (still the perfect blend of psychedelica and black metal). God I loved the overall tone of Isa.

Well, Isa is also for me te pinnacle of their career.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 26.08.2008 at 21:46

Written by [user id=4365] on 26.08.2008 at 21:08

Any thoughts on the new album Vertebrae? Personally, I don't really enjoy it. Not to say it's a bad album just not my cup of tea anymore. The whole Pink Floyd influence has become too prominent, any semblance of black metal has all but gone now. All in all it's still some very good progressive metal if you enjoy that kinda thing.

It is has been spinning its rounds reguraly in the Hubregtse residence ever since I got it and I like it very much.
But... and this is a huge but... the Pink Floyd influences shouln't get anymore prominent or else they will slip into new The Gathering territory and that would be a crying shame. Now there are still some slight black metal influences left as well and that in combination with the progressive Pink Floyd sounds make it a unique and intriguing band.
But this is actually about borderline progressive I like anything more progressive and they are lost for me.

I've gotta question you both, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Has this album leaked or something? It doesn't come out until the end of September. Help me out here....

Written by TheBigRossowski on 27.08.2008 at 19:20

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 26.08.2008 at 21:46

Written by [user id=4365] on 26.08.2008 at 21:08

Any thoughts on the new album Vertebrae? Personally, I don't really enjoy it. Not to say it's a bad album just not my cup of tea anymore. The whole Pink Floyd influence has become too prominent, any semblance of black metal has all but gone now. All in all it's still some very good progressive metal if you enjoy that kinda thing.

It is has been spinning its rounds reguraly in the Hubregtse residence ever since I got it and I like it very much.
But... and this is a huge but... the Pink Floyd influences shouln't get anymore prominent or else they will slip into new The Gathering territory and that would be a crying shame. Now there are still some slight black metal influences left as well and that in combination with the progressive Pink Floyd sounds make it a unique and intriguing band.
But this is actually about borderline progressive I like anything more progressive and they are lost for me.

I've gotta question you both, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Has this album leaked or something? It doesn't come out until the end of September. Help me out here....

Yes, it has leaked.

Thanks...but after a second consideration, I think I'd rather wait. I want to absorb the whole thing, you know? Flip through the pages, read over the lyrics and connect to it.

I'd feel TOO guilty if I downloaded it, especially after they personally 'downloaded' that sheep or lamb..whatever.

Lulz at that sheep. Still though, illegal downloading for the win.

What sheep?

Written by Lucas on 27.08.2008 at 20:26

What sheep?

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=83268

HAHAHA brilliant stunt! and well diserved.

Written by [user id=4365] on 27.08.2008 at 20:59

Written by Lucas on 27.08.2008 at 20:26

What sheep?

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=83268

By now I'm sure most people have seen this. They steal...okay, download that sheep. But yeah...thats the sheep thing...I wonder what ever became of that after the issue?

And no...no illegal download winning...I will buy it the first day of its release just as stated before. However, you could send me a brief summary through a PM so I know a bit more.

hahahah watching that fat guy chase after the sheep made my day.

I got the new album in the mail last week, but when I played it I had to turn it off during the second song because I fucking hated it so goddamn much. But hey, I was drunk and not in the mood for Enslaved, and I'm not a fan of the band in the first place, but I'll definitely listen to it again.

The album cover is pretty cool...

Lulz at everyone. Dunno why.

Seriously, there's nothing wrong with downloading it if you intend to buy it. It's really not that different from just test listening to it in a shop. If you like, you buy. If you don't, you don't.

Booyakasha.

The problem with the new album is that it keeps making me listen to Isa and shedding a proverbial tear over how damn perfect it is. It's like In Flames all over again wah wah wah! Heheh.

I take back what I said. On the second listen last night as I was driving home from work, I really got into the album. I definitely get a Pink Floyd/Opeth vibe from it at times, and somehow mixing it with black metal worked out well. My only complaints are that Center acts like filler to me, The Watcher makes the album seem repetitive as a whole, and the harsh vocals are a bit weak.

I just got the new album. I've only listened to it once but I like it quite a bit. I think I like RUUN better though as far as what I've heard of it. I also like Below the Lights, Isa, Blodhemn, and Monumension. Again though, I've only heard a few songs from each of them.

I won't really be able to give a full opinion on the new album until I see some songs performed live in May, but until then, I think "Vertebrae" is a bit lost on me. "Ruun" only gave me passing interest, and this new one is doing the same. It seems the band has moved away from anything interesting to me, although when I saw them live earlier this year, I was still impressed. Of course, that was not due to the "Ruun" songs, but to everything before that. I love Enslaved's sound, and if they were a lesser band I would be hating "Vertebrae" now. But instead, I don't mind listening to it, but doubt I'll be listening to it much, if at all after a few more months.

I also must confess, this time around, the vocals are often tiring (the clean ones) and unpolished (the extreme ones). The first time I've ever said that about the vocals...

I listened to their whole new album Vertebrae this morning and I have to say it's quite good. My only complaint is that it could get a little repetitive sometimes, apart from that, it was a nice listen. Chilling atmosphere, nice songwriting,... sort of a easy going listen to me, maybe i'll pick the album up sometime soon.

Now I'm listening to 'Frost' for the first time, i'm liking it ... above average BM imo.

Written by Jason W. on 12.11.2008 at 21:05

I also must confess, this time around, the vocals are often tiring (the clean ones) and unpolished (the extreme ones). The first time I've ever said that about the vocals...

By tiring do mean in like a dreamy, Pink Floyd way? I don't know if the extreme vocals seem unpolished by accident, they employed one of the best sound engineers/producers in music... so maybe the vocals are meant to contrast to an amazing result, which makes the album so much more interesting at least for me. We've seen this coming for some time now, the progressive elements have been appearing more and more, and I think they have finally got it right, personally.