Enslaved – In Times (2015)

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Constantly evolving and maturing over the last 10 years, Enslaved returns with another mesmerizing release with “In Times”. Further developing their Progressive Black Metal sound, the band delivers 53 minutes of impeccable music that will strengthen the band’s legacy and please all Metal fans. If you think the bar was set too high with “RIITIIR”, it has not been obliterated by this new release.

Opening with a blistering onslaught in the first minute of “Thurisaz Dreaming”, the band masterfully turns the tides around and delivers an elegant piece that perfectly blends aggressive passages with the band’s signature proggy/jazzy melodic passages. Arve Isdal and Ivar Bjørnson do a great job in combining different guitar styles to create intricate song structures for the tracks in this release. With almost everybody pitching in on vocals (Grutle, Ivar, and Herbrand Larsen), the mood majestically changes without always needing elaborate tempo changes like on “Building With Fire”.

Experimenting on certain parts of songs allows Enslaved to keep pushing their musical style while keeping their identity and signature staples intact, as we can see on the crushing “One Thousand Years of Rain”, a track that reminds us a bit of bands like Borknagar and Vintersorg. We particularly enjoy the more melodic and atmospheric side of the band’s style, with the trippy “Nauthir Bleeding” being a prime example of this. This track features amazing guitar leads that slowly distinguish themselves from some fast paced Black Metal sections.

As one of the best songs, “In Times” delivers an intoxicating Jazzy bass guitar line that is built into the headbanging nature of the underlying riffing. Perfectly crafting heavy and fast sections in-between proggy/jazzy passages, this is one of the band’s best songs in the last few releases. As a very apt closer, the bands deliver a very unique piece with “Daylight”. Opening with some powerful riffs and elaborate orchestral arrangements, this song is a completely rollercoaster ride with a very engaging and magical plateau. In a complete Post-Rock fashion, the band drifts for a few minutes in this piece with a very mellow and hypnotic passage. Truly magical and completely unexpected, is Enslaved the Black Metal Opeth? The band’s trajectory might point to this after their last 4 albums.

Overall, “In Times” is a release that fully delivers in all aspects for fans of Enslaved and it also showcases the band’s musical growth over the last few years. While some of the more experimental things might catch some people off-guard, they make perfect sense if you put them in context of their musical evolution since “Vertebrae”. If you are a fan of the band, do not hesitate and get your copy, if you are on the fence about them, give this excellent release a chance to convince you.

Band: Enslaved Album: In Times

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: March 6th, 2015

Oficial Site Social Media

Genre: Progressive Black Metal

Country: Norway

Rating: 98/100
Year: 

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