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Enslaved
Enslaved performing live at Norway Rock Festival 2010
Background information
Origin	Sveio, Norway
Genres	Progressive metal, black metal, viking metal
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Deathlike Silence, Voices of Wonder, SPV GmbH, Osmose, Tabu, Relapse, The End, Candlelight, Nuclear Blast
Members	Ivar Bjørnson Grutle Kjellson Arve Isdal Cato Bekkevold Herbrand Larsen
Past members	Trym Torson Roy Kronheim Per Husebø Harald Helgeson
Website	www.enslaved.no

Enslaved is a progressive black metal band formed in June 1991 in Sveio, Norway, and currently based out of Bergen, Norway.

History

Enslaved was formed in June 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson (also known as Kjetil Grutle) when they were 13 and 17 years old, respectively. The band name was inspired by an Immortal demo track, "Enslaved in Rot." After many line-up changes throughout their career, Bjørnson and Kjellson are the only remaining original members. By 2004 the line-up solidified with guitarist Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal, drummer Cato Bekkevold, and keyboardist/vocalist Herbrand Larsen.

Bjørnson and Kjellson had been playing in a death metal band called Phobia, but like many in the burgeoning extreme metal movement, they were looking for new sources of inspiration and expression. Though Enslaved began as a prototypical Norwegian black metal band, they always incorporated song structures unusual for the genre, with several of their early songs expanding past the ten-minute mark. As such, the band has rejected the black metal genre label and prefers the term "extreme metal." The album Eld (1997) is often considered to be the beginning of the band's shift towards progressive viking metal, which was rendered complete with Mardraum (2000). That album contained several multi-part epics such as "Større enn tid - Tyngre enn natt" and "Entrance - Escape." From that point onward, the band's influence from progressive rock became stronger on each successive record, with several tracks (most prominently, "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" from Below the Lights) even using mellotron. Mardraum, Monumension (2001), and Below the Lights (2003) can be regarded as having somewhat similar styles, although there is a clear progression of sound between the albums. Isa (2004) and Ruun (2006) show a marked departure from previous sounds, most notably with the inclusion of sharp dynamic shifts.

Although the band has used mainly English lyrics since Monumension, their albums before that were mostly recorded in Norwegian except for three songs with Icelandic lyrics on their first full-length album; while the lyrics of the 1994 track Heimdallr consisted of an Old Norse excerpt from Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson. Most of the band's lyrics relate to Norse mythology.

In 2007-2008 Bjørnson, Kjellson, and Isdal collaborated with the Norwegian noise duo Fe-Mail, under the name Trinacria. Enslaved released the album Vertebrae in September 2008. On this particular album, many of their techniques, particularly harmonies, have been compared to Pink Floyd. After touring Europe extensively, Enslaved embarked on a North American tour with the progressive death metal band Opeth in May 2009. Enslaved released their eleventh studio album, Axioma Ethica Odini, on September 27, 2010 in Europe and the following day in North America. In 2011 Enslaved released two new EPs. The first EP, entitled The Sleeping Gods, which was produced in partnership with Scion Audio/Visual, was released on May 10, 2011 and made available as a free download consisting of 5 original tracks. The second EP, entitled Thorn, was released on August 27, 2011 in partnership with Soulseller Records in fulfillment of a decade-old agreement. The Thorn EP, released on seven-inch vinyl, was strictly limited to 1,000 copies and featured a more atmospheric sound than the band is currently known for. Enslaved started their 20th anniversary tour "Circling Above and Within North America Tour Part IV" in September 2011 with Alcest and Junius in the United States and Canada.An official tribute album called Önd - A Tribute was released on Pictonian Records in July 2012. It contains twenty covers from twenty bands (including Dordeduh, Fen, Krakow, Vreid and Wodensthrone) to celebrate the two first decades of Enslaved's career. Enslaved are set to release their 12th studio album titled RIITIIR September 28th in Europe and October 9th in North America.

Members

Current members

• Grutle Kjellson – vocals, bass (since 1991)
• Ivar Bjørnson – guitar, vocals (since 1991)
• Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal – guitar (since 2002)
• Cato Bekkevold – drums (since 2003 - formerly of Red Harvest)
• Herbrand Larsen – keyboards, vocals (since 2004)

Former members

• Trym Torson (Kai Johnny Mosaker) – drums (1991–1995)
• Harald Helgeson – drums (1995–1997)
• Per Husebø (also known as Dirge Rep) – drums (1997–2002)
• Roy Kronheim – guitar (1997–2002)

Discography

Studio albums

• Vikingligr Veldi (1994)
• Frost (1994)
• Eld (1997)
• Blodhemn (1998)
• Mardraum – Beyond the Within (2000)
• Monumension (2001)
• Below the Lights (2003)
• Isa (2004)
• Ruun (2006)
• Vertebrae (2008)
• Axioma Ethica Odini (2010)
• RIITIIR (2012)

Demos and EP's

• Nema (demo, 1991)
• Yggdrasill (demo, 1992)
• Hordanes Land (EP, 1993)
• The Sleeping Gods (EP, 2011)
• Thorn (EP, 2011)

Splits

• Hordanes Land (split with Emperor, 1993)
• Yggdrassill (split with Satyricon, 1995)

DVDs

Enslaved also has two DVD releases, primarily consisting of concert footage.

• Live Retaliation (2003)
• Return to Yggdrasill (2005)

1. "Enslaved Encyclopaedia Metallum entry". Metal-archives.com. 2002-07-17. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
2. ^ "Enslaved". Tartarean Desire. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
3. "Enslaved Interview from 2009". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
4. "Below the Lights review". BlackMetal.co.uk. 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
5. "Enslaved Events". Enslaved.no. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
6. "Enslaved: New Album Title, Release Date Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
7. "ENSLAVED to Release 'The Sleeping Gods' EP". Blabbermouth.net. 9 May 2011. Retrieved 09 November 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
8. "ENSLAVED To Release Seven-Inch EP on SOULSELLER RECORDS". Blabbermouth.net. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 09 November 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
9. "Enslaved: 2011 American tour announced, Release Date Revealed". facebook.com. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
10. "Tributes to Enslaved and Emperor". nrk.no. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
11. Abhiraj Das. "REVIEW: Enslaved - "RIITIIR"". metalwani.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
12. Name: (2011-05-10). "Enslaved Release Free EP Online". Gunshyassassin.com. Retrieved 2011-07-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
13. Name: (2011-07-25). "Enslaved Set To Release New Vinyl EP". www.metalstorm.net.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

External links

• Official website
• Template:MySpace
• Enslaved discography at MusicBrainz
• "On the Road to Spread the Word of Good, Old-Fashioned Evil," The New York Times, November 8, 2007 (review of Enslaved's concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania).
• Interview with Grutle Kjellson
• "Album Review: Enslaved RIITIIR" www.MetalMouth.Net, 8th Sept 2012

• Norwegian black metal musical groups
• Norwegian progressive metal musical groups
• Norwegian viking metal musical groups
• Relapse Records artists
• Musical groups established in 1991
• 1991 establishments in Norway
• Musical quintets
• Musical groups from Hordaland
• Musical groups from Bergen