ENSLAVED have named their seventeenth studio album. "Mið" arrives October 30 via Nuclear Blast Records, previewed today by the single "Solar Will" and a video from Kolibri Media, the Bergen outfit the band have worked with for years.
The title is an Old Norse word for "centre" or "middle", and the axis it names is the organising idea of the record: the origin point, the present moment, and the infinite reach outward from both. It follows 2020's "Utgard" and 2023's "Heimdal", two albums bound together by mythology-steeped rites of passage. What lay beyond them, the band say, was unexpected.
"There have been sun cults as long as Magic Man has been around (at least)," guitarist Ivar Bjørnson said of the single. "The Sun is a nurturing and terrifying parent that can grant as well as obliterate life totally. Such a classic and awe-inspiring object of our worship and myths requires classic and awesome riffs, Bonham-esque drum grooves and blistering melodic flares celebrating its horrific glory. This is what that sounds like to me: 'Solar Will'!"
Vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson unpacked the lyric without giving the game away. The song "explores archetypal conflicts, those that manifest in nature, the cosmos, mythology, and, above all, within the human mind," he said, with the central struggle drawn from "one of the enduring rivalries found in Norse mythology, embodied by two important, though often somewhat overlooked, figures within the pantheon." He refused to name them, "allowing each reader the opportunity to engage with and decipher the lyrics on their own. After all, perhaps this is one of the essential functions of lyric writing: to invite interpretation and cultivate a sense of wonder?" The track resolves nothing on purpose, he added, arguing instead "for the acceptance, assimilation, and shaping of these often contradictory forces."
Two guests turn up across the eight tracks. Sámi artist Johan Sara Jr. features on "I Am Ice", while Blackfeet Nation elder Kevin Kicking Woman returns on "Spirit Helper", the song ENSLAVED issued as a standalone single in July.
Bjørnson and Kjellson founded the band in 1991, put out the "Yggdrasill" demo in 1992, the "Hordanes Land" mini-album in 1993 and debut full-length "Vikingligr Veldi" in 1994. Thirty-five years and seventeen records deep, the progressive black metal institution still refuses to hold still.
"Mið" track listing:
- Non-Being
- I Am Ice (feat. Johan Sara Jr.)
- Solar Will
- Mountain
- Spirit Helper (feat. Kevin Kicking Woman)
- Parting
- Tales of Trees
- I Miðju
ENSLAVED is Ivar Bjørnson (guitars), Grutle Kjellson (vocals, bass), Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal (guitar), Håkon Vinje (keyboards) and Iver Sandøy (drums).
Source: blabbermouth.net