Our review of Mið, the 17th studio album from Norwegian band ENSLAVED, is now live — and we gave it a 7/10. The record comes out on Friday, October 30, via Nuclear Blast Records, three years after Heimdal.
Mið is Old Norse for "middle" or "center." The band built the album around ancient monuments and the connections that run between cultures, and two guests carry that idea into the music: Sámi yoik singer Johan Sara Jr on "I Am Ice" and Blackfeet elder Kevin Kicking Woman on "Spirit Helper," a song that grew out of the band's ties to the Fire In The Mountains festival in Montana.
Reviewer Ryan Thompson, a longtime fan, finds plenty to admire. In his words, every track is meticulously thought out and flawlessly executed, the production is immaculate, and every member of the band is crushing their part. For the most part the concept and the sound mesh well, which gives the album a novelty that sets it apart from the band's last few records. His reservation is that it doesn't set itself apart enough: the familiar mix of slow melodic cleans, guttural growls and spacious instrumental passages is back, and the record never quite sinks its teeth in. He suspects listeners newer to the band, without his nostalgic anchor, may enjoy it far more. His verdict plays on the title: solid, but distinctly mid.
We've followed the album since the summer, from "Spirit Helper" in July to the album announcement and "Solar Will" in August and "Tales of Trees" in September, when ENSLAVED also announced a February 2027 European co-headline tour with SÓLSTAFIR. Here is "Spirit Helper":
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