BLODHEMN

Though I prefer Enslaved's later, more progressive albums, their earlier, more black metal albums are worth listening to as well. Blodhemn released in 1998 is in my opinion the pinacle of their black metal years, after which they became increasingly more progressive musically and started singing in English. Blodhemn is still sung in Norwegian and Icelandic and for my opinion is their most furious and violent album. There is no subtlety here as found on their previous album Eld which incorporated more acoustic and folk elements into the music. Blodhemn is pure black metal fury repleat with blast beats courtesy of Dirge Rep, and Grutle Kjellson's viscious growl. The only respite from the constant onslaught is the last song Suttungs Mjod which is much slower and melodic than the other songs and in which Grutle sings cleanly. The rest is pure black metal aggression in the same ballpark as Gorgoroth and earlier Dark Funeral or Enslaved's Frost album despite the occasional clean vocals and fleeting thrash metal influence heard on a couple of the songs. Boldhemn is one of the "must have" recordings in Enslaved's discography along with their first album Vikingligr Veldi, Mardraum, Below The Lights, Ruun, Axioma Ethica Odini and their latest album Riitiir. Despite the stylistic shift from black metal to progressive viking metal, they've never put out a bad album. Oh hell just get them all.

another outstanding album from these viking kings of Nordic metal. Enslaved is one of the rare bands that have managed to stay solid in their approach to bombastic, brutal, and brillaintly blackened music. the cosmic strains of "Audhumla. Birth of the Worlds" serves as the intro and it's just a matter of moments until the fury of the second song "I Lenker Til Ragnarok" is unleashed. the first thing i noticed is how the production seems to be a bit cleaned up compared to the Eld album. i like the somewhat misty, murky feel of that record, but Blodhemn's more trebly approach fits the faster tempo and violent nature of these songs. the guitars especially sound meaner and the drumming is more upfront in the mix, giving it all a good "in the midst of bloody battle" feeling. the vocals have always been great with Enslaved, but here they have grown even better. everything from hauntingly clean sung passages, to deathly raspy growls and even a few Slayer-inspired high pitched screams. Blodhemn seems to be a far more violent ordeal than Enslaved's last 2 proper albums. but their fury is never outblown to the point where it loses impact or runs out of steam. each song stands on it own with a brutal confidence and is overflowing with great songwriting and a creative approach; which makes this album more and more fascinating with each listen. Blodhemn, along with Eld and Mardraum -Beyond The Within- are essential purchases for any Enslaved fan.

Excellent

There's an extraordinary depth to the violence, passion, and beauty on Enslaved's new CD Blodhemn. No current metal band rivals their musical grandeur and unconventionality. Though they project an image of ancient Viking warriors, Enslaved create some of the most intense and innovative metal with Blodhemn, another amazing album in the brutal yet complex tradition. They?ve been part of the Norwegian extreme metal scene since 1992, and musically share similarities with some of their Nordic black metal brethren. It was obvious that there was something incomparable about this trio (now a quartet with the addition of second guitarist R. Kronheim). As with their last two albums Frost and Eld, Enslaved continue to chart new musical territory with Blodhemn (blood vendetta in Norwegian) with nine opulent metal hymns. Enslaved have trimmed down their usual ten-minute epics to a more concise 40-minute total, most songs being under five minutes. Blodhemn's ferocious musical barrages are tempered by moments of beauty as on the intro song "Sudbumla: Birth of the Worlds," and the slow and melodic finale, "Suttungs Mjog," where bassist/singer Grutle Kjellson uses his melodic baritone to add some passionate vocals (when he's not using his warrior screech). Many claim to be true Viking metal bands, like Amon Amarth and Einherjer, but Enslaved sing in an authentic Viking tongue, wear Viking outfits, and play like possessed Norse warriors. Easily one of my favorite metal albums this year.

This is one of Enslaved BEST records by far! Unbelievably fast and still heavy as can be. Plus the songs never get buried in the speed. Always distinct and epic. This is pretty much a perfect record.

From the beginning to the end, simply awesome. Incredibly catchy riffs, furious drumming, and killer vocals. This is a must have album, makes me happy! Thou shall buy this.

This pressing is nice to look at. As a bonus, the album is quite good as well. It sees Enslaved progressing yet again. They really reward their fans by never standing still.

I received a broken box

j'ai decouvert ce groupe par hasard fan de BLACK exelentissime franchement j' ai adoré je le conseille pour ce qui conaisse pas.

ノルウェー出身ヴァイキング／ブラックメタル・バンド、Enslavedが1998年に出した4thアルバムです。 本作は、収録時間こそ約40分とコンパクト。大半が疾走曲で、なおかつドラマ性もたっぷり詰まった作品となっています。とにかく攻撃性に特化しており、嵐のようなギターのリフとブラストビートが展開されます。その暴虐リフの中にも哀愁あるメロディを織り込んだ、激しくも美しい、ある種メロブラ的な曲もあったりします。 激しいからと言って、一本調子でもない。起伏や展開がきちんとしており、ヴォーカルもデス声とクリーンヴォイスを使い分け、緻密さと躍動感をうまく対比させています。 本作で聞けるクリーンヴォーカルは、意図的にメロディを排除しているような、お経のような、あるいは呪文のような印象を受けました。どことなく不気味さも感じますが、それがある種の神秘性をより強調しています。 前作の大作路線から一転。Enslavedの全作品の中でも、恐らく1、2を争うレベルで激しい、直球ブラックメタルな作品です。

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