Review: Enslaved - In Times
By Eric Perzanowski, Staff Writer
[Nuclear Blast; 2015]
Rating: 4.5/5
Key Tracks: “In Times,” “Thurisaz Dreaming,” “Daylight”
Every couple of years, Norway’s Enslaved releases a new recording, and it is always something worth getting excited about. RIITIIR was one of the best albums of 2012, and Axioma Ethica Odini was one of the best albums of 2010. The band has spent its life (this is quite literal considering several members were in their early-to-mid teens when they formed in 1991) continually mastering its craft and furthering its unique progressive black metal style.
In Times follows RIITIIR as the quintet continues to move toward a psychedelic, progressive sound. In the future, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Enslaved do what Opeth did several years back with Heritage, which is to make a record devoid of metallic influence and embrace psych/progressive rock.
One could pose that In Times periodically incorporates post-metal elements, which is evident in the hypnotic ambient soundscapes that appear throughout. The finale “Daylight” creates a marvelously spacey, ethereal atmosphere.
Although Enslaved may be focusing more on other influences, the LP as a whole is still deeply rooted in black metal, and the sections that focus on this are as unrelenting as ever.
The title track demonstrates some of the best of both the psychedelic rock and black metal qualities. The way the group is able to mix the two in such an organic manner is great.
The collection flows together seamlessly, with plenty of shifts between the bombardments of black metal and sections of ambience and progressive rock influences. It would be easy for the transitions to come off as cheesy and disruptive to the movement of the pieces, but that is not the case on In Times.
The clean, melodic vocals have continued to mature throughout each effort in Enslaved’s discography. “Thurisaz Dreaming” has some of the most astonishing, soaring vocal melodies in all of the ensemble’s catalog. Grutle Kjellson’s voice is similar to that of Mikael Akerfeldt’s of Opeth, but there is distinction between the two. And while the band has grown out of the “Viking” metal concept (which is more thematic than musically stylistic), cleanly-delivered Viking chants still appear every so often.
The substantiality of the material on this six-track, 53-minute release can be a lot to digest all at once. Because of this, the album will only continue to reveal more and more upon repeated listens. It’s too early to tell how In Times compares to previous releases in the broader scope of the outfit's legacy, but in time, that should all be figured out. As it stands, this is one of the few releases at almost the quarter-point of the year that will still be talked about at year’s end.
