Oooh time for some old school Norwegian black metal. I don’t mind Enslaved but never really listened to them that much in the day. Well, not the day in which this came out. Enslaved Vikingligr Veldi is a strange beast in a few ways. This is their debut album and despite having only 5 songs it goes for just over 50 minutes, meaning we have some pretty epic songs and arrangements on this album. The songs are in some ways fit more into “soundscapes” than acutual songs, but this is actually one thing that really sets them apart from their peers. I remember the first Satyricon Album and this one at the time really being different from the normal black metal assault on the senses (Don’t get me wrong, I love aggressive black metal)<\/i> but I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n\n
Rather than focus on the normal satanic \/ occult themes that black metal seemed to rotate around Enslaved drew more on their European and Viking heritage. This is the kind of release you can just turn the lights off and lisen in darkness and really get taken away. The production values on this aren’t great as the band is just new and probably didn’t have the finances to produce the lavish albums we see now coming out of the black metal scene but the songwriting and construction that is displayed on this transcends the budget it was recorded on.<\/p>\n\n
I find this album hard to break down in terms of “songs” so as a soundscape this thing really kicks. It’s a great listen and really (as I said before)<\/i> takes you away. Overall this is a really fun listen and set the band up nicely for their future endeavours.<\/p>\n\n
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