Psychedelic prog-metallers ENSLAVED are proud to announce a new UK and European headline tour for Spring 2024. This news comes a few days after their final live show of the year at Damnation Festival, following on from a hectic festival season with performances at the likes of Midgardsblot, ArcTanGent, Brutal Assault, Beyond The Gates and Desertfest Antwerp, on-top of a co-headline tour across the USA and Canada earlier this year with Insomnium.
The new 16-date run will take place in March 2024, taking the band across 10 different countries. Support on the road will come from British post-hardcore quartet Svalbard and US metallers Wayfarer.
Enslaved’s latest masterpiece Heimdal came out earlier this year.
Vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson commented, “Friends! In March it is happening! The blare of the great horn shall resound once again, and Heimdal will guide you through pain and anxiety and to victory! In other words; we are going to tour Europe again! Due to events and circumstances beyond everybody’s control, our first European club tour since 2018 as a matter of fact! No less! Looking forward to see you all again. Alu Alu Laukar!! -Grutle”
ENSLAVED – UK + EUROPEAN TOUR 2024 w/ Svalbard + Wayfarer 06/03 – UK London, Islington Assembly Hall 07/03 – UK Leeds, Brudenell Social Club 08/03 – UK Manchester, Club Academy 09/03 – UK Glasgow, Slay 10/03 – IE Dublin, Opium 12/03 – NL Helmond, Cacaofabriek 13/03 – FR Paris, La Machine 14/03 – CH Geneva, PTR/l’Usine 15/03 – FR Montpellier, Victoire 2 16/03 – IT Milan, Legend 18/03 – CZ Prague, Futurum 19/03 – AT Vienna, Szene 21/03 – DE Cologne, Club Volta 22/03 – DE Leipzig, Taubchenthal 23/03 – DE Berlin, Hole44 24/03 – PL Warsaw, Proxima
Enslaved have also been announced for Bloodstock Festival UK 2024. 11/08 – UK Bloodstock Festival, Derby
Today, ENSLAVED are proud to release their latest avant-garde creation, Heimdal. Their breathtaking 16th studio album is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. It’s a record that points towards new beginnings, and a dawn that’s on the other side of the apex of the land. Prepare for a psychedelic journey through arcane Norse folklore, to connect with one’s ancient ancestors and our future selves.
Enslaved’sGrutle Kjellson commented,
“After more than three decades, I still get excited when I hear Ivar’s demos; we may be older now, and as life has evolved are unable to spend as much time on music as we would like, but the song writing process for Enslaved hasn’t changed much. Ivar works on the seeds and shapes of songs, sends them to the rest of us, and we’ll form our own narratives – these phantom sketches eventually come to life and they speak to us, and hopefully they speak to our fans as well.
In my opinion, our band is even more creative, more experimental, more diverse and somehow more musical than when we started. I suppose one of the main reasons we continue as a band is that we have never reached a place where we bore ourselves. Our passion for telling stories, writing riffs, put words to them and exploring the human condition through music and myth, has only increased over the years and Heimdal is a reflection of who we are as artists, musicians and human beings in the year 2023.”
Enslaved have also revealed a masterly lyric video, created by Ingo Spörl, for album focus track ‘The Eternal Sea‘.
Caravans to the Outer Worlds (Live from The Otherworldly Big Band Experience) Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/sh7l0I3l2Fg
Heimdal was produced by Enslaved‘s own Ivar Bjørnson, Iver Sandøy and Grutle Kjellson.Mixing was handled by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, and the final treatment was mastered by Tony Lindgren. The concept and lyrics for Heimdalwas, as always, developed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in tandem.
The album was recorded primarily at Solslottet Studios in Bergen, which is owned by Iver Sandøy. Solslottet is asatellite of the well-known Duper Studios, where the drums were recorded and engineered by Iver himself, with assistance from Vegard Lemme. The mainguitars, bass, pianos, organs, and vocals were also recorded at Solslottet. Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal recorded his guitar leads at his own Earshot & Conclave Studios. The final touches and a few experimental ideas were added at the Overlook Hotel using Solslottet’s mobile studio rig. All music for Heimdal was written and demoed at Ivar Bjørnson’s own Crow’s Nest studio.
The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds‘ from last year’s EP of the same name. Albumbonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi‘, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’sstunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’sboldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved‘s career, both past and present.
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasillin the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-albumHordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-lengthVikingligr Veldiarriving in the spring of 1994.
Enslaved in 2022 area band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
ENSLAVED have released a new single and video from Heimdal, their 16th studio album due out on March 3rd 2023. ‘Forest Dweller’ launches with progressive splendor, guiding the listener into a churning, psychedelic journey through archaic Norse folklore. One might ask what lessons we can divine from our celestial ancestors? We might never understand their true intentions, but their echo will live on regardless.
Enslaved’s Grutle Kjellson commented, “To me ‘Forest Dweller’ was the most immediate song on the album, at least in its earliest form as an instrumental demo. I spent quite some time to get into some of the other songs of the album, but this one seemed somehow logical, well logical by Enslaved standards that is. I had an idea for a lyric, and Ivar’s amazing and diverse riffs on this one made it easy to pan out the scripture. I made a rough plan on what to sing over it, and we actually ended up using some parts of those recordings on the album! The song sort of showcases our representative samples of inspiration: Led Zep, Genesis, Destruction, Iron Maiden and David Bowie, to mention a schizophrenic tapestry of influences. It mirrors in the lyrics as well, which deals about both darkness and light in connection to the nature of Heimdal.”
The tree set ablaze at the end of my days Awaiting my deserved death yell Long forgotten, no one whispers my name In the mountains and forests, I’ll dwell
Heimdal, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. The record is named after Heimdal, arguably the most mysterious entity in Nordic mythology.
The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds’ from last year’s EP of the same name. Album bonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi’, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’s stunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’s boldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved’s career, both past and present.
Enslaved in 2022 are a band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
ENSLAVED are pleased to announce a month-long, North American co-headline tour with INSOMNIUM. The run will take place in April 2023, shortly after the release of Enslaved‘s new studio album, Heimdal, out March 3rd. Support on the road will come from Black Anvil.
Ivar Bjørnson commented, “Neither you nor we will BELIEVE how much we are looking forward to coming back to the US of A and Canada in April 2023! We have a new album (and more if you want to be technical), ‘Heimdal’, to show you – spoiler alert: it will lay venues waste. Yes, we are that confident. We also have some rather cosmically awesome (!) bands joining the trek in co-headliners Insomnium and support Black Anvil – how could this become anything but the most spectacular event of 2023?”
Tickets will go on-sale Friday December 16th @ 10am (local time) via the below links.
But Enslaved have even more planned for 2023, including festival show dates, and a unique album release event in their home city of Bergen, Norway. Named Heimhug, the evening will feature anextended Enslaved live set with guests, and very special guest Jo Quail.
03 March 2023 Bergen, Norway @ USF Verftet HEIMHUG – an Enslaved Heimdal album release event Tickets available HERE Please head to enslaved.no/Heimhug and see the poster below for more information.
Grutle Kjellson commented, “Sometimes the answers and the truths lie under your very nose, or where the journey starts, where you first set sail towards horizons unknown. This was very much the case when we started working on “Heimdal”; we stepped back and looked a bit inwards and also at our immediate surroundings, at the area we hail from and where we still dwell today; Hordaland. On these shores people have been living and dying, worshiping and crying, laughing and lying ever since the Stone Age. History has been written here, history will still be written here and we will continue to dwell here until the end of our days.
Built around this historical narrative, “Heimdal” was created, and on the 3rd of March 2023 we would like to invite you to celebrate the album release with us and pay homage to our history.
Under the “Heimhug”-banner, we’re gonna perform a two-set release concert at USF Bergen with very special guests, we’ll have an art exhibition with the specific photographs and drawings we used for the artwork on the album and also an exclusive showing of last year’s “The Otherworldly BigBand experience”.
See you in Bergen in March! Alu Alu Laukar!”
Enslaved‘s16th studio album, Heimdal, will be released on March 3rd 2023, via Nuclear Blast Records.
Heimdal tracklisting 01. Behind The Mirror 02. Congelia 03. Forest Dweller 04. Kingdom 05. The Eternal Sea 06. Caravans To The Outer Worlds 07. Gangandi (Bonus Track)* 08. Heimdal
Heimdal, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. The record is named after Heimdal,arguably the most mysterious entity in Nordic mythology.
The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds‘ from last year’s EP of the same name. Albumbonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi‘, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’sstunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’sboldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved‘s career, both past and present.
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasillin the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-albumHordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-lengthVikingligr Veldiarriving in the spring of 1994.
Enslaved in 2022 area band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
Bergen visionaries ENSLAVED are proud to announce their 16th studio album, Heimdal, set to be released on March 3rd 2023, via Nuclear Blast Records. Today’s news is accompanied by the release of a blistering new single, titled ‘Congelia‘, alongside an emotive, environmental video.
“It’s quite weird, yet pretty awesome that we are now talking about the release of our 16th album; yes our 16th full-length album release. That’s not too shabby for a couple of scallywags from rural western Norway, is it? If you count our stint in the short lived Phobia-act, we have been playing together for no less than 32 years!
In all these years, Norse mythology has been our umbilical cord to the realms of mysticism and philosophy, and our gateway to the realms of deep psychology and the esoteric worlds beyond. One of the most fascinating characters of our mythology is HEIMDAL, and he has been lurking around in our minds like an enigma for three decades now. His first appearance was in a song called ‘Heimdallr’ on our demo tape ‘Yggdrasill’ back in 1992, and he’s had both minor and more significant roles in our lyrical universe over the years.
This time we have decided to dedicate an entire body of work to this most enigmatic of characters and richest of archetypes – we give you ‘HEIMDAL’. We have reached deeper and scouted further ahead than ever before – the past, present and future sound of the band comes together in songs born from sheer inspiration – it is the common force of a close-nit group of friends and musicians.”
Heimdal, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. The record is named after Heimdal,arguably the most mysterious entity in Nordic mythology.
The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds‘ from last year’s EP of the same name. Albumbonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi‘, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’sstunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’sboldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved‘s career, both past and present.
Heimdal tracklisting 01. Behind The Mirror 02. Congelia 03. Forest Dweller 04. Kingdom 05. The Eternal Sea 06. Caravans To The Outer Worlds 07. Gangandi (Bonus Track)* 08. Heimdal
Heimdal was produced by Enslaved‘s own Ivar Bjørnson, Iver Sandøy and Grutle Kjellson.Mixing was handled by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, and the final treatment was mastered by Tony Lindgren. The concept and lyrics for Heimdal was, as always, developed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in tandem.
The album was recorded primarily at Solslottet Studios in Bergen, which is owned by Iver Sandøy. Solslottet is asatellite of the well-known Duper Studios, where the drums were recorded and engineered by Iver himself, with assistance from Vegard Lemme. The mainguitars, bass, pianos, organs, and vocals were also recorded at Solslottet. Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal recorded his guitar leads at his own Earshot & Conclave Studios. The final touches and a few experimental ideas were added at the Overlook Hotel using Solslottet’s mobile studio rig. All music for Heimdal was written and demoed at Ivar Bjørnson’s own Crow’s Nest studio.
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasillin the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-albumHordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-lengthVikingligr Veldiarriving in the spring of 1994.
Enslaved in 2022 area band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
ENSLAVED has released a stunning new track titled ‘Kingdom‘ alongside an evocative concept video. The unorthodox Norwegians have found themselves at an intersection of sorts, where the momentum of living time rushes forward at an ever-increasing pace, imperceptibly modulated by the primeval echoes of eons past.
Ivar Bjørnson stated: “Kingdom – a tribute to the endurance of ideas and the people that carry them forward through hardship and fatigue, for the benefit of us all. Musically, it is a tribute to the Riff and the Rite: to the Teutonic Thrash kings, to Space Rock, to the Ambient pioneers of the 70s. With this we ask you to join us on this coming trek. Thanks for listening!“
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasillin the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-albumHordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-lengthVikingligr Veldiarriving in the spring of 1994.
Enslaved in 2022 area band in stellar form – a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material, their 2021 EP Caravans to the Outer Worlds, showed Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through – a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
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