After having returned to the studio, ENSLAVED now tease their fans with new pictures from a breath-taking video shoot that frontman Grutle Kjellson had this January at the South Coast of Iceland and Reykjanes.
Grutle Kjellson onthe video shoot in Iceland: «Having the time of my life on the Saga Island. Working with some of the most talented people I have ever met, and in surroundings that would make every human totally speechless. Shooting a music video here seems like an easy task, as ENSLAVED and Iceland are truely meant for each other. Alu Alu Laukar!!»
For the new clip, Grutle spent five days in Iceland – together with video producer Gaui H from Gaui H Pic, his production assistant Marita Joensen and the actors Striga and Kolbeinn.
A few months ago, ENSLAVED re-signed to Nuclear Blast and released a stunning new music video for their interpretation of ‘What Else Is There’ by Norwegian electropop band RÖYSKOPP. The song is featured as a bonus track on the digital version of their latest album, ‘E.’
Watch and listen here:
14 albums and 28 years into a career that shows no signs of losing neither momentum nor its magical, effervescent creative sheen, ENSLAVED will certainly continue evolving before our ears and eyes. This time, however, not even the sky can act as a limit. Stronger than ever and clearly thrilled to be in such rude health, life in ENSLAVED has never been more rewarding. And the best is yet to come.
ENSLAVED live 2020:
20.03. NL Eindhoven – Prognosis Festival
25. – 27.06. N Ekeberg – Tons of Rock
11. – 12.07. USA Moran, WY – Fire In The Mountains Festival
7. – 9.08. B Kortrijk – Alcatraz Festival
10. – 12.09. P Aleksandrow Loozki – Summer Dying Loud
Norwegian metal avant-gardistsENSLAVEDhave some big news for their fans: the band have just entered the studio and are currently working on new material for their upcoming album. This new gem will be released once again viaNuclear Blast Recordsand has a tentative release date of May 2020.
Band founding member and guitaristIvar Bjørnsonstated about the recordings:
“The days are growing darker in the Northern hemisphere – and Bergen is covered in a blanket of frost. This sets the scene as we have entered the studio to record the new Enslaved album. Since our last album, we have a “new” drummer – in quotation marks, since he has been with us behind the scenes for more than a decade. Together with me (Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson) he constitutes the production team on this new album – and as before we will record in Bergen in Duper Studio and next door at Iver’s Solslottet Studio. Before crossing the mountains eastwards to Örebro into Fascination Street where Jens Bogren will handle the mix.
The new material I feel is very powerful. The ENSLAVED signature is there, but there is a wild drive and a level of energy that makes me extremely excited. All five members have poured their dedication and souls into the preparations, and there are new sides to the band shown that will elevate this album.”
Just weeks ago,ENSLAVEDrenewed the bond withNuclear Blastand re-signed to the label. With that, a successful collaboration lasting for more or less ten years continues. A collaboration that two years ago produced the universally laudedalbumE,in which the progressive metal masters once again reinvented themselves and broughtENSLAVEDto a new level.
ENSLAVEDalso recently released a stunning new music video for their interpretation of‘What Else Is There’byNorwegian electropop bandRÖYSKOPP.The song is featured as a bonus track on the digital version of their latest album,E. Watch and listen here:
14 albums and 28 years into a career that shows no signs of losing neither momentum nor its magical, effervescent creative sheen,ENSLAVEDwill certainly continue evolving before our ears and eyes. This time, however, even the sky is no limit. Stronger than ever and manifestly thrilled to be in such rude health, life inENSLAVEDhas never been more rewarding. And the best is yet to come.
ENSLAVEDlive 2020: 20.03. NL Eindhoven – Prognosis Festival 25. – 27.06. N Ekeberg – Tons of Rock 11. – 12.07. USA Moran, WY – Fire In The Mountains Festival 7. – 9.08. B Kortrijk – Alcatraz Festival
ENSLAVED and “Fires In The Mountains” festival announce an unique collaboration for 2020: The band is not only announced for the first band playing the “Fires In The Mountains” festival next year. Guitarist Ivar Bjornson will also be the first guest curator ever organizing elements of the festival as a whole. The“Fire In The Mountains” festival takes place before the Grand Tetons at Heart Six Ranch in Moran, Wyoming on 11th and 12th July.
The festival about this collaboration: “Few bands reflect the incredible music legacy that Enslaved has built over the last three decades, as a band that is constantly reinventing itself and exploring new heights and territories for its music, while always maintaining a steadfast sense of identity and integrity. Their music and the forward thinking ethic and honesty of the people behind it have always been a huge influence on us as founders of this event, and thus we are honored to have them as a headliner for 2020. The audience will be in for quite a unique treat to witness the Nordic metal lords performing this special set below the stars, surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains, and we are as well.”
Ivar Bjornson states: “Our Northern hearts rejoice as we are part of this announcement for Fire in the Mountains 2020! To come to these beautiful parts of good ol’ Vinland and headline an outdoor festival is nothing short of a dream come through. We will present a very special show and cannot wait to share this weekend with the other artists, audience and the hard working folks behind the festival! To the mountains!”
Alongside with this exclusive experience, Ivar Bjornson as a guest curator will present a feature showcase of the event, titled “On Wings Over Utgard” what already promises to become a memorable event. This feature presentation will consist of a handful of musical acts handpicked by Ivar, as well as several other elements of the festival that will be revealed over time.
Ivar Bjornson adds: “It is a massive honor to be asked to be the first guest curator for the Fire in the Mountain festival. I have decided to name my curator showcase “On Wings Over Utgard”; inspired by the thematic from the coming ENSLAVED album. Modern man is a being that has forgotten how chaos, darkness and decay are as important and beautiful parts of existence as all the bliss, youth and light we over-feed ourselves in the (dis-)Information Age. What better scenic metaphor to realize this part of the overall vision than at Fire in the Mountains; surrounded by wild, chaotic nature. Where life is how it was meant to be; uncontrolled, balanced and unified. I cannot wait to start showing you all the artists I am inviting to sonically and lyrically illustrate all this! Thank you Shane and festival team for giving me this opportunity.”
ENSLAVED released their studio album “E.” in October 2017. Recently, the band from Norway unleashed a music video for their cover version of RÖYKSOPP‘s “What Else Is There”, featured as bonus track on the digital version of “E.”.
ENSLAVEDhave once again joined forces withNuclear Blast, to spread the music of the Norwegian avant-garde metallers all around the globe. With that, band and label renew a collaboration that has been ongoing for around ten years and two years ago produced the universally lauded albumE.
Band founding member and guitaristIvar Bjornson stated about the re-signing: “It is with great pleasure we re-sign our record deal with Nuclear Blast worldwide! We have been working together for more or less a decade, and it has been an individed positive experience. They have both the heart to grasp our musical visions, and the business-muscles to spread them out into the world. When you add personal friendships with the wonderful people in America, U.K. and Germany it is simply an ideal situation for us to be in. Onwards, forwards and in all directions!”
To mark the occasion,ENSLAVEDpresent a stunning new music video filled with atmospheric imaginery for their interpretation of‘What Else Is There’byNorwegian electropop bandRÖYSKOPP.The song is featured as a bonus track on the digital version of their latest album,E.
Acclaimed Icelandic rock band SÓLSTAFIR have announced their first-ever Australian tour, with ENSLAVED. The trek commences on August 29 in Perth, and sees the bands performing in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.
SÓLSTAFIR are touring in support of their new album, ‘Berdreyminn’. The album, produced by Birgir Birgirsson (SIGUR RÓS, ALCEST) and Jaime Gomez-Arellano (GHOST, PARADISE LOST, ULVER), is lauded as “a compelling journey that offers ’80’s-style synths, chuggy rock riffing, Pink Floyd-y prog overtones, sweeping Fields of the Nephilim guitars, haunting orchestral arrangements and occasional metallic crunch” (Decibel Magazine) and is available across multiple formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.
SÓLSTAFIR have released a new video for the track “Hula”. The surreal new video, filmed in the haunting Hill of Crosses of Lithuania, is streaming now at the official Season of Mist YouTube channel, here:
The video for “Hula” was recently featured on Lithuanian TV alongside an interview with front-man Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, and can be found here.
SÓLSTAFIR Australian tour:
All dates with ENSLAVED
Aug. 29 Perth, AUS @ Rosemount Hotel
Aug. 30 Sydney, AUS @ Factory Theatre
Aug. 31 Brisbane, AUS @ The Zoo
Sept. 1 Melbourne, AUS @ Max Watt’s
SÓLSTAFIR live:
Aug. 4 Wacken, DE @ Wacken Open Air
Aug. 18 Dinkelsbühl, DE @ Summer Breeze Open Air
ENSLAVED unleashed their new album “E”on October 13th via Nuclear Blast. The album debuted at #12 on the Norwegian charts as well as #6 US Billboard Heatseekers and landed at #80 in Germany. These are the chart positions that have already been revealed:
WORLDWIDE CHART PLACEMENTS
#6 US Billboard Heatseekers
#10 CANADA Hard Music
#10 US Billboard Hard Music
#12 NORWAY
#12 UK Rock Top 40
#18 UK Indie Top 40
#32 US Billboard Current Rock Albums
#80 GERMANY
#88 US Billboard Top Current Albums
#100 CANADA’s Top Albums
#113 FRANCE
#180 UK
#190 BELGIUM VL
But ENSLAVED‘s journey with their new album“E” has only just begun. Since its launch in 2012, the annual Decibel Magazine Tour’s ambitious curation has unified artists from around the extreme universe who would otherwise never have the opportunity to tour North America together. The lineup for the 2018 Decibel Magazine Tour continues that proud tradition, as Norwegian progressive metal legends ENSLAVED join forces with Pacific Northwest black metal heroesWOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, Danish post-black siren MYRKUR and doomed rock ‘n’ crushers KHEMMIS (with regional openers in select markets to be announced next year).
“I have always wanted ENSLAVED to be part of the Decibel Tour concept,” says guitarist and co-founder Ivar Bjørnson. “Not only is Decibel an institution, and defender of the last line of resistance for the printed metal mag in North America (for a band started in 1991, printed magazines are no small matter), but the Decibel Tour has also become an institution and an icon for metal that we admire here on the other side of the pond. So, to be asked to headline, and to perform with these other very fine artists, is a great honor and a great pleasure. Be there or be trapezoid!”
Of 2018’s four featured acts, three have released new LPs in late 2017 to coincide with the Decibel Tour: ENSLAVED, with their fourteenth full-length album, »E«; WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, with sixth record »Thrice Woven«; and MYRKUR, with sophomore release »Mareridt«. The former have already been honored with a pair of authoritative Hall of Fame features (on 1994’s landmark Frost and 2003 groundbreaker Below the Lights). ENSLAVED, MYRKUR and KHEMMIS have each recorded and released exclusive tracks via the Decibel Flexi Series, and the 2018 headliners will return with their second flexi contribution, which will appear in the annual Decibel Tour issue of the magazine that hits stands February 2018.
Tickets for the 2018 Decibel Magazine Tour go on sale Friday, October 27 at 10 AM local time and can be found at www.decibelmagazine.com/tour. All dates and venues are below.
15.02. USA Philadelphia, PA – TLA
16.02. USA New York, NY – Irving Plaza
17.02. USA Boston, MA – Royale
18.02. CDN Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
20.02. CDN Toronto, ON – Phoenix Theatre
21.02. USA Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
23.02. USA Chicago, IL – Metro
24.02. USA Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze
25.02. USA Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
26.02. USA Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
02.03. CDN Calgary, AB – MacEwan Ballroom
03.03. CDN Edmonton, BC – The Starlite Ballroom
05.03. CDN Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theater
06.03. USA Seattle, WA – El Corazon
07.03. USA Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theater
09.03. USA San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
10.03. USA Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory
Keep your eyes peeled for the band’s headline tour through Europe, with special support acts hand-selected by ENSLAVED:
ROCK HARD & LEGACY & METAL.DE present:
10.11. D Hamburg – Logo (w/ IMPERIUM DEKADENZ & HERETOIR)
11.11. D Berlin – Nuke (w/ IMPERIUM DEKADENZ & HERETOIR)
12.11. D Cologne – Underground (w/ IMPERIUM DEKADENZ & HERETOIR)
13.11. NL Utrecht – Tivoli de Helling
15.11 UK Manchester – o2 Ritz (supporting OPETH)
16.11 UK Glasgow – Barrowlands (supporting OPETH)
17.11. UK Belfast – The Limelight 1 (supporting OPETH)
18.11. IRL Dublin – The Academy (supporting OPETH) *sold out*
19.11. UK Nottingham – Rock City (supporting OPETH)
21.11 UK Bristol – o2 Academy (supporting OPETH)
22.11 UK Birmingham – o2 Institute (supporting OPETH)
24.11. UK London – Islington Assembly Hall (w/ DARKHER & SVALBARD)
25.11. F Paris – Trabendo (w/ LOST IN KIEV & WOLVE)
26.11. B Vosselaar – Biebob
28.11. F Rezé – Barakason (w/ LOST IN KIEV & WOLVE)
29.11. F Lyon – CCO Villeurbanne (w/ LOST IN KIEV & WOLVE)
30.11. I Brescia – Circolo Colony
01.12. CH Pratteln – Z7
02.12. D Frankfurt – Das Bett (w/ ZATOKREV)
03.12. CZ Prague – Chelmnice (w/ ZATOKREV)
16.12. RU Moscow – Volta
17.12. RU St. Petersburg – Club Zal
Or see them at the following festival shows:
1.-5.02. USA Miami – 70.000 Tons Of Metal
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