RUUN

I am a normal prog guy, whose main source for retaliation is the good old 70's prog. I love experimentation a la Soft Machine (and other marvellous Canteburry bands), and I think bands like King Crimson to be the perfection in a weird balance of experimentation and songwriting, throughout their long and fascinanting career. In recent years, there is a proliferation of neo-prog and prog-metal bands... which do not excite me so much. I think clones of Dream Theatre are way too numerous, and recent prog music is going nowhere. Until I found myself rediscovering adventurous bands like Cynic, then Spiral Architects, Frantic Bleep (what a masterpiece) and so on. Then I discovered Opeth. This band is not afraid to mix death prowerfull metal, with prog ideas... and I simply thought that it was extremely refreshing to hear that! Nevertheless, the black metal scene in Norway... kind of scared me... not being too sure what was going on in there. Seing more and more that Enslaved is considered one of the best (if not the best) band representing Norway in the most extreme black-Vicking metal... I decided to give it a try.

Well, let me tell you, they really surprised me. I listened to few albums, especially Ruun. It blew me away. These guys make very mature, sofisticated music. Very alive, very organic, even accessible to a prog guy like me. I was amazed at the riff variety, the synth works great, the vocals are varied as in Opeth... I believe they encapsulate all that prog-metal may mean: powerfull metal with an edge that just brings atmospheric landscape, and multi layer complexity to their music. You will find several influences in the album Ruun. A lot of 70's prog, and even some nice King Crimson riffs. I mean by influence that these guys learned from the great ones, and mix, mingle their influences within the core of their song-writing. So you will not hear the influence directly, but, with several listen, you will grab the magic of their song writing, the subtilities, the powerfull effect if has.

What amazes me from their very complex music, even in the older albums, is the intense atmospheric passages, which bring you directly to the cold, yet beautiful landscape from the Vicking country. In some instences, you will cross some harsh black metal vocals, with absolute fantastic guitar riffs, a la extreme metal, then you will cross the reason of all this, the peace, the history, the culture, the landscape. Overall, Runn is a trip to the unknown, which will keep you breathless, and then, after few listens, you'll enjoy this album, as if it was your best recent prog possesion.

I'd say this is a must for prog-metal fans. If you are tired of the mainstream so-called prog-metal music, and wish to explore something as powerfull as Pink Floyd, but in the context of mature metal music making, you'll LOVE Enslaved. It is time to go for bands that really do mix genres, that are not afraid to explore, to go ahead. Enslaved represents all that.

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