RUUN

One of the best releases this year.

Ruun, Enslaved's latest album is the group's further progression from their later efforts. Former forward-thinking Norwegian black/viking metal musicians continue to develop their music and this is perhaps their best album when it comes to appeal to prog fans. There is one noteworthy fact about Enslaved: since the beginning of their professional career they had a vast diversity of influences, yet managed to sound like nobody else, which explains why each of their records was done in their oqn unique sound and still featured some nuances the group had yet touched before. Ruun is not an exception, as you can both point out some similarities with its ambitious predecessor Isa and witness a new, fresh sound of the group.

Entroper opens the album with a short mellotron intro, which is a nice way to open the release and, in addition, to remind the fans about the 70's symphonic rock influence: it sounds like something Genesis would have done in their Golden Days. Don't get tricked by this though, Enslaved aren't one of the many progmetal groups who try to bring back the 70's sound back. Still, if you are influenced by something, it does not necessarily mean you have to resemble your influences in sound. Keyboards are used throughout the album on occassions and serve the background function instead of soloing. Going back to the track, this has one of their most memorable compositions in their long career: the fast, energetic riffs, tempo changes and trademark black metal rasps make this a solid, uplifting number, which has the original Enslaved feeling of cold and stiffness. Some clean chants can be found here which add that extra something the track seems to have needed. The bass line, which is repeated twice, also contributes to the composition.Path To Vanir follows and it is a slower paced track with a catchy riff, background 70's sounding keyboards which help to create the apropriate vibe. The song is interrupted by a clean part with vocals that remind me of Robert Wyatt for some reason. Fusion Of Sense and Earth is next and it is one of the heaviest songs on the album, with great, speedy riffs and a black metal approach to drumming. The title track continues the dark journey and is one of the most epic songs here, with a unique eastern melody line and haunting clean singing. Another noteworthy song is Essence, which features a duo of Grutle's growls and Herbrand Larsen 's clean singing - an extraordinary vocal "harmony", making it one of the album's most melancholic and dreary numbers. Next is Api-Vat, with a great melodic guitar solo, which isn't really something the group throws around mindlessly, and relentless guitar riffing. The intro and outro of this track are particularly moody. Heir to the Cosmic Seed closes the album with its intro bass line, mesmerizing riffs and more variety in both clean and harsh vocals. This is where the albums ends, unoftunately, not even passing the fifty minute mark.

Overall, Ruun is a solid album in the Extreme Metal genre and one of the best albums this year so far. I can predict that it will not be an easy record to beat. Those who have been following the group until Isa and were satisfied with what they heard will definitely appreciate the group's latest record, those who stopped caring after Blodhemn(directed towards true black metal fans, obviously) will not find much of interest here. The musicians have stopped doing general black metal music a long time ago and are still impossible to categorise, which isn't really a bad thing. This album is also a good way to introduce yourself to Enslaved if you aren't familiar with their music, as it is the album that is closer to what is more traditionally accepted as progmetal(not trying to belittle their past efforts!). The harsh side of the vocals here isn't over the top or as even extreme, so this experience will not disturb even those prejudiced against the use of harsh vocals in music.

Any fan of progressive metal or just interesting modern prog in general will feel comoftable with Ruun in his collection! Still, remember that this is in no way an accessible effort - the group always manage to craft their compositions carefully with each album, making every album a refreshing experience, which truly unfolds only after a few listens!

An excellent addition for any Progressive Metal fan!

I confess that I was one among those who, at the time of the release of "Mardraum: The Beyond Within", started to leave the Norwegian band because of their choice to put aside the icy and Viking sounds, that brought many successes to their musical history, for more psychedelic and rockish ones. For many people, also the permanent use of English lyrics was considered like a betrayal. But the release of "Isa", was able to get me back to their music. It is a great album that puts together progressive and old sonority, like these in their first album "Vikingligr Veldi". For this reason, I have waited the release of this ninth work from the band that comes from Bergen, simply named "Ruun", in which we find the historical duo Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjornson, newly followed by Arve Isdal (lead guitar), Herbrand Larsen (keyboards) and Cato Bekkevold (drums). Speaking about production, I can say that the sound has been further cleaned ( I think that Grutle's bass has never been heard so clear in a Enslaved's release), and the progressive matrix has returned forcefully, and this time united to strong doses of psychedelic influence. During the listening of this work, I image this album similar to a space journey into the unknown, where more violent parts can be considered to an hyperspace jump, and more thoughtful part to a contemplation of the cosmos. In this period I'm under a strong doses of Star Trek, but these are the images that come in my mind when I listen to this album. Surely, in comparison of "Isa", "Ruun" has, as a defect, a too refined production, but I think that it was in the band's intention moving into this direction, and leaving his sonorous powerful to live gigs only. The tracks are all well manufactured, while song-writing and interaction between instruments very refined. Without any doubt, the title-track with its oriental sonority, and the opening "Entroper" with its rock strum stand out among the songs,. In my opinion, I think that it is a very interesting work but inferior compared to the previous one. Besides, even if I see a clear compositional effort, I manage to appreciate it only in particular states of mind , otherwise with a rational eye I find out simple musical solution or some repetitions among the tracks. Of corse, who, after "Isa", expects a further come back to their roots, he'll remain probably disappointed, but who loves their musical path started with "Mardraum: The Beyond Within" he'll found bread for his teeth.

P.S.: The original one of this review is written in Italian language on elskrin.net

For anyone pining for the days of lyrics sung in Nordic tongues and frosty songs about viking, look elsewhere. Though the early days of Enslaved brought us some of the best viking metal of the 90's, it's more than refreshing to see the band progressing naturally towards a more complex, rewarding sound without losing any intensity or credibility. The band won't please Black Metal purists looking for a Dark Funeral clone. The production here is immaculate, but not glossy or shiney. The sound conjured here is one of menace and sorrow. Sorrow is the one word that comes to mind most when listening to this album. From the clean vocals, the mournful riffs, the gentle interludes and dark (almost vintage floydian) synths, the album practically drips with sorrow. Not the indie rock the-girl-i-like-doesn't-like-me drivel, but a sense of epic misery. So Enslaved hasn't gone passed the icy landscapes and chill winds, they've just internalized them. Albums highlights include the title tracks which perfectly embodies all of the above mentioned virtues in a funeral like wail. 'Tides of Chaos' follows it perfectly with more of the same, including some amazing sounding guitar, showing that quality production is not something to shy from. Also, the great riff to 'Api-Vat' must be heard, while the final track. 'Heir to the Cosmic Seed', will be the best place for progrock fans to experience the band. This is a perfect album for prog fans who can take their music with a healthy dose of intensity and who have the patience to listen to all the layers and nuances that make up this album. For those more concerned about black metal mire in it's past instead of following it forward into becoming one of the most relevant art forms, this is not for you.

I am surprised not to find more reviews of this band in this web site. As far as I know, Enslaved's music is as good, as powerfull as Opeth. And maybe better in my opinion....

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.

Black metal meets epic 70's rock progressiveness.......

Enslaved should be a big name, like Opeth. Enslaved is melodic and isn't easily labeled as metal, In fact, take away the vocals, and one hears prog, shoegazer, and psychedelic rock. And with Ruun, the band has completed a three-album streak that no metal band has matched in the past few years.

The albums opens with Entroper thats focused around slow riffs and Grutles great black metal vocals. It moves on to the "single" Path To Vanir witch have parts that reminds me of King Crimson and other great 70`s prog acts. "Fusion of Sense and Earth" gives a reminder to the listener that they havent forgotten how to deliver a high quality aggression themed song, but with a fantastic mellotron interlude midway through.

"I will break the chains - I will slay the betrayers - one last time - The laughter shall resound"

Keeping the album at 8 tracks allows each song to have its own individual voice, and I think this is partly why I like it so much. Each song is top notch, and there's honestly nothing here that I don't like

The average listener can probably get with the Alice in Chains-esque vocal harmonies, but the black metal vocals might not go down so smoothly. Luckily, most of the time, anyway, the band balances it with warm, clean vocals-giving you little reason to turn away from one of the best metal records to be released in 2006.

Along with Opeth, this is one of the most important progressive extreme metal bands around.

On Ruun, so far the latest record of Enslaved, the band continues to develop as a progressive metal act, although I wouldn't call their sound particulary progressive yet: as on Isa there is still too much of the monotony and simplicity of black metal. However, such tracks as Ruun and Heir to the Cosmic Seed show that they obviously are developing in the right direction. Let's wait a new album and hope they won't stop at the already achieved and will continue to enrich their music with elements from other genres.

I give the album three stars - an "excellent addition" or "a masterpiece" is still on the way, I believe.

I GOT THIS DREAM, IN WHICH I KILL YOU ALL.

Yes this is not for the faint hearted fairy prog listener. Allthough Enslaved has many prog leanings they are essentially a metal band, both in attitude and as you can see from my quote from the song Tides of Chaos very much through their lyrics. They are actually one of the few black metal bands who have broken free of their original style but still kept their credibility in the black metal world ( Unlike bands like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth).

Bearing in mind their Black metal/ Viking metal past it´s really great to see how Enslaved have developed their special brand of metal over the last couple of years. I didn´t use to like Enslaved very much before I heard ISA, which is their previous album. It was a wonderful surprise to me even though I had a hard time adjusting to Grutle Kjellson´s harsh vocals ( listening to his voice, I´m afraid that any minut he will start to vomit blood). It´s not that I am a novice to death and black metal bands since I´ve been listening to extreme metal for the last 20 years ( Prog rock too of course, but metal is my other great interest), but I still found Grutle´s vocals to be extreme to my ears. Once I got used to his vocals ( I even like them now), the beauty of Enslaved´s music unfolded to me. On this the successor to ISA, Enslaved have gotten even better. Ruun is a masterpiece.

Enslaved even though many catagorize them as Black metal, don´t really sound much like the average black metal band. First of all Enslaved play in mid-tempo or slow most of the time, many other black metal bands use these tempi as well, but most commonly black metal bands play fast tempi ( blast beats). Enslaved´s music is very melodic, though their melodies are hidden. They don´t wear their melodies on their sleeve. This is the beauty of their music in my ears. You have to really listen to fully understand. It took me a while.

Fans of Opeth should really give Enslaved a chance, as the two bands play a similar style of Death metal with seventies prog leanings ( yes I said death metal and not Black Metal as I think the only thing that links Enslaved to black metal is their past and Grutle´s vocal). Opeth is much more complex than Enslaved though. Enslaved emphasize pretty simple instrumentation and riffs, but with much emotion incorporated. It´s not melodic in the swedish way though it´s more subtle ( and thank you for that). Vintage keyboard sounds are omnipresent on RUUN, and that is the seventies link. Like Opeth, Enslaved use both growling and clean vocals. The clean vocals ( by Herbrand Larsen) from Enslaved are a bit different from Mikael âkerfeldt´v clean vocal style though. More chanting and simple. The music is repetitive which is not a negative thing in the case of Enslaved, and it helps emphasize the cold and brutal nature of their music. The riffs conjure up a monumental feeling and the majesty of the melodies go nicely along.

For prog heads who thinks this sound exciting, but a bit too brutal for their taste, try listening to the songs RUUN and Heir to the Cosmic Seed. These songs are the most mellow prog rock like songs on the album. I have no favorites on RUUN as I think every song is great. I have to mention Grutle´s bas in Entroper though, as he plays some really exciting notes in that song. Even though I also consider ISA to be a masterpiece, some things are even better on RUUN. Especially the vocals which was my only complaint on ISA are much better and higher in the mix on RUUN.

I am really excited about this album as you might have noticed, and have listened to it for many many times before writing this review, to be sure that this is really a masterpiece. But my final evaluation is that it really is a masterpiece. There is no doubt in my mind. I hope that this review will open the eyes of other people like me who like both prog and extreme metal and haven´t heard about Enslaved before, as they really are a brilliant band.

I am the creator of true will

The words uttered by frontman Grutle Kjellson as the first track Entroper kicks in and where after the listerner is sucked in by and entertained with music of the highest quility. Perfect compositions with lyrics that compliment each note it's sang over. Heavy, progressive and beautiful. A great, great album.

Being a HUGE Heavy Metal and Prog Rock fan this record captures everyting in it's spanning 46min, 8 song repertoire that I love about music. It is an absolute joy to listen to.

Each song is a work of art and a musical journey and special mention and nodds to Tides Of Chaos. One of the most amazing pieces of music ever created. Well done lads, well done indeed!

Hailing from Norway and being classified as Black Metal will most probably scare away certain listeners, which is a shame, as this album can most definitely be enjoyed by people who isn't into Black Metal and anyone really who appreciates good music. Sure, it has harsh vocals, extremely well done I might add, but also clean vocals and lovely melodies.

If heavy music in general isn't your thing and you really dislike it, this probably won't change your mind but to all others who has even the slightest interest in music of this genre I cannot recommend this album enough. Well, to lable the music on this album, if I must, I'll call it Progressive Heavy Metal with traces of Black Metal and a clean rocky production thrown in for good measure.

The band plays tight, sounds in great form and as already mentioned, it's slightly rocky production just adds to the already all-round brilliant package.

A wonderful album which should be in any Metal and Prog Rock fan's collection!

Impressive stuff. Most black metal is annoying to me, it's too nonstop, too much energy, too much lack of sensibility, too much aggression, too much Satan. Usually Viking metal is pretty annoying too, goofy instrumentation, power metal esque vocals and drumming, and so much corn I can make a profit off of it. Enslaved manages to combine raw black metal, and pagan viking metal into something uniquely progressive, and different.

The music is dynamic, well textured, and well produced, this isn't one of those super spiritual bands who don't believe in modern technology and only record using a cassette player, this band is legit, and the recording quality for Ruun is superb. The guitars add a nice contrast too each other as they play vibrato chords that harmonize with each other, or one guitar will be playing a riff while the other playing a countering one, either way, they do it well. Usually I need a pretty slow song in order to keep attention, but none of these song are slow the whole way through, all of them are pretty fast brutal, and heavy. The main vocals are my main grudge, they kind of sound like those troll things on lord of the rings, kind of in the higher range of screaming, but not like Agallochs, it actually sounds like the bad guy from some cartoon, so it's pretty corny. The clean vocals are awesome though, and the death vocals are incredibly deep and horrifying, completing most songs. One thing that should stick out to the everyday progger is that this group actually uses a mellotron on a couple of the songs, which also does a lot to fill in the gap of any song.

Anyways really good album, highly recommended to anyone into the whole prog metal scene, but thirst for some blackened extremeness, go with Enslaved's RUUN. BTW, best song on the album is the title song, everything about is is so dynamic, and powerful, especially the breakdown with the vocals! Just thought you should know... Four stars!

On recent gathering of i-Rock! Music Community there were CD counter offered by one of the members. I was introduced to ENSLAVED where its album Ruun was just considered as one of the best release album in the year by Metal Hammer magazine (I do not subscribe this magazine). I finally purchased the CD. My angle to enjoy this album was from Opeth music because I like Opeth. In a way the music is some how and sometimes similar to Opeth even though not the same. To me, Opeth is much more varied in combining acoustic and heavy side of progressive metal. AS far as I understand, Enslaved was previously a black metal band which turned their music more into progressive one.

Having spun this album many times, my view about this album is:

1.) The music is typically heavy with many soft as well as hard riffs that flow from one segment to another in typical song. There are some breaks in between heavy riffs but not a break that Opeth typically offers. The music flows nicely from track to track and there are good ambient created by the music.

2.) I find it annoying with the vocal style which sounds like Cradle of Filth music. I can imagine is Mike Arkedfelt of Opeth sings with Enslaved, it would be much better in enriching the music. The thin voice line by the lead singer here with this album does not sound blended with the music. Of course I can not dream to have Opeth singer sings here, but that's just my wish.

Overall, I tend to give this album recommended only to those who love black metal music. Listeners of traditional prog, might not enjoy this album. But I leave it up to you to decide. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

A great album, though not as brilliant as its predecessor.

The thing that made "Isa" such a fantastic record was the perfect mixture of black metal elements and more progressive-rock-oriented ones, with the right balance of melody and rhythm, riffs and tunes, atmosphere and brutality. "Ruun" continues in the same way though at times feels a little more erratic, and less progressive in a way. There are moments when the albums feels pretty straightoforward, and that hurts the experience just a little bit.

In general, I don't agree with comments that say that ENSLAVED disowned their black metal affiliation on this album. For me, the black metal is still evident and alive in "Ruun" (much unlike its sucessor, where said elements would all but disappear). The band honors its past by adding touches of progressive rock music like mellotrons and piano intros. It's quite ironic that many deem the band "progressive" when it adds elements of music from the 70's, yet I would agree with that. It's the mixture of traditional extreme metal with the music of the prog era which brings the band closer to being progressive-metal than it was before.

Unlike other reviewers, I do enjoy both eras of ENSLAVED a lot, though probably their best moments have come when they have played their new style of progressive-oriented metal. As a pure black/viking-metal outfit, the band had great ideas but never really shined above other similar acts. But in the realm of extreme-progressive-metal, this Norwegian group has few rivals.

The album is strongly recommended, though slightly less so than "Isa", in my view, still their best work to date.

Ruun marks the end of Enslaved's progression. In fact they had reached that endpoint already with Below the Lights, but the mighty Isa consolidated their black metal styled prog. Ruun is still a good album but it does not continue to surprise me, nor does it manage to be entirely consistent. The artwork is really cool though.

A first step down are the clean vocals. Judging from the live DVD's, keyboard player Herbrand Larsen handles most of them now. And while Grutle Kjellson was never amazing at clean vocals either, he still had some poise and conviction when delivering them. Larsen however is flat and tuneless, mostly singing all his lines on one and the same dreary tone with next to no inflection. He also sounds very insecure and unsteady, even out of tune sometimes as on Entroper. But the list of examples is endless.

A second weakness is the predictability of the music. Enslaved stick to their guns and avoid all those marvellous trips and experiments that flourished on Monumension and Below the Lights. Here and there some new influences can be heard though: next to the plethora of Voivod riffs and Floyd psychedelics, also a Tool influence is notable now, as on the title track Ruun. Unfortunately that is one of the tracks that is dead born due to the inadequate vocals. In fact there's only one moment that grips me on this album and that is where Grutle Kjelson manages most of the vocals. The gorgeous Heir To The Cosmic Seed is a 5 star ending for sure.

As the music is generally very good again, I could try to ignore the feeble clean vocals and still consider 4 stars. But that will be for a day when I'm in a less grouchy mood!

Progressive black metal? hmm who'd have ever thought it? Well me, but thats not the point, this is the ninth album from this band from Norway, and what can i say that wasnt already said? Full of dark atmospherics and Pink Floyd like textures, and of course i love the addition of the heavy riffs and singing growling dynamic's going on here, the riffs are often very catchy and seem to stick in your head more than the melodies on this release but at times this can be a good thing, songs like the key single PATH TO VANIR is beyond epic and has some beautiful clean- growl vocals interplay. A lot of the keys can sound too Pink Floyd at times though and can be offputting but meh. The production on this album is also beautiful with some very cool early black metal production with a slight modern twist (being you can hear the vocals as well as the instruments) there never seems to be too much of each instrument as well, which is good as i think every instrument can provide something different to the experience, if you get bored of listening to the voclas lets say, you can listen to the cool keyboards or the heavy riffs and leads provided by the guitars, which can be a rare thing in black metal;

Entroper - 8/10 Path to Vanir - 9/10 Fusion of Sense and Earth - 9/10 Ruun - 9/10 Tides of Chaos - 7/10 Essence - 8/10 Api-Vat - 8/10 Heir to the Cosmic Seed - 8/10

My Conclusion? in my opinion this is Enslaveds best release to date and gets a very high recomendation from me. 4 stars.

'Ruun' - Enslaved (73/100)

Like Monumension, Ruun feels like a superior take on the album that came before it, that nonetheless suffers from its context. In the case of the former, Mardraum ? Beyond the Within in 2000 set Enslaved on their path towards becoming a full-fledged progressive metal act. While they mastered that style on Below the Lights, it wasn't until Isa where the "modern" Enslaved was born. Here was a band that had fought tooth and nail to complete their transition, and had finally done so with total confidence and polished execution. Be that as it may, I honestly found Isa way too restrained for its own good. The sharp songwriting and clever style-blending was there, but it wasn't until Ruun where I started hearing them injecting some much-needed energy back into their music.

Here's another case where Enslaved appear to have created a "sequel" album. The greater dynamic range and greater moments of intensity on Ruun make it a bigger hit for me than Isa, which always held me somewhat at bay on the grounds of its relative sleepiness. Even the artwork corroborates the impression that Ruun was intended to ride the coattails of their breakthrough album. Isa's impeccable sense of flow and structure remains untouched, but in most other respects, Ruun is a more unpredictable, interesting, and ultimately enjoyable album to listen to. My personal preference between the two is clear, which is why I'm still surprised that Isa still manages to leave a more memorable impression. Whatever it was, Enslaved were trailblazing on Isa. Here, they're simply consolidating what they did before.

Even if Ruun was a safer step for Enslaved to take, the album holds up just as well as Isa a decade on. The greater energy is apparent from the very start; the opener "Entroper" fast rose to become one of my favourite Enslaved tunes ever between its upbeat pace and organic arrangement. The title track "Ruun" always struck me as a bit of an oddball, but the exotic build was memorable from the first time I heard it. The rhythmic explorations of "Api-Vat" and relatively mellowed sound on "Essence" are other lesser-lauded gems of their discography. The single "Path to Vanir" would have you think Enslaved were content to stick to the mid-paced slump from Isa, but they spread their wings with this album. Nothing else on Ruun moves me quite like "Entroper", but each of the tracks here has been given meticulous attention. Part of Enslaved's greatness lies in the fact that they can back up hard-hitting riffs with warm vintage textures. If Isa's production was perfect yet cold, Ruun graciously let some of the organic texture seep back into the execution.

At this point in their career, I don't think I could have expected less than quality material from Enslaved. I think it's absolutely to their credit that they made their breakthrough almost 15 years into being a band. Ruun was probably the first album of theirs that enjoyed Enslaved's confidence of having already "made it." Ruun is just Enslaved doing what they want to do, without so much of the stress of trying to expand their fanbase. Although they did technically improve their craft here, I guess part of the reason it doesn't stand out to me as much some of their other albums is precisely the feeling they got a bit too comfortable here. While I'm sure many fans were all too eager to hear an Isa part two, Enslaved have always been best when they're pushing themselves. That wasn't really the case here, but they're otherwise hard to fault when their material is this consistent. on.

Enslaved's Ruun sees the band leaning even further towards the prog-metal side of their sound than they did on Isa, with some post-rock influences also creeping in here and there. In fact, I'd say that the band are in danger of losing their distinctive identity on this album, though they retain sufficient black metal elements to save themselves from this. I think what makes the album work (despite it coming close to not working) is that, as always, Enslaved show a great command of atmosphere, and in general are able to evoke the cold wintry airs they want to go for on here, though even then a few compositions drag on just a little.

"Ruun" marks certain streamlining of Enslaved songwriting skills. Compositions are easy to consume, relatively catchy, far from being epic like on the previous releases, more conventional and less experimental. That does not mean that instrument playing isn't creative, you will spot plenty of icing on the cake. Sometimes you mark simplified rhythm section suggesting rock/heavy metal with growling/screaming vocals like on the melodic "Path to Venir". Echoes of Pink Floyd or even Katatonia can also be heard here.

"Fusion of sense and Earth" has a magnificient name, however the starting tones are pretty straighforward blackened heavy metal. This song features some of the most evil riffs on the album but have you noticed the retro keyboards in the background?

The title track is pretty anthemic and heavy but it's the "Tides of Chaos" that has quite rhythm complexity with irregular periods. "Essence" has a couple of genuine black-metal moments, pretty speedy parts in the end but fails to grab my attention.

"Heir to the cosmic seed" is closer to progressive rock than extreme metal. It has clean multiple vocals, clear guitars instead of tremolo/distorted.

I must admit that I consider this album inferior to a couple of previous outputs, it lacks the creative and I think even a bit instrumental edge. This would improve again in the future.