NEMA

As a lover of both black metal and progressive music I find the combination of the two very exciting and few bands have consistently been as adept at putting those two worlds together than ENSLAVED has done with their vast canon and throughout all these decades they haven't released one uninteresting album. I find it fascinating to dig deep into the vaults of such a band's history to experience the origins of such a unique musical force and one cannot dig any deeper than their first demo NEMA which was released the same year the band officially formed.

On this very first release from ENSLAVED we find the two founding members Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, then only 13 and 17 years old hooking up with Trym Torson who would go on to join Emperor. This is definitely one for the collector's and hard core fans only, of which I am one. The music on here is very lo-fi and very basic second wave black metal, however despite these tracks being light-years away from albums like "Monumension" and "Riitiir," there are small signs of nascent progressiveness in the mix. Even at this early stage ENSLAVED had a good sense of the dynamics of shifting through different styles to keep it interesting. The opening and closing tracks are even a bit ambient. All in all a display of potential but probably not something most fans will rush to seek out.