VIKINGLIGR VELDI

Enslaved´s debut album Vikingligr Veldi has classic status in the black metal world. The prog tendencies that Enslaved incorporated into their sound on later albums are not found here. At least it´s only heard sporadically. Enslaved plays black metal in the vein of Satyricon and Burzum which means that it is very dark and pretty repetitive. Krautrock lovers might get something out of this even though it´s another genre alltogether. The hypnotic effect you get when listening to krautrock is also present here though.

The sound is very amaturish but better than the sound on many other black metal albums from that time. As it is normal in this type of black metal you can´t hear the bass, the sound is extremely thin and with lots and lots of treble.

The musicians are nothing special really even though I have to be impressed with Ivar Bjørnson who is only 16 or 17 years old on this release.

The music is as mentioned very repetitive black metal. It´s very melodic and there are even some keyboard effects that can sound seventies prog like, but don´t expect too much of that kind, it´s only occasionally. Grutle Kjellson has an extreme black metal rasp and it´s very much an aquired taste if you like these kind of vocals. Even for death metal fans this might be too extreme. Favorite songs for me are the opener Lifandi Lif Undir Hamri which I find very powerful and even very melodic, and Midgards Eldar where Grutle Kjellson sounds really pissed off. Nice brutal stuff. Vetrarnуtt is a bit of a let down really. It´s way too repetitive for me.

Even though I have enjoyed listening to Vikingligr Veldi and on first listen wanted to give it 3 stars, I have come to my senses now and I will only rate it 2 stars. It´s not that innovative really and it gets a bit trivial when you reach the middle of the album. I´ll say this is only for fans of the early norwegian black metal scene. I don´t see the average prog head enjoying this much.

Vikingligr Veldi is a black metal milestone and Enslaved's most symphonic styled black metal album, closer to Emperor and Immortal then to their later prog rock and an obvious inspiration for both the more commercial symphonic black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir and the atmospheric tendencies of early Katatonia and Agalloch.

The opening track Lifandi Lif Undir Hamri is very gripping and sums up everything that is on offer on this album, a fast, repetitive and entrancing pace, tremolo-picked guitar riffs, vicious black metal shrieks, haunting keyboards and folksy overtones. As Umur pointed out this might appeal to kraut fans. Me being one, I can only confirm that claim. The track has only minimal melody but appeals greatly because of its rhythm and entrancing effect.

The remaining tracks have a similar approach, Vetranott is another 11 minute slab of up-tempo dark energy. Especially the blast beat section in the middle is wild and furious. Enslaved add just enough melody to make it digestible and alluring. Of course Grutle's shrieks are an acquired taste and by the time the next 11 minutes of Midgards Eldar I get quite weary of them as well, so I rarely sit through this album in one go.

Heilmdallr is an Enslaved classic that still features in their live set. More concise and decidedly more black and aggressive it's a welcome change after the 3 epics that preceded. Also the instrumental Norvegr offers some variation in tempo and instrumentation, featuring even some (under-produced) acoustic guitars and prominent melodious bass guitar that gives it a kind of new wave feel (think of a badly produced the Cure jam with fuzzed out guitars).

The production is really good for black metal standards of that era, of course it's murky and trebly but all instruments are clearly audible, even the bass (at least if you have big woofers). The performance is inspired and energetic and the compositions are very big, symphonic and - seen from a broad perspective that includes kraut and space-rock - certainly progressive, though not Prog Rock of the kind Enslaved would start playing in the ensuing decade. Not perfect but an impressive album. Essential for black metal fans and still excellent within the Tech/Extreme sub. Maybe we need an extreme kraut metal sub for this album! 3.5 stars

'Vikingligr veldi' - Enslaved (75/100)

Considering where the band has been, it is no small feat that Enslaved have managed to be so consistent throughout such a long and diverse career. I have met progressive rock fans who, despite not standing black metal in any other form, swear by the latter-era material. By contrast, there are black metal purists for whom the interest stops around Isa, if not sooner. For many more fans though, Enslaved's career can be taken as a major testament to quality in numerous forms. There will always be tired debates as to which era is "better" (as fans are wont to do) but there have been few exceptions to the band's streak of excellence since their beginnings at the height of the Norwegian Second Wave.

For Enslaved, greatness had its start on the Hordanes Land EP. The way they fleshed out that potential on Vikingligr veldi however proved that there was something really special about this band. They were a few years younger than the scene heavyweights in Norway, and the album's dedication to Euronymous is symbolic proof that Enslaved paid respect to the local influences they owed part of their sound to. Vikingligr veldi didn't become a classic on the grounds of doing what had already been done however, and even with Hordanes Land Enslaved had made it clear they weren't like the rest. Not just strong Viking-era Bathory influence, but a deceptively strong draw from 70s progressive rock was already a major part of Enslaved at this point. with their debut, they already foreshadowed the places they would go at later stages of their career.

Vikingligr veldi is a slightly bloated album, but it's hard to believe teenagers were capable of arranging music at this level. Emperor gave me a similar impression with In the Nightside Eclipse, but where that album gave that feeling by blowing up the sound with as many layers as possible, Enslaved do so by taking a line from Bathory. Adding "soft" instrumentation (like acoustics) to back up your black metal gives it a feeling of much greater depth. This plays well into Enslaved's Viking fascination very well, but unlike Bathory, they did so without losing the raw edge in black metal. Enslaved have always been a restrained-sounding band in whatever they've done, but there are times where they take the sound close to ravenous Mayhem territory. "Lifandi lif undir hamri" has riffs that sound like they were written by Euronymous himself. Being influenced by one of the most influential bands in black metal is no big deal, but considering the otherwise highbrow palette they were working with here, it's an impressive touch.

Vikingligr veldi is easily the strongest of Enslaved's predominantly "Viking metal" albums. To me, Eld and Blodhemn always felt vaguely underwhelming. Vikingligr veldi stood out because it sounded like the Viking aesthetic was more or less a springboard for Enslaved to do whatever they want. The debut's biggest surprise comes at the end, with "Norvegr". An 11 minute instrumental is a prospect better suited for prog than metal, and in thinking that you wouldn't be wrong. "Norvegr" sounds like a black metal band playing 70s progressive rock. For those who think Enslaved eventually evolved into a progressive band, "Norvegr" proves the ingredients were there all along. Enslaved were progressive from the start, and a lot more progressive for the first months of '94 than contemporary listeners would probably care to think. They weren't doing Mayhem as well as Mayhem, nor Bathory as well as Bathory, but they were bringing a shade of something new altogether. No matter which era of Enslaved you prefer, most of the best things about them began with this album.

Even back in 1994, Enslaved was a bit of an 'odd duck' in the Norwegian black metal scene. Whereas many of the genre's forerunners were busy writing Satanic lyrics, burning down churches, or (in the case of Varg Vikernes and Euronymous) killing each other, Enslaved instead focused on creating a - for the time period, at least - very strange blend of ice cold black metal, symphonic keyboards, viking themed lyrics, and seventies' progressive rock. Although the progressive tendencies are hardly as noticeable as they would soon become, they were prominent enough to allow Vikingligr Veldi to stand out from the hordes of Mayhem and Burzum clones on the scene. I wouldn't venture to say this is one of the best Enslaved albums, but Vikingligr Veldi is a very highly recommended purchase for those who enjoy raw old school black metal with a few unique twists.

At its core, Vikingligr Veldi is very firmly rooted in Norwegian black metal. Lots of fast blast-beats, tremolo picked guitar riffs, and throaty vocals are found here, but Enslaved also throw some symphonic keyboards and ambient influences into the mix for good measure. I do hear a very strong Burzum influence here - like many of Varg's masterworks, the tracks are very long and repetitive, thus creating a rather hypnotic effect on the listener. Enslaved has an additional progressive edge that sets them apart, though, and I absolutely love when the synthesizers come into play. They really help flesh out the overall experience and give some melodic hooks for the listener to grab onto.

Later works from Enslaved are known for their crystal-clear production and tight musicianship, but that wasn't at all the case on Vikingligr Veldi. Like almost all black metal albums from this era, the musicianship is a bit sloppy and the production is just about as raw and unpolished as they come. That hopefully shouldn't scare away any potential listeners, though - the raw production suits the chilling atmosphere of Vikingligr Veldi perfectly, and the unpolished musicianship never gets in the way of my enjoyment.

Looking back on Vikingligr Veldi over fifteen years since its initial release, it's pretty clear that this promising Norwegian black metal act would go on to do much greater things over the span of their career. Enslaved has since released plenty of genre-defining progressive black metal albums, and even though this debut is damn good in my eyes, it's not one of their most essential purchases if you're looking to get into them. Still, Vikingligr Veldi is very much worth a look from any fan of Enslaved as well as old school Norwegian black metal in general. This is one of the better black metal albums from the early ninties', and as such deserves at least 3.5 stars. Though not an essential purchase, Vikingligr Veldi is a very promising start for these extreme metal behemoths.

Unlike most of their contemporaries in the early Norwegian black metal scene, Enslaved did not seek to express pure aggression and anger, or spit bile at Christianity, or roar forth the praises of Satan, or express a depressive sort of misanthropy. Instead, their lyrical foundation on this album was based around their appreciation of ancient Viking myths - and not in a "we're going to smash the Judeo-Christians and take back our land sort of way" or a "we are deeply sad that our pagan heritage is gone" way, as with Bathory's early Viking metal pieces. Instead, they simply present the myths and say "Here, these are the stories of our people, enjoy them"; the lyrics express a mood of quiet confidence and peace with the world, with what violence there is emerging not from people but from the wild and untamed forces of nature as expressed by the gods.

This lyrical foundation is supported by their musical approach. Though Grutle bellows forth the lyrics in a wild black metal shriek, to my ears his approach is more declarative and proclamatory than aggressive and brutal, and underpinning the wall of noise established by the guitars is some truly unexpectedly gentle, melodic, and peaceful synthesiser lines from Ivar. Whereas Emperor and their successors used synthesisers to create a grand sense of symphonic pomp and ceremony surrounding their music, and Varg Vikernes used them for dark ambient experimentation, Emperor of all the black metal bands seem to want us to chill out, relax, and let their synthesiser melodies sooth us in the midst of the chaotic guitar squalls which evoke the storms of long-ago Scandinavian winters.

In short, this debut album takes a unique approach to black metal and sets Enslaved on their own highly individual trajectory, and as such I think it's one of the most genuinely innovative and experimental works in the early genre.

This album works as more of a droning experience than a fist pumping headbanging adventure. It's like watching paint dry, but with the paint being an exceptionally interesting and alluring color. The album title also sounds like some sort of hard liquor beverage, which I personally consider another plus.

With five songs and a total length of over fifty minutes, one of them being a reasonably long instrumental, the proggish ambition is certainly there and Enslaved hit the Norwegian scene immediately with long epics draped with atmosphere that was chilly though not necessarily morbid or evil (although their prior EP Hordanes Land felt pretty dark). The aura for this album is more of a majestic statement, particularly concerning tracks like "Midgards Eldar", which entice me to climb up high mountains and stare across the vast landscape in sheer glory as the sun sets beyond the horizon. Then I get chilly and hungry and wonder what the hell I was thinking. Vikingligr Veldi doesn't cause that unfortunate after-effect, but there are times, particularly during the first few listens, that the droning repetitive nature of some of these songs can get tiresome. I acknowledge that Enslaved were going for establishing an atmosphere that takes one back to Nordic times when mead was drunk from a large animal horn, but stretching a song to twice its length to establish a mood is a tricky venture if what is being stretched is not engaging enough to warrant such a monumental extension.

Musically it doesn't stray far from Norwegian black metal, with some cool riffs here and there, a few oddly interesting keyboards and an enthusiastic drummer who probably spends a lot of time panting when he's away from the kit. It does stand out from the more satanic stuff Norway was pumping out in droves at the time by avoiding most of the non music based clichés (corpsepaint, killing each other, etc.) and focusing on soundscapes that actually work in establishing a unique tone to their work that few of their peers could touch. It's a landmark album, and a classic concerning Norway's black metal scene, but Enslaved would eventually evolve into something even greater, while many other black metal bands had hit their peak in the early 90s and were about to slide into also-rans.

ENSLAVED set themselves apart from the rest of the black metal pack right from the getgo and continued to do so with their debut full-length release VIKINGLIGR VELDI. As the title suggests this is Viking metal in lyrical content while existing in the black metal realm musically. The lyrics are mostly in Icelandic (very closely related to Old Norse) and the lyrics of "Heimdalir" are actually in ancient Norwegian, however this IS black metal and even if you speak the languages I would be surprised if you could discern any intelligible meaning from the shrieks and grunts and tortured utterings if you spent the rest of your life trying to do so.

As with their EP "Hordanes Land" the album kicks off with a catchy little keyboard riff that remains the backbone of a massive fury of black metal madness. Although this debut is not totally in the progressive black metal realms that would fully unfold on "Monumension" it is clear by the track times here that the band were carving out a path where they could follow allowing them to unfold their ideas into a more progressive atmosphere. The first track clocks in at 11:31 and despite the band's progressive desires failing to fully measure up to the potential of the time-lengths, there is something of a satisfying result in that despite the ideas becoming repetitive, the keyboards are somewhat hypnotic and lull you into the groove which I find is good enough to keep me entertained. After becoming fully engrossed in it after a while, they suddenly change it up a bit and take you for another hypnotic spin. There are changes but they are subtle despite the aggressive fury occupying every measure and note.

With only five tracks that add up to almost 51 minutes of music, it is clear that ENSLAVED were interested in more sophisticated music than many of the second wave black metal artists. There is however much in common with those acts. The keyboard tracks remind me a lot of Emperor (in fact Tym Torson who plays drums here was in both bands), while the most aggressive ones of Darkthrone. Their sound, although somewhat unique, still sounds very much rooted in the black metal of the early 90s. It would take a few albums for them to really blossom into the totally unique act that they would become. I actually didn't like this album a whole lot upon first listen but after many listens it grew on me and it allowed me to pick up on the subtleties that don't really slap you in the face at first. The music satisfies all those primeval black metal needs but also has a bit more to it. I have grown to like this album more than I thought I ever would and there is a true feel of potential present here even though it hasn't been fully unleashed at this point.