After the recurrent line-up changes, which resulted in addition of Roy Kronheim and Gehenna's drummer Dirge Rep, the proud Viking warriors return with "vengeance in blood" - the rough translation of the word "blodhemn," which is a title for the Enslaved's new album.

The first thing you notice with "Blodhemn" is excellent production. The second thing you may or may not notice is how the band progressed. Actually it's rather quirky. The band simultaneously progressed and remained the same. Enslaved still got a penchant for mixing the rollercoaster black metal with epic sections and Viking chants. This time though, this formula is altered in order to let "Blodhemn" take the more direct approach for attack. After a short intro, the album kicks into "I Lenker Til Ragnarok" with precise vehemence and steadfast speed, and continues on with the same fierceness and swift pace until the album's closing epic "Suttungs Mjod." The chants and slower passages are still interlaced into this mode, but they are not as prominent as they were on "Eld." Instead, Enslaved introduce guitar solos and keyboard effects to their music. The solos gel surprisingly well with Enslaved's usual style, while the occasional "spacy" keyboard sounds endow the music with a certain cosmic feel. Finally, the band's amazing melodic sensibility and superb song writing skills are what conjoins all other elements into a recognizable whole that is "Blodhemn."

Enslaved remain skillful craftsmen, and, unlike most of their peers, they managed to achieve an uneasy task of preserving their authentic form and integrity without repeating themselves or changing direction. Hail.

© 1999 boris