ENSLAVED

“There was always a moment, sailing between the shore and island, when neither was in sight.” – Steve Erickson, ‘Tours Of The Black Clock’

In true Enslaved fashion, the Bergen voyagers’ 16th album, “Heimdal”, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. Founded in 1991 by the then precociously young Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, Enslaved were determined to set out on a different course from their Satanic, church-burning peers, turning their attention towards Viking lore and writing the majority of the lyrics for their 1994 debut album, “Vikingligr Veldi“, in Icelandic for its proximity to Old Norse.

SVALBARD

Hard-hitting! That’s the only way to describe this fearless group. There’s no poetry, no ambiguity - just direct, raw honesty as the Bristolian quartet tackle some very uncomfortable subjects head on. This is heavy in the most evocative sense of the word. The blunt lyrics are equally as important as the music.