35 years, high-profile tours, top billing at festival appearances the world over, and now 17 full-length albums. Finding themselves in perhaps the top echelons of extreme metal prestige— waters still being charted as legacy acts from the ’80s and ’90s mature — where does a band with such pedigree across multiple genres journey to this far into their career? One could not fault them for simply coasting the rest of their days off of an arguably unprecedented legacy (within the bounds of Norwegian second wave black metal, at least). But remaining dedicated artists, Enslaved choose to progress onward and upward — and also within, to the center — to find the source on Mið (‘myth’). Honoring the four decade-spanning history that has brought them to the here and now while continuing to blaze new trails little by little, Enslaved’s latest full-length once again cements their legacy as one of the greatest and most consistent bands to grace the many realms of extreme metal.

Mið marks the third album with the current iteration of Enslaved, and may be the most “locked in” this group of five has sounded thus far. Departing from Ivar Bjørnson’s longtime role as sole composer, the band instead worked in a much more collaborative fashion… no material was ready once time in the studio began. The result is an album that feels instantly immediate, with a bright, propulsive momentum felt throughout; announcement single “Solar Will” best exemplifies these traits, as hard and heavy riffs clash with Iver Sandøy’s cleans, Ice Dale’s ever-graceful soloing, and subtly layered acoustic guitar. And with a majority of the tracks hovering at or below the five-minute mark, Mið most closely recalls Utgard in the grand scheme of Enslaved’s discography (at just under 42 minutes it’s also their shortest album since 1998’s Blodhemn). But as always the band never make the same album twice, and their sound continues to evolve.

What differentiates Mið from all that has come before is perhaps how groovy it often is. Syncopation is the name of the game here, whether it’s the opening chugs of “I Am Ice” or the dizzying prog rhythms of “Tales of Trees.” But this tendency is no better illustrated than on “Mountain.” Slowing things down after the one-two combo of heavy hitters “Ice” and “Solar Will,” the lush, keyboard-heavy opening of “Mountain” gives Iver Sandøy a chance to vocally shine before a sudden transition into much heavier waters. Octave pedals (previously used in the opening of “Heimdal”) plunge the band into their equivalent of near-Meshuggah territory, as start and stop rhythmic exercises take over… yet nothing ends up being too out of character for an Enslaved release. My only issue with the track is that it stops just as it might appear to be building up to something even greater.

“Parting” is the longest song on the album and makes for one of Enslaved’s finest of the past 15 years (at the very least); a true saga all on its own, the death of the world and its rebirth condensed into eight minutes. An intro comprised of beautiful piano, heavenly choral synths, and the band’s own vocal contributions evoke “Odens Ride Over Nordland,” while soft acoustic guitar channels “Twilight of the Gods;” two of the most epic inspirations that Viking-era Bathory could possibly provide. This is the last light, before we are slowly plunged into the depths of death and destruction across increasingly heavy verse sections… Ragnarok finally commences as Grutle Kjellson and Iver gloriously harmonize “When the fire beast swallows // We learn to love the dying day.” Hearkening back to what Axioma Ethica Odini did so well across many of its own tracks, “Parting” utilizes the perfect combo of 128bpm and 16th note kick drums as accompanying walls of chords provide consistent momentum through the darkness of the second half. Ice Dale unleashes one of his longest and most intense solos in years before we are ushered back into the light, as Grutle and Iver sing in Old Norse directly from stanza 64 of Völuspá. A new world is reborn and what introduced “Parting” returns to close out the track, leaving the cosmos (and us) forever changed.

On the production front I have to give the band and longtime mixing/mastering wizard Jens Bogren the highest commendation. While I’ve yet to be dissatisfied by the production on any modern Enslaved album, this might be the best they’ve sounded in quite a long time. Mið is very bassy, with Grutle’s own robust four-string commanding the low end of a sound already focused in that direction. Just as the band went in a more collaborative direction with regards to songcraft, so too does the production of Mið feel like it plays to the strengths of each member. Håkon Vinje’s frosty (yet psychedelic) keyboard solo in “I Am Ice,” feeling every hit of Iver Sandøy’s many drum fills, the multilayered harmonies of all three exemplary vocalists, Grutle’s iconic roars… all elements in play come through with both clarity and the feeling that you could be right there in the studio with them. I can’t wait for the character these tracks will take on in a live setting.

Like on Heimdal before it, the specter of Ragnarok looms heavy over Mið. Not just the aforementioned “Parting” but in “Solar Will,” which contrasts the doom of Baldr and his beloved role within the Æsir with each individual’s role as centerpoint of their universe. For any number of reasons — impending ecological disaster, political and economic instability, or simple aging, maturation, and the realization that the world doesn’t simply “get better” with the passage of time — these themes seem all too relevant for the current moment. But Mið is far from a depressing album full of doom and gloom. Even from the outset with intro track “Non-Being,” there’s a brightness to its folkish, clean guitar passages. As Grutle remarks “I’ve come to realise that this is a really positive album. It’s about growth, it’s about digging yourself out of a pit, and it’s about leaving yourself open to the element of surprise. It’s about all the possibilities of being a human being.” Apart from the driving momentum felt across the album, this is illustrated by the ways in which it bridges cultures both within Enslaved’s own Norway and beyond.

“I Am Ice” features a guest appearance from Sami vocalist Johan Sara Jr., his chants and throat singing being the first vocals to appear on the album at all; with the manner that this track is deeply rooted in ritualistic rhythms (but not without furious blast beat sections), the collaboration is only logical. And while the feature may not hit as hard for those without firsthand experience of the Fire in the Mountains festival, Blackfeet elder Kevin Kicking Woman’s prayer that comprises the vocals of “Spirit Helper” (around which Ivar Bjørnson composed the entire track) is yet another example of the awe-inspiring ways that Enslaved’s music bridges time and space. I see this song as the emotional core of Mið; what Ivar, Grutle, and company are striving for is a reflection on the universality of human experiences both across cultures and within the band itself. While they are founding members (that the band could probably not exist without) Enslaved is more than just Ivar and Grutle… it’s a living, breathing five-person entity in which each plays an important part of a greater whole, just like human societies past and present. The stone circle on the album art — inspired by a now-removed monument in Norway — exemplifies the lasting power felt by such structures made worldwide.

Energetic as it can be, “I Miðju” does not end Mið on the most glorious note. Its plodding, triplet rhythm joins “Parting” as some of the least cryptic Bathory conjurations from Enslaved thus far. But as Ivar states: “right now, this feels like the first in something that’s coming. I thought Heimdal would be the same, but now that feels like the conclusion of something else. It feels like it’s going to be the beginning of a lot of fun things.” This track might simply be the first step leading us towards bigger and better things to come. The manner by which a collaborative, instinctual effort put forth on Mið seems to have paid off from the perspective of the artists (and certainly as a listener) points toward a great future for a band that has demonstrated nothing but consistent greatness for over two decades at this point.

Enslaved have little to prove with such a long and storied career, yet they continuously surprise. Aiding in new horizons explored, Mið contains evocations from across all of their progressive era — riffs and transitions that could come from releases as disparate as Axioma, In Times, or Utgard — but without sounding like simple rearrangements and rehashing of past glory. As true practitioners of extreme metal as art and ritual, there’s simply no other way they could go about crafting a new album. Mið shows that Enslaved are still more than capable of creating high-quality, engaging music with strong, relevant themes… themes all too important in this day and age. Journeying into the mið, the center, to find what elements connect the band and humanity at large has again resulted in a triumph of extreme, progressive metal, demonstrating once more why they’re one of the greatest to ever do it.

— Colin

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Mið will be available October 30 through Nuclear Blast Records. For more information on Enslaved, visit their official site.