Enslaved - RIITIIR

Enslaved. If ever there was a band that has continuously pushed the envelope and evolved to greater heights and shown consistency time and time again, it is these guys. Their latest album 'RIITIIR' was going to be interesting given their slightly different approach to 'Axioma Ethica Odini'. AEO, like 'Mardraum', was a transitional album to the next step in the evolution of their sound, impressive but still needed to be tweaked. With 'RIITIIR', Enslaved has nailed it.

The one negative I found with AEO was how they changed their direction with their signature repetition. Instead of building one epic passage, AEO was full of songs that had two main passages that they kept going back and forth to and this ended up becoming predictable. With 'RIITIIR', songs tend to focus around one or two main passages but between them they are throwing a number of variations between cutting back to those passages. Also, the main passages are being built up more so in a sense, it is unpredictable this time around. Take a song like 'Death In The Eyes Of Dawn' which builds up like classic Enslaved before it breaks out into flutters of chaos so unexpectedly and then returning to the main passage.

Things get a bit more technical at times too. A song like 'Veilburner' twists a bit at the beginning but then breaks out into a moderate tempo with the signature ice cold and sharp sound from the riffs before it rushes like some big wind. Even the way they transition in songs too. A typical blasting black metal moment like 'Roots Of The Mountain' which grows out of nowhere to a lifting wall of noise and Grutle's clean vocals carrying the big sound. It then becomes filled with melodies and Arve's lead work and then out of nowhere comes this beautiful clean moment that screams post rock.

It is with this unpredictability in the songs that make them so much more enjoyable. You don't expect a song like 'Materal' to progress the way it does without a blackened tremolo riff coming out of nowhere. You don't expect Cato to be blasting his beats or snapping that snare so hard in 'RIITIIR' or 'Roots Of The Mountain'. You don't expect the galloping melodies in 'Storm Of Memories' to become sizzling tremolos. For how much the band has evolved through progression, that chaos still lingers.

Grutle's vocals just get better and better as well. His growls are ever so harsh and that death roar is the biggest yet. His clean vocals is where he has really come of age. Such a commanding and epic tone. Like the voice of a powerful king. His voice makes a song like 'RIITIIR' feel overpowering, the way he lifts his voice in 'Roots Of The Mountain' without overdoing it feels so impressive. Even the way his harsh vocals echo over the tremolo riff in 'Materal', so dark, almost necro!

'RIITIIR' is the album that has made Enslaved the best band in extreme metal for me. They are now my favourite band. It is like watching a group of rebels with this cold attitude grow in time and eventually take over and build the most powerful empire ever. Even though they have become so powerful and epic, you can still feel that they have not forgotten their roots and that sense of coldness and darkness is still etched in their minds right back to the days of 'Frost' and 'Vikingligr Veldi'.

With 'RIITIIR', Enslaved still is the most consistent band in metal. They have again proven that they can master the change in their style and sound so quickly and most importantly, they haven't forgotten where they have come from. This is what heritage actually is. Certain to be my album of the year.

Ikil