Tag Archive: Enslaved


I have absolutely no idea what made Scion (yes, the car company) want to include metal in their audio/visual department, but it has proved to be nothing but spectacular. They’ve worked with such metal artists as Magrudergrind, Wormrot, Enslaved, and most recently, legendary death metallists, Immolation. Immolation is my favorite death metal band of all time, and they have released a video from their EP, Providence, entitled, “Illumination”.

The video is pretty well shot, and shows the band doing what they do best: being a symbol of death metal itself.  The song is brutal and super heavy, and it’s just overall a fun experience.

Their new EP, Providence, is out now on Scion A/V, and is completely free.

Thanks, Scion.  You’re pretty fucking cool.

- GR

It’s a damn shame that it took Ghost being denied entry into the United States for me to know who Junius (their replacement on the Enslaved tour) were. How the hell did I not know who they were? Seriously, what little I’ve heard of them so far is fantastic. They’re a bit reminiscent of a doom-oriented amalgamation of Dredg, Deftones, and Fair To Midland. This is obviously pretty damn awesome.

Junius happen to have a new album coming out October 25th on Prosthetic Records called Reports From The Threshold Of Death, and I’m kind of excited for it. Guitar World premiered a new song from the record called “A Universe Without Stars. You can stream it at Guitar World or via the Soundcloud player below.

Keep up with Junius on Facebook, where you can stream more music.

- JR

Aaaaaaaand yet another awesome tour for you North American types this autumn, this time with seminal screamo outfit Circle Takes The Square.

CTTS have been quiet for quite some time now, but they’re set to release their new album Decompositions: Volume I sometime this November, and I’m pretty stoked on that shit.

There’s no set support, but most of the dates will feature several of City of Ships, Touché Amoré and Pianos Become The Teeth. A couple also feature Thou, who are rather excellent.

Here’s what we have at the moment:

10/22 Harrisonburg, VA – Secret show
10/23 Baltimore, MD – The Ottobar (feat. City Of Ships, Pala)
10/24 Philadelphia, PA – Pi Lam (feat. GholasGods and QueensFull of Hell)
10/25 Blacksburg, VA – 130 Jackson (feat. PygmylushRegents)
10/26 Greensboro, NC – Legitimate Business (feat. Pygmylush, Systems
10/27 Savannah, GA – TBA (feat. HowlerIndian Giver)
10/28 Gainesville, FL – The Fest 10
10/29 St. Petersburg, FL – Fubar (feat. Capsule, City of Ships)
10/31 Pembroke Pines, FL – The Talent Farm (feat. Touche Amore, Pianos Become The Teeth,City Of Ships)
11/01 Winter Park, FL – The Haven (feat. Touche Amore, Pianos Become The Teeth, City Of Ships)
11/02 Birmingham, AL – The Firehouse (feat. Touche Amore, Pianos Become The Teeth, City Of Ships)
11/03 New Orleans, LA – Dragons Den (feat. Touche Amore, Pianos Become The Teeth, Thou)
11/05 Baton Rouge, LA – Manship Theatre (feat. True Widow, Thou, Leaving)
11/06 TBA – TBA
11/07 Atlanta, GA – TBA
11/08 Athens, GA – TBA

More details to come on those last few shows, and we’ll try and get those to you when they come our way.

There’s are also tentative details coming through about shows from The Chariot with VannaThe Crimson ArmadaFormer Thieves and Listener (whose frontman Dan Smith is the guy who does the intense spoken-word section on David De La Hoz). More details on that too when they are announced.

So fall’s looking pretty good for you guys as far as tours go. I’m not sure what the national coverage is like, but between the Between the Buried and Me/Animals As Leaders/TesseracT, Devin Townsend Project/The Ocean, Mastodon/Dillinger, Decapitated/Decrepit Birth/Fleshgod ApocalypseEnslaved/Alcest, Kvelertak/Skeletonwitch, The Black Dahlia Murder/All Shall PerishAna Kefr and The Bled runs, you’re bound to be able to see something cool (unless you live in the arse-end of nowhere, eh JR?). Just look at that list. Phew!

- CG

No, not really. While being all reactionary and sensationalist about things is good fun, there were some last minute visa complications which kept Ghost out of the US and subsequently off of the upcoming Enslaved tour with Alcest. Here’s the official statement made via Facebook:

Everybody,

Due to some last minute complications with our visas, we have been forced to cancel our North American tour.

We are sorry towards the other bands on the tour, Enslaved and Alcest.

And we are most of all tremendously sorry towards all of our fans.

This is truly beyond our control and we are making everything within our (His) powers to be able to come back to the US as soon as possible and perform for all of you.

Our most malicious of wishes

/A Nameless Ghoul

Sorry fellow Americans; we’ll have to frolic in Satanic praise another time. They promise to come back as soon as possible, which would certainly be swell. Hopefully they can take care of all the visa issues before it’s too late next time. Seriously, the USA’s working visa policy needs to be more lenient when it comes to internationally touring acts. But what can you do, huh?!

- JR

Nevermind the name though, because it looks to be a pretty awesome tour nonetheless. Featuring support from Ghost and Alcest, the three-and-a-half week tour will hit stops in both the U.S. and Canadia for nineteen slices of Scandinavian bass-assery. Tour dates as follows:

09-23-11          Jaxx – Springfield, VA
09-24-11          Mr. Small’s Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA
09-25-11          Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY
09-26-11          Middle East (Downstairs) – Boston, MA
09-28-11          Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC   CANADA
09-29-11          Café Campus Montreal, QC  CANADA
09-30-11          Opera House – Toronto, ON   CANADA
10-01-11          Outland Live – Columbus, OH
10-02-11          The Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
10-03-11          Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
10-05-11          West End Cultural Centre – Winnipeg, MB  CANADA
10-06-11          The Exchange – Regina, SK
10-07-11          The Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB  CANADA
10-08-11          Dickens Pub – Calgary, AB
10-10-11          Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, B.C.  CANADA
10-11-11          El Corazon – Seattle, WA
10-12-11          Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
10-13-11          Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
10-14-11          The Troubadour – Hollywood, CA

Sound like your kind of thing? Of course it does. Unless it doesn’t, in which case MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

- CG

“Hours pass, slow and submissive

And I don’t know what to do

I live inside myself…”

These tortured final moments of Obsidian Kingdom‘s latest offering 3:11 are hypnotic and downright eerie as the ticking of a clock closes the album past unsettling atmospherics, mirroring the introspective lyrics of a man lost alone, seemingly inside of his own mind.

3:11 was supposed to be an advance of a conceptual album focused on fear. It occurred to us as a casual thing, after writing a few songs we realised that we we’re constantly referring to things that we were really scared of…” explains guitarist and vocalist, Rider G Omega. “In the end, we as humans still share some very old fears that bring us together. Thus, we see it as a very powerful tool of communication.

“We believe that optimal musical communication can only be achieved when there is a background of intense feeling from the speaker. And in order to deeply feel something it’s always better to have experienced it by oneself… or else be really good at faking.”

Despite possible inferences associated with the lush soundscapes of shoegaze, Obsidian Kingdom’s promotion as a post-black metal band isn’t entirely inaccurate; while the band sports a prominent blackened tenacity and grim roots, they certainly transcend the genre’s confined boundaries. The Spaniards’ collective repertoire runs the gamut from doom to progressive metal, with the forward-thinking attitude and spirit of Norway’s Shining and the musicianship of seminal extreme prog band Enslaved, showing the potential to be one of the best new bands in progressive metal.

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While I am about a month late on this bit of news, there’s still plenty of time to spare for those of you who haven’t heard about the upcoming Enslaved/Ghost/Alcest North American tour for this Fall.

9/23 Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
9/24 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
9/25 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
9/26 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
9/28 Quebec City, QC @ Impérial
9/29 Montreal, QC @ Café Campus
9/30 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
10/1 Columbus, OH @ Outland Live
10/2 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
10/3 St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
10/5 Winnipeg, MB @ WECC
10/6 Regina, SK @ The Exchange
10/7 Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
10/8 Calgary, AB @ Dickens
10/10 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
10/11 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/12 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/13 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
10/14 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour

It’s unlikely I’ll be able to catch this show (best bet is Columbus!), which is a huge bummer, because all three bands are top notch acts. I’m going to try my damnedest to make it though; I’m a casual fan of all three bands, and seeing them all on one bill would be a monumental show! I can cry during Alcest, worship Satan during Ghost, and act all smug and kvlt during Enslaved. It’ll be a killer show, for sure.

- JR

As many of you will know, masters of all that is metal (or a stoner’s approximation of, at least) Metalsucks have been counting down a list of who they (the staff) consider to be the top 25 modern metal guitarists. Of those I know, I’ve agreed with the vast majority of inclusions, and by the time this goes to press, there should only be the number one slot left to be announced – on Monday I would presume, thanks to Labor Day this Monday just gone.

So with this weekend break in mind, we want you to don your deerstalkers and tell us, based on who has already been mentioned, who you think will be – or who you think deserves – the number one slot from Axl, Vince and co.

For your convenience, I’ve listed the entries so far below, but I’d highly recommend reading the series – they make some damn good points regarding their choices.

Sound off in the comments!

- CG

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Every single elitist black metal fan on the internet just crapped their pants in the sheer un-tr00ness of this announcement but, regardless of your thoughts on Scion, the good news is that we’re getting new FREE music from Enslaved!

On a unspecified (but nearby) date, Scion will release a free 5 track EP called The Sleeping Gods. You can head over to Metal Injection now and download the lead off track ‘Heimvegen‘, which I can safely say, absolutely slays. It’s another solid slab of progressive viking metal that’s on par with anything on Vertebrae - I never got a chance to listen to Axioma Odini Ethica, sue me. Or you can head over to this distinctly average looking page (that only includes the bottom half of the artwork - unashamedly the half with the Scion logo on it) and listen to 4 out 5 of the tracks.

 

EDIT: OK, scratch that. Turns out the EP has already been released! With absolutely no advertising or prior warning. Subtle. Big thank you to Mush, who commented on this MetalSucks piece, for finding it. Download it right now!

 

-DL

So I’m fucking stoked for the Abysmal Dawn, The Human Abstract, and Omnium Gatherum records to bless my ears this winter.  And then I realized, “Damn. I’m short on material.”  I was thinking about a “Guilty Pleasures” article, but figured I’d save that for a later date.  I was inspired by Gein’s new article on Songs I Like by Bands I Don’t, and figure I’d chime in again with some more bands I can’t listen to except for that certain gem.  So let’s do this!

After The Burial – Berzerker

Beast Vocals.  Shreddy guitar.  Monstrous drums.  On paper, I should be obsessed with this band.  But I’m not.  And I have no idea why.  I’ve tried to get into Rareform and In Dreams forever, but I never have gotten myself to like them, except for the incredible song “Berzerker”.  The way the song is constructed always get me.

Enslaved – Ethica Odini

I can’t say that I am a fan of black metal.  Save for a few choice albums, like Agollach‘s Marrow of the Spirit, I stray from anything blackened. Enslaved is no different.  “Ethica Odini” is a masterpiece, but I’ve failed to enjoy anything else by them, which is a bummer, because they are extremely talented.

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