''Heimdal'' is the sixteenth studio album by Norwegian

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band Enslaved, released 3 March 2023 by Nuclear Blast.

Background

The album is titled after a

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, whom the band calls "fascinating" and who has appeared in their lyrics several times throughout their career, starting as early as their second demo tape, ''Yggdrasill'', in 1992. The album contains six new songs, plus "Caravans to the Outer Worlds" which had previously appeared on an EP of the same title in 2021. The band structured that stopgap EP as a bridge between their previous full-length album '' Utgard'' (2020) and ''Heimdal'', and determined that the song "Caravans to the Outer Worlds" fit into the new album both lyrically and musically.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Heimdal'' received positive reviews from heavy metal-oriented publications. '' Kerrang!'' called the album "stunning" and described it as "a foundation of

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

at its most vast and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

at their most spacious." '' Blabbermouth'' praised the album and concluded that Enslaved can "still find a way to remain true to their origins while defining extreme metal progression." ''Distorted Sound'' noted the album's mix of black metal and progressive rock, and suggested that it may be the best of the band's career. ''Rock n' Load'', also suggested that ''Heimdal'' might be one of Enslaved's best albums, and that it is more engaging than their last several studio albums. ''

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

'' called the album "Awe-inspiring, spellbinding, and imaginative," and concluded that "''Heimdal'' reflects total authenticity combined with artistic brilliance." According to ''Ghost Cult'', ''Heimdal'' is "a grand vision that Enslaved have executed to perfection, on an album that is up there with their best." A reviewer for ''No Clean Singing'' found some of the songwriting to be predictable, but concluded that the album "finds Enslaved once more turning their gaze towards new horizons."

Track listing

Personnel

* Ivar Bjørnson – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, keyboards,

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

, FX *

Grutle Kjellson Kjetil Tvedte Grutle, better known as Grutle Kjellson (born 24 December 1973 in Sveio, Hordaland, Norway), is the bassist and vocalist of the Norwegian progressive black metal band Enslaved. Together with Ivar Bjørnson, they are the founding an ...

– vocals, bass guitar, synthesizer *Iver Sandøy – drums, percussion, keyboards, FX, vocals *Håkon Vinje – keyboards, piano, vocals *

Arve Isdal Arve Isdal (born 28 August 1977, Bergen, Norway), also known as Ice Dale, is a Norwegian musician and producer, best known as lead guitarist for the progressive black metal band Enslaved. Career Isdal was initially influenced by hard rock ba ...

– electric guitars

Charts

References

{{Enslaved 2023 albums Enslaved (band) albums Nuclear Blast albums