Progressive trailblazers Enslaved have officially announced their forthcoming studio album, Mið, set for release on October 30 via Nuclear Blast Records. Throughout their 35-year journey, across 17 albums, the Norwegian vanguard have continually redefined the boundaries of progressive black metal, weaving Old Norse histories and sacred traditions into complex modern soundscapes. With their latest offering, Enslaved turn their gaze toward the fundamental concept of the axis: the middle, the origin, and the infinite reach of the present moment.
Alongside this news, the band has unveiled the transcendent new single “Solar Will”, both a paean to a divine spark and a testament to the album title’s fundamental concept: a centre whose reach is infinite. Its accompanying video was created by Kolibri Media, long-term partners of Enslaved based in Bergen.
Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson stated: “There have been sun cults as long as Magic Man has been around (at least). The Sun is a nurturing and terrifying parent that can grant as well as obliterate life totally. Such a classic and awe-inspiring object of our worship and myths requires classic and awesome riffs, Bonham-esque drum grooves, and blistering melodic flares celebrating its horrific glory. This is what that sounds like to me: “Solar Will”!”
Vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson adds: “”Solar Will” explores archetypal conflicts, those that manifest in nature, the cosmos, mythology, and, above all, within the human mind. In this instance, the central struggle is expressed through one of the enduring rivalries found in Norse mythology, embodied by two important, though often somewhat overlooked, figures within the pantheon. Readers familiar with the Norse mythological tradition will likely recognize the identities rather instantly, yet I shall refrain from naming them, allowing each reader the opportunity to engage with and decipher the lyrics on their own. After all, perhaps this is one of the essential functions of lyric writing: to invite interpretation and cultivate a sense of wonder? The conclusion, or more precisely, the absence of one, suggests that, for human beings, chaos and dreams are at least as significant as the realities we perceive through our senses. Ultimately, the work advocates not for resolution, but for the acceptance, assimilation, and shaping of these often contradictory forces.”
Mið is available to pre-order here, in the following formats:
- CD Jewelcase
- CD Digipack (w/ bonus track & sticker)
- LP gatefold vinyl (black, transparent blue, arctic blue pearl, blue/white/dark green/black marbled)
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasill in the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-album Hordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-length Vikingligr Veldi arriving in the spring of 1994.
It’s a rare and remarkable feat that 35 years and now 17 albums in, Enslaved’s horizons continue to expand. Every stage of the Bergen band’s evolution, every new phase entered, has felt like an organic act of discovery and renewal. Their journey has been at once a commitment to a promise that found its embryonic form in the Norwegian black metal scene they emerged from, and a willingness to challenge both orthodoxy and themselves from the off to make that potential manifest.
Enslaved’s new album, Mið, an Old Norse word for ‘centre’, or ‘middle’, marks another departure, and another new beginning. The band has always dealt in states of transition, not least on the thematically linked, mythology-steeped rites of passage that were 2020’s Utgard and 2023’s Heimdal. What lay beyond, however, was… unexpected.
Mið is an album that sheds light on harmonies and dialogues embedded all around us: between the ways of the past and how they can bring enlightenment to the present, between small kernels of truth and their ability to project onto the most universal on canvases, and between band members relying on instinct and each other to create a record that galvanises on every possible level.
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