### Enslaved: Vertebrae

#### 08/09/08 || Euthanatos

It takes a while to fully grasp the musical meaning of “Vertebrae”. If you know anything about Enslaved, then you’re aware that in their “Vikingligr Veldi” days, they practiced a kind of primitive, early black metal, and eventually evolved into a progressive extreme metal band, with a lot of different elements, a style which reached its peak in their song writing with albums like “Below the Lights”, “Isa” and “Ruun”, all breathtakingly amazing records.

Well, getting back on track, when I first listened to “Vertebrae”, I don’t think I quite got what the band was trying to tell me. To start, I immediately noticed how clean the overall atmosphere was, how little extreme vocals there were (in comparison with previous efforts) and how the guitars themselves were a lot “softer” than before. The progressive side of Enslaved seemed to be at an all time high, and I wasn’t quite sure if I was into that.

Naturally, when one reviews an album, one must listen to it a few times. Most albums, even the bad ones, take some time to digest, after all, this is metal we’re talking about, not poppy punk that’s as obvious as it gets. There are a lot of things to consider, how the song writing evolves, what each musician is doing with his instrument, production and all that. After about the third time listening, I was sold; “Vertebrae” is nothing short of brilliant and truly continues where “Ruun” left off. The thing is, Enslaved took such a huge leap in developing their music this time around, you get lost for a while trying to find exactly where they are.

The guitar work here is mind-blowing. The vocals have so many layers and passages, you can help being bewildered. But, yes, I do prefer the clean vocals. Grutle’s extreme vocals were never my favorite part of Enslaved. The production is crystalline and epic, done by the band, and mastering and mixing courtesy of non-other than George Marino and Joe Barresi, the atmosphere is engaging and the song writing has reached such depth that it makes you want to shit yourself with pleasure. Take the time to listen to “Vertebrae”. Enjoy its subtleties. Comprehend the infinite beauty Enslaved is putting before you. It’s worth every sweet, complicated, fascinating moment.

Unless something god damn tragic happens, this is the album of 2008.

The cover: It’s a uhm… I don’t know, but it looks cool. Yeah.

10 ruun, Forrest, ruun out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Indie Recordings
- Website: www.enslaved.no
- Band
- Ivar Bjørnson: guitar, keyboards
- Grutle Kjellson: bass, vocals
- Arve Isdal: guitar
- Cato Bekkevold: drums
- Herbrand Larsen: keyboards, vocals

- Tracklist
- 01. Clouds
- 02. To the Coast
- 03. Ground
- 04. Vertebrae
- 05. New Dawn
- 06. Reflection
- 07. Center
- 08. The Watcher