Customer Reviews

Mardraum

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first mp3 I ever downloaded of Enslaved was "Storre enn Tid - Tyngre enn Natt" and not til I went to Portugal and browsed the cds there did I realize it was on Mardraum. I promptly bought the cd. (along with eight others I couldn't find in america either) This album is amazing!

Lots of death metal is too chaotic and has no harmonic resolution or melody whatsoever. Enslaved pulls off harmonic resolution and catchy riffs in spades. They prove that sheer, unmerciful agression is possible and still have catchy, well constructed riffs. The vocalist sings passionately. Storre enn Tid - Tyngre enn Natt (Larger than Time Heavier than Night) gives me goosebumps when he sings in there. The clean vocals here and there add a very nice touch. And I don't even know Norwegian. The lyrics are also printed in english and they are quite powerful too. (its interesting to know the meaning of the song and then listen to it again...) Really powerful stuff...a must own for any true metal head.

Bottom line: masterpiece.

-Zom

This has been my first chance to hear Enslaved, though I am familiar with many of their contemporaries. It seems that idealogically speaking, Enslaved has followed a similar path to that of Bathory/Quorthon, starting our Satanic and evil before getting into the heathenism of their Norse forefathers.

In any event, it's nice to hear a band reared in the Black Metal movement that's not afraid to invoke some more traditional Heavy Metal elements, such as the Sabbath-like grind that pops up in track 3, "Entrance-Escape." The most surprising moment is when track 7, "Det endelege riket," busts into an almost countryish interlude (I swear), and it doesn't sound the least bit awkward.

Check this out if you like Black Metal, but are open to other types of music as well.

Enslaved's musical output never has failed to excite me. their first album Frost, was a great slab of blasting cold metal with a cool raw feel to it. Eld followed it up with an epic force that set the stage for the onslaught of the third record: the violent Blodhemn. now, with Mardraum -Beyond The Within-, the next stage has begun.

the term "Viking Metal" has been long tagged with Enslaved; and for good reason. they seemed to wear that label proudly; listing it boldy on the inside cover of their first album, and going so far as to don the actual Viking garb in their photos and stage show. imagine how that must have been playing music this fast and technically demanding while wearing a steel mesh body suit and an iron helmet! and what's so amazing about it, is that it's not just art for art's sake, but for the real historical value and cultural signifigance. that's one of the things that makes this band so alluring and fascinating to me...besides the fact that there music is undoubtably some of the finest and most challenging metal being made by any band these days.

Mardraum signals the beginning of some changes in the Enslaved sound. some kind of strange mystical force is brewing in these songs. where as before, the emphasis was on historical battles in the physical world, this record seems to turn it's focus a bit more on the magickal struggle. it's still every bit as fast and violent as their previous blood-soaked set of anthems, but this time around, Enslaved has prepared some new twists to their musical formula.

the opening song "Larger Than Time - Heavier Than Night" (what a great song title!) begins with the spacey psychadelic sounds of guitar heavily echoed with reverb and delay and then the drums enter in, launching a hyper speed blast of brutal riffs and kinetic energy. the pace slows down to a crawl as the vocals eerily drift in over the lumbering pace. it's a bit like a black metal version of Pink Floyd. it's overall effect is both chilling and exhilerating.

the album continues down these lines, but more brutal and overall, the speed factor is kept at a breakneck pace. barely taking a breath, the band seems to be full of life and the solid riffs just keep coming. their seems to be a more loose mood to these recording sessions than in the past. some of the rhythms have more of a groove and i can hear alot more 70's rock influence buried under all the distortion and growling. there seems to be a bit more guitar solos on this album, too. which is a good thing! it gives this album a more rocking approach. but amongst all the thrashing and headbanging, there's plenty of space devoted to weird spacey passages, such as the beginning to the third song "Entrance - Escape," which evokes a feverish nightmare of paranoid visions and an indeniable presence.

Mardraum -Beyond The Within- is a proud moment for Enslaved and probably stands as their most refined and solid album they have ever made. things will get stranger and more abstract on their recordings after this record; and the steps to their progression can be seen on this album. Mardraum is another Enslaved masterpiece!

Hmmm at first this cd could be a strange one 'cause it has some experimental elements but with time you'll realize that it doesn'e affect the music anyway, it's still Enslaved with great clean vocals and lots of HEAVY guitar riffs. some werdness at times mas overall it's just genious brutallity, Enslaved has done the work pretty much well this time, it's not all that viking as ELD and FROST but it's stil has the feeling of it, great lirycs and everything.If you enjoy extreme viking metal you should try the band VIKING CROWN , another great and VERY brutal ''viking'' act.

Enslaved has never been on the forefront of the black metal explosion of the late 80's/early 90's since the day they began. Maybe it's due to being second on the split EP with Emperor, but then again that didn't hurt Mayhem on their bootleg split with Morbid. Maybe it's because they've stayed away from the whole Satanic schtick (and yes, I do believe it was and still is more of a schtick than anything), but again, Mayhem never truly sang about Satan either (think about it, Deathcrush was basically gore metal, De Mysteriis was about mythology and history, Grand Declaration was about the mind....weird, huh?) Anyway, whatever it may be, Enslaved has never quite recieved the acclaim that their war brothers in black have, and that doesn't sit right with me at all. Take Mardraum, their newest and best produced release to date. All previous efforts have possessed the standard elements of "Viking metal": blazing drums, the occasional accoustic passage, vocals that alternate between tortured shrieks and gothic chanting, and an overall feel that makes one nostalgic for the olden times in Scandanavia. All those elements are presented in Mardraum, but with a different style, a panache if you will, akin to early Darkthroneish death metal. This is one HEAVY album, something that is hard to find in black metal, which normally consists of speed over heaviness. The typical late 90's experimentations are present, but they are pulled off very well, without jeopardizing the blackness of the music. All in all, this is a great buy that I highly recommend. (P.S.- Squeedelyspooch.)

After finishing the "Viking Trilogy" of Frost, Eld, and Blodhemn, I can almost imagine the guys from Enslaved just sitting around one day pondering what to do next. Fresh from creating three albums of scorching yet beautiful black metal, inspired by Viking legend and Norse mythology - albums that would later (i.e. NOW) become seminal in their field.

So what next? Rehash the past and grow stale, or move forward?

The answer: Mardraum. In this fiery, speedy, thrashy opus, Enslaved launches into what we now see as the second phase of their career - the fusion of progressive elements into black metal, which (until now) has typically been the genre most adamantly resistant to anything hinting of progression.

Of course the first reaction of most fans (especially the "kvlt" black metal crowd) is "OMG SELLOUTS!!" -- However, you may rest assured, this is absolutely not the case.

From the creepy, ominous opening of "Større Enn Tid - Tyngre Enn Natt" to the dreamy closure of "Frøyas Smykke", the band weaves in and out of many diverse, yet enthralling styles. A grindy sort of black metal, thrash grooves, oddities that hearken to mid-career Voivod, moments of Floyd-esque space rock, even a country-western sounding bit (no, I'm serious!!) in "Det Endelege Riket" all intertwine to absolutely amazing effect.

Also, for the first time, Enslaved has taken the time to translate and print all the lyrics in English for the fans across the pond. Granted, some of them don't exactly translate all that well, but a great gesture nonetheless. (This would be the only time such a thing was necessary, however, as this would turn out to be their last album with lyrics in their native Norwegian.)

Often this album is seen by die-hard fans to be the "bastard child" between the "Viking" and "Prog" eras of Enslaved's stellar career, and even summarily dismissed as a result... but honestly such dismissal makes me wonder if they even listened to it.

The band's work continues to excel, but being a fan of both eras of Enslaved's career, this "bridge" album seems to stand taller and stronger than any other. Indeed, this is my favorite album of all time.

It is truly amazing how silent that the career of these metal giants has been, and continues to be.

Not content to follow the rules, Enslaved have made another original black metal album with influences from other metal and rock genres. Its progressive yet dark, brutal and moving. Harmonically varied dark chords, clean and growly vocals with melodies influenced by Norse folk music combine to make a spiked wall of dense intensity. I love how these guys meld different textures together yet still retain black metal sensibilities and majestic power, not to mention speed. This is a great release.

On "Mardraum", Enslaved construct monumental, dense towers of blistering riffs and drench them in distortion. These asymmetric edifices crop up between atmospheric, almost folky interludes that maintain the Viking theme that runs through this band's earlier albums. Dissonant chords and fuzzy noise clusters contribute to a peculiar atmosphere that set's this album apart from "Frost" and the like. The hyperspeed guitar work continues to display the black metal-derived shifting wall of melody 'n noise, but tempered with angular thrashy-proggy designs that weave an atypical stitching through the dense fabric of sound. This album is a bit more polished than earlier works, which is both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, the unique dissonant riffs and rhythms are audibly distinct from the sound as a whole; on the other hand, a more obscure production job might have been better for the overall atmosphere and made it easier to focus on the cumulative power of the band. Enslaved have never really been a black metal band, so complaining about this album not sounding "black enough". is more or less pointless. Still, these viking metal pioneers have always been remarkable in their ability to use Norwegian black metal structural principles with a more "epic" range of tones, and while this is still true to a certain extent, there's an unfingerable slickness that keeps this album from earning that extra star from this fan of the raw and raucous.

Mardraum, is the best Black Metal album that I has listened in long time. The songs lyrics written in Norwegian give a poetic touch them to each line and altogether with the optimum extreme sound, an atmosphere is created so brutal resemblance to the life of the old poet warriors.

THIS ALBUM BLEW ME AWAY. VERY EPIC, MOODY AND VIOLENT. I LIKE THE WAY THEY PRINTED THE LYRICS IN BOTH NORWEIGAN AND ENGLISH. I GIVE A BIG ALL TO ODIN AND THE KINGS OF VIKING METAL ENSLAVED.