Name: E
Brand: Enslaved

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

NBA40900

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2017-10-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

WEA /­ ADA

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

727361409005

{"blocks": [{"data": {"text": "727361409005"}, "type": "paragraph"}]}

Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Enslaved

Genre US

Metal

Label US

Nuclear Blast

One of the best parts of working at a store like Rough Trade is the constant exposure to a variety of music of different rhythms, textures, tones and melodies. Our staff and their eclectic tastes are constantly adding to this musical stew, and it wouldn't be Rough Trade without them. Below is a list of our staff's #1 picks - covering everything from Myrkur to Jlin to Haim to Gunn-Truscinski Duo. Click on their names to see their full Top 10 list:

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/adrian-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Adrian</a> - Mareridt - Myrkur

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/dennis-albums-of-the-year-2017">Dennis</a> - Year of the Rabbit - Allison Pierce

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/ed-zed-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Ed Zed</a> - Black Origami - Jlin

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/erin-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Erin</a> - Melodrama - Lorde

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/george-s-albums-of-the-year">George</a> - Horse Jumper of Love - Horse Jumper of Love

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/hafi-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Hafi</a> - Black Origami - Jlin

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/ian-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Ian</a> - Playboi Carti - Playboi Carti

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/james-albums-of-the-year-2017">James</a> - Async - Ryuichi Sakamoto

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/jen-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Jen</a> - Async - Ryuichi Sakamoto

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/jill-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Jill</a> - Big Bad Luv - John Moreland

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/kris-albums-of-the-year-2017">Kris</a> - From Québec, With Love - SLEAZY

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/lio-s-top-ten-of-2017">Lio</a> - Tenderness - Blue Hawaii

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/mel-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Mel</a> - Bay Head - Gunn-Truscinski Due

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/ryan-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Ryan</a> - DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/sarah-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Sarah</a> - Something to Tell You - Haim

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/savannah-s-top-10-of-2017">Savannah</a> - GT Ultra - Guerilla Toss

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/ski-s-top-ten">Ski</a> - Slowdive - Slowdive

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/solomon-s-albums-of-the-year">Solomon</a> - DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/stewart-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Stewart</a> - E - Enslaved

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/syd-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Syd</a> - Ctrl - SZA

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/tommy-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Tommy</a> - Sousoume Tamachek - Mdou Moctar

<a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/us/tyler-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Tyler</a> - The Source - Ali Farka Touré

<a href="https://roughtrade.com/gb/adrian-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Adrian</a> - <a href="https://roughtrade.com/gb/alex-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Alex</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/ben-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Ben</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/chris-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Chris</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/emeline-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Emeline</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/eliot-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Eliot</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/emily-s-albums-of-the-year-2017-809cc6cb-3622-4a01-8dec-a90bd6dc1fda">Emily</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/emily-i-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Emily I</a> - <a href="https://roughtrade.com/gb/ike-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Ike</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/jack-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Jack</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/james-h-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">James H</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/jof-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Jof</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/jono-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Jono</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lawrence-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Lawrence</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/leah-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Leah</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/lydia-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Lydia</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/marie-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Marie</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/nail-s-picks">Nail</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/nick-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Nick</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/nigel-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Nigel</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/oliver-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Oliver</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/paul-b-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Paul B</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/paul-w-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Paul W</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/rhys-b-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Rhys</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sam-a-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Sam A</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sam-j-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Sam J</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/seb-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Seb</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sid-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Sid</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/simon-s-albums-of-the-year">Simon</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/sophie-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Sophie</a> - <a href="https://roughtrade.com/gb/stan-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Stan</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/tom-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">Tom M</a> - <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/william-s-albums-of-the-year-2017">William</a>

Albums of the Year - Staff Picks

Cassettes

Enslaved is a progressive metal band hailing from Haugesund, Norway. Formed in June 1991 by Ivar Peersen (aka Ivar Bjørnson) and Kjetil Grutle (aka Grutle Kjellson), the band has made a name for themselves as pioneers of viking metal. While their current sound still carries elements of black metal, it is heavily influenced by the British progressive rock bands of the 1970s.

The current line-up consists of *Ivar Peersen* on guitar since 1991, *Kjetil Grutle* on vocals and bass since 1991, *Arve Isdal* on guitar since 2002, *Håkon Vinje* on keyboards and clean vocals since 2017, and *Iver Sandøy* on drums since 2018.

Enslaved's unique blend of genres has earned them a dedicated following over the years. Fans of similar artists such as Borknagar, Emperor, Windir, Kampfar, Satyricon, Keep Of Kalessin, Arcturus, Primordial, Immortal, Melechesh, Ihsahn,Taake ,1349,Dødheimsgard ,Summoning,Tsjuder,Sigh,Ulver ,Moonsorrow,and Naglfar are sure to appreciate Enslaved's captivating music.

We’re going to move away from the past. 2016 was the 25th anniversary of ENSLAVED and that was really important, for us and for the fans. But now, we move on…” 

Formed in Bergen, Norway, in 1991, ENSLAVED had evolutionary zeal in their eyes from the start. Even as they emerged from the nascent Norwegian black metal scene of the early ‘90s, guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson demonstrated a fervently idiosyncratic approach to making extreme music. By eschewing the wilful conservatism of their peers in favour of an outward-looking ethos, ENSLAVED’s reputation grew rapidly in the wake of extraordinary, epic albums like their primitive but insidious debut »Vikingligr Veldi« and its strident follow-up »Frost« (both 1994). By the late ‘90s, the band had morphed into a wildly progressive and adventurous beast, always retaining the core, aggressive tenets of their musical roots but increasingly in thrall to the limitless possibilities that music, in its entirety, truly presents. Widely acknowledged as a powerful and ferocious live band, ENSLAVED entered the 21st century by flexing new muscles on the acclaimed likes of 2003’s »Below The Lights« and its groundbreaking successor, »Isa« (2004). Now as much a part of the flourish progressive rock and metal realm as they were loyal servants of the extreme metal underground, Bergen’s finest hit a rich vein of form as the years passed, with albums as diverse and challenging as 2008’s »Vertebrae« and 2010’s »Axioma Ethica Odini« joyfully expanded the ENSLAVED musical universe, drawing in countless new acolytes along the way. 

In 2015, ENSLAVED released their 13th studio album, »In Times«. A tour-de-force of hypnotic prog intensity and scabrous, blackened pomp, it exuded an air of completion and finality that led perfectly into 2016’s extravagant celebrations, as ENSLAVED marked their 25th anniversary with some truly life-changing shows that explored all shadows and hidden corners in the band’s colossal catalogue. According to Ivar, »In Times« represented the end of an era and the opening of a gateway to somewhere entirely new. 

“»In Times« felt like a great step for us. We kept going with the progginess that we’d been trying to develop for many albums, but we also went back and picked up on those early roots too,” he explains. “In a sense, when »In Times« was done, it felt like a little bit of closure at that point. This task of combining all these things, old and new, experimental and conservative, that was done. As we started to work on the new album, we didn’t really feel that it had to be this or that or going anywhere in particular. That means freedom for the creative process.” 

Despite rarely pausing for breath – not just as a result of ENSLAVED’s hectic touring schedule, but also due to numerous extracurricular projects – Ivar and his comrades have somehow managed to piece together yet another full-length milestone in the shape of their 14th studio effort, the elegantly titled »E«. Written amid a burst of creativity, grabbed at the tail-end of the band’s 2016 US dates, the new album marks the majestic birth of a revitalised and newly inspired ENSLAVED. Against the logistical odds, a new dawn was coming.