Enslaved (band)

Enslaved
Enslaved at Norway Rock Festival 2010
Background information
Origin	Haugesund, Norway
Genres	Black metal, progressive metal,Viking metal
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Deathlike Silence, Voices of Wonder, SPV, Osmose, Tabu, Relapse, The End, Candlelight, Nuclear Blast
Members	Ivar Bjørnson Grutle Kjellson Arve Isdal Cato Bekkevold
Past members	Trym Torson Roy Kronheim Per Husebø Harald Helgeson Herbrand Larsen

Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in Haugesund in June 1991. Though the band's lineup has changed many times over the years, Bjørnson and Kjellson have been the sole constant members, and the lineup has remained the same since 2004. They are currently based in Bergen, Norway. To date they have released thirteen full-length studio albums, the most recent of which, In Times, was released in 2015 on Nuclear Blast Records. The band's music draws heavily on the Viking cultural and religious heritage of their home country of Norway for inspiration, and most of the band's lyrics relate to Norse mythology. Though they began as a traditional black metal band their sound has undergone significant changes over time resulting in a more progressive sound. In 2014, Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik (of Wardruna) were commissioned by the Norwegian government to create a musical piece in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution. This was later released as a studio album in 2016, which also featured Kjellson on vocals.

Enslaved was formed in July 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson (also known as Kjetil Grutle) when they were 13 and 17 years old, respectively. The band name was inspired by an Immortal demo track, "Enslaved in Rot." After many line-up changes throughout their career, Bjørnson and Kjellson are the only remaining original members. By 2004 the line-up solidified with guitarist Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal, drummer Cato Bekkevold, and keyboardist/vocalist Herbrand Larsen. Their albums in the 1990s were Frost in 1994, Eld in 1997, and Blodhemn in 1999.

Prior to forming Enslaved, Bjørnson and Kjellson had been playing in a death metal band called Phobia, but like many in the burgeoning extreme metal movement, they were looking for new sources of inspiration and expression. Though Enslaved began as a prototypical Norwegian black metal band in 1991, by 1993 they were incorporating song structures unusual for the genre; several of their earlier songs reach the ten-minute mark (their debut album, Vikingligr Veldi, has only one song that is under ten minutes). As such, the band has rejected the black metal label and prefers the term "extreme metal."Mardraum (2000) contained several multi-part epics such as "Større enn tid - Tyngre enn natt" and "Entrance - Escape." Several of the band's tracks (most prominently, "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" from Below the Lights) have used mellotron.Mardraum, Monumension (2001), and Below the Lights (2003) can be regarded as having somewhat similar styles. Isa (2004) and Ruun (2006) show a marked departure from previous sounds, most notably with the inclusion of sharp dynamic shifts, and Bjørnson considers the former a turning point for the band. Following Ruun, in 2007-2008, Bjørnson, Kjellson, and Isdal collaborated with the Norwegian noise duo Fe-Mail under the name Trinacria.