Enslaved - In Times - review
Enslaved - In Times - review
Tracklist
01. Thurisaz Dreaming02. Building With Fire
03. One Thousand Years Of Rain
04. Nauthir Bleeding
05. In Times
06. Daylight
A review by
Auntie Sahar March 03, 2015
In Times retains most of the sounds Enslaved have established for themselves over their past four albums or so. A mid-paced black metal core sees enhancement by a number of melodic and progressive underpinnings, as usual helping the music to span a wide range of moods and deliveries, from the aggressive approach of "Thurisaz Dreaming," to the dreamy mood and incredible guitar solo on "Daylight." As could be expected, for many listeners this is probably going to be the type of album where you don't entirely "get it" on the first listen, and where you discover something you didn't before with each subsequent playthrough. This technique of sophisticated layering is something Enslaved have been proving themselves as adept with for some time now, and In Times is certainly no exception.
However, despite its complexity, In Times also comes across as a lot more simplistic than some of Enslaved's previous material. Although it still holds onto a lot of interesting rhythms and compositional approaches, there seems to have been a shift in how Enslaved take to their progressive personality. "Building With Fire" seems more like a bizarre form of extreme rock than anything else, and the viking chants on "One Thousand Years Of Rain" seem a lot more straightforward than what we've become accustomed to with the band. Although they certainly have many memorable songs, "catchy" has never really been a word I've associated with Enslaved, and the slight increase in that element on In Times is enough to noticeably change the dynamic of the music. There's definitely been a change in atmosphere here: the band's proggy undertone is a little less dark and mysterious, and more direct and stripped down.
In the future, when Enslaved have called it quits and left their fans to muse upon their discography, I still think that Isa and Axioma Ethica Odini are going to be regarded as the crown jewels of their progressive era. But don't let that fool you: In Times is still, on the whole, a very engaging, well rounded release; it merely shifts things around a bit. And if anything, that's only testament to the fact that we're dealing with musicians bent on making each album a unique creation unto itself, and giving us something different with each encounter.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | March 03, 2015
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Posts: 73
Brilliant stuff. Saw them play last night in San Francisco. They played 3 from In Times, in about a 80-90 minute set. The sound production was epic, world class, must see! http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/enslaved/2015/slims-san-francisco-ca-bcbf1ce.html. Great show despite almost falling asleep during opening bands. Enslaved made up for that........a perfect blend of madness and melancholy. Thanks Enslaved! Cheers! ps. and Building With Fire is certainly not "extreme rock", but pure metal.
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Posts: 1465 Written by rps on 08.03.2015 at 23:30 Awesome! So envious. Saw them in Sydney in November 2013 and it was the best live show in a very long time. I hope they bring this set list down to Australia before the year is out.
---- The sun shines over The Fool...
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Posts: 7950
Through with my first spin today and I say it is very fluent record. Much better than RIITIIR in all departments and is very engaging, strong and more accessible. Loved the guitar work(sadly missed in last output), atmosphere they created in start and ending of songs in In Times is magnificent. Not outdo AEO but still need more spins to active myself into roots of In Times. Lot has been said by Apoth in his review. But, still intricacies of roots of Enslaved's new work hasn't covered on your review. Nevertheless, it pretty much won't affect on overall work. Great album.
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Posts: 73 Quote: You should have a good chance of that if they've been there before. I hope they can get into bigger venue next time here. The concert production is so clean and loud that you can't tell the old songs from the new. Will remember that show for a long time. http://youtu.be/VYOcJiJ0x2s http://youtu.be/qJgPHcmgFwM ps. Hows Be'lakor doing? Great stuff they have.
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Posts: 3104 Written by Auntie Sahar on 03.03.2015 at 06:18 Just curious, but how much time does it take you to write a review? I mean, you write a lot of reviews, so I assume you have loads of time on your hand or you're just very fast. Or both.
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Posts: 3104 Written by Bad English on 03.03.2015 at 13:44 Why wouldn't Che like Enslaved? It's BM, isn't it? 
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Posts: 64551 Written by Erik M. on 10.03.2015 at 14:28 because I thought he is sludge , stoner and such type of ´fan
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 5989 Written by Erik M. on 10.03.2015 at 14:27 It really depends on the band and the album. I've seen some people on here say "you couldn't possibly write a review after just one listen," but that's a statement I disagree with personally. Some albums really are just that simple and accessible enough for you to get the idea after just that first spin. Things like this, however, require a little more depth to the analysis. I wrote this review after my third listen, and though my rating of it has changed slightly since then (it's worth a solid 8), I think that's enough. But yeah, some albums definitely require more attention to notice all their subtle intricacies than others. My schedule between work and school has me pretty slammed Monday-Thursday. I'm on spring break right now, so I can get a lot more done, but what I've been doing lately is just setting aside Friday-Sunday as my "listening time." I find that when you have a specific period designated for getting work done, it's a lot more likely that you'll actually do it.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 5989 Written by Bad English on 10.03.2015 at 14:45 BM and anything doom related (so that includes sludge, stoner, and drone) are my favorite categories of metal. Plus anything significantly wacky and off the wall 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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Posts: 40071 Written by Bad English on 10.03.2015 at 14:45 once again you prove you shouldn't think. 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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Posts: 6213
At first glance the review is spot on. But I find this album to be, as most Enslaved's albums, a steady grower. My initial rating of about 8 is very likely to get bounced up to 9.
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| Vetrarnott
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Posts: 64551
I got into this one even whit 1th time and problem is you need re play it times and hours to get enough, excellent album ... and old BM ... well where would be band if they play BM now, old pure Norrsk bm? I don't think so high as now, its interesting
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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