Today is the Winter Solstice, a significant day in the Pagan calendar marking the symbolic death and rebirth of the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere it is the single day of the year with the longest period of night, with the days after becoming increasingly lighter.
In celebration of this special day, left-field metal luminaries Enslaved are proud to reveal their single and video for 'Sequence - Live'. The track, which originally comes from their 2020 record Utgard, sees a live recording detailing a new interpretation of the song, with nuanced accompaniment by fellow psychedelic Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. This extraordinary performance took place during the 2021 Winter Solstice, via the stunning streaming event 'The Otherworldly Big Band Experience'.
Watch the 'Sequence - Live' video below.
Listen to the 'Sequence - Live' single here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/sequence.ema
'The Otherworldly Big Band Experience' was an Enslaved show like none other, their biggest, boldest project to date - a colossal, kaleidoscopic stage show featuring a stellar setlist covering their career, both past and present. Including some tracks never previously performed live.
Enslaved recently played their final live show of the year at Damnation Festival, following on from a hectic festival season with performances at the likes of Midgardsblot,ArcTanGent, Brutal Assault, Beyond The Gates and Desertfest Antwerp, on-top of a co-headline tour across the USA and Canada earlier this year with Insomnium.
Enslaved's latest avant-garde creation, Heimdal, was released earlier this year. Their breathtaking 16th studio album is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. It's a record that points towards new beginnings, and a dawn that’s on the other side of the apex of the land. A psychedelic journey through arcane Norse folklore, connecting with one's ancient ancestors and our future selves.
You can order/stream Heimdal here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/heimdal.ema
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene's indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasill in the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-album Hordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-length Vikingligr Veldi arriving in the spring of 1994.
Enslaved in 2023 are a band in stellar form - a band at its most existentialist and self-conscious, proud Bergeners bearing the torch of their hometown’s extraordinary musical history. Their most recent material shows Enslaved at their most unleashed and thought-through - a lethal combination unfurling a potential that’s easily rekindling the furor of their early works while dancing gracefully through their most ambitious, most haunting and most musical tunes yet. A contradiction? Life itself is a contradiction. And yet we all live to prove it wrong.
Enslaved are:
Ivar Bjørnson | guitars
Grutle Kjellson | vocals
Arve 'Ice Dale' Isdal | guitar
Håkon Vinje | keyboards, clean vocals
Iver Sandøy | drums