Progressive trailblazers Enslaved release their acclaimed seventeenth studio album, Mið (Nuclear Blast Records).
In celebration, the band have released the visualiser for focus track 'I Am Ice', featuring Sami musician Johan Sara Jr.
Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson states: “Mið is out, and I am immensely proud to share it with you. An album exploring the idea of ‘centre’ raises a question: what are we moving towards? For me, that is the quest: following an idea far enough that it begins to challenge your reasons for following it. Mythology, sound and what it means to be human keep giving us things to explore. It feels good to be here, with this record.”
Of the collaboration with Johan Sara Jr., he adds: “‘I Am Ice’ is a world of its own, with the seeds of the whole album hidden within it. Johan Sara’s joik opens a space where different ages and distant places seem to exist at once. Guitars, voices and percussive textures move through that space, with all the tension and friction their meeting brings. Some of what happens here finds its counterpart later on Mið. I like the thought of returning to the song after hearing the whole record and discovering that something familiar has taken on another meaning.”
Vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson adds: "I remember struggling a bit to come up with a logical vocal arrangement, so I decided to do something I rarely do: write the lyrics in their entirety without adapting them to the music. Ivar had a few lines lying around, and so had I. At the time, I was also trying to study the metrics, verse structure and origins of the Old Norse skaldic poetry. For some strange reason, I decided to try to create something resembling these ancient verses in the lyrics, and, fascinatingly enough, the lines seemed to take shape quite naturally as I went along! I shan’t claim this is written 100% like a skaldic poem, but still heavy inspired by such.
"The song is about a journey through personal darkness and the process of rising again. Once the lyrics were finished, the arrangement suddenly made sense as well – or at least, it made sense by Enslaved standards."
PURCHASE / STREAM MIð:
https://enslaved.bfan.link/mid
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR 'I AM ICE (FT. JOHAN SARA JR.)' BELOW:
Throughout their 35-year journey, across 17 albums, the Norwegian vanguard have continually redefined the boundaries of progressive black metal, weaving Old Norse histories and sacred traditions into complex modern soundscapes. With their latest offering, Enslaved turn their gaze toward the fundamental concept of the axis: the middle, the origin, and the infinite reach of the present moment.
To celebrate the arrival of Mið, Enslaved will hit the road across the UK and Europe in February 2027 as a co-headline with Iceland's Sólstafir, with support coming from Norway's Gaahls Wyrd.
Tickets are available here: https://enslaved.no/
ENSLAVED & SÓLSTAFIR
CO-HEADLINE TOUR 2027
w/ Gaahls Wyrd
04/02/27 - DE Berlin, Festsaal
05/02/27 - DE Leipzig, Felsenkeller
06/02/27 - DE Hamburg, Fabrik
07/02/27 - DK Copenhagen, Amager Bio
08/02/27 - DE Frankfurt, Batschkapp
09/02/27 - FR Strasbourg, La Laiterie
11/02/27 - FR Rennes, Antipode
12/02/27 - FR Clermont-Ferrand, La Cooperative de Mai
13/02/27 - FR Toulouse, Le Metronum
14/02/27 - ES Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
16/02/27 - FR Paris, Elysee Montmartre
17/02/27 - UK London, Electric Ballroom
18/02/27 - BE Liege, OM
19/02/27 - NL Nijmegen, Doornroosje
20/02/27 - NL Utrecht, Tivoli Pandora
21/02/27 - DE Cologne, Live Music Hall
23/02/27 - CH Solothurn, Kofmehl
24/02/27 - IT Milan, Magnolia
25/02/27 - AT Vienna, SIMM City
26/02/27 - PL Warsaw, Progresja
27/02/27 - CZ Brno, Fleda
Enslaved live in 2027 (USA)
27-30 May 27 US - Baltimore @ Maryland Deathfest 2027
Enslaved live in 2026
30 Oct 26 NO - Oslo @ Big Dipper - Signing Session / Meet & Greet
31 Oct 26 NO - Oslo @ Oslo Spektrum w/ Dimmu Borgir & Satyricon
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.
It’s a rare and remarkable feat that 35 years and now 17 albums in, Enslaved’s horizons still continue to expand. Every stage of the Bergen band’s evolution, every new phase entered, has felt like an organic act of discovery and renewal. Their journey has been at once a commitment to a promise that found its embryonic form in the Norwegian black metal scene they emerged from, and a willingness to challenge both orthodoxy and themselves from the off to make that potential manifest.
Enslaved’s new album, Mið, an Old Norse word for ‘centre’, or ‘middle’, marks another departure, and another new beginning. The band have always dealt in states of transition, nor least on the thematically linked, mythology-steeped rites of passage that were 2020’s Utgard and 2023’s Heimdal. What lay beyond, however, was… unexpected.
Mið is an album that sheds light on harmonies and dialogues embedded all around us: between the ways of the past, and how they can bring enlightenment to the present, between small kernels of truth and their ability to project onto the most universal on canvases, and between band members relying on instinct and each other to create a record that galvanises on every possible level.
Enslaved are:
Ivar Bjørnson | guitars
Grutle Kjellson | vocals, bass
Arve 'Ice Dale' Isdal | guitar
Håkon Vinje | keyboards
Iver Sandøy | drums
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