Utgard
Studio album by
Enslaved
Released2 October 2020 (2020-10-02)
Recorded2019
GenreProgressive black metal
Length44:46
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerIver Sandøy, Ivar Bjørnson, Grutle Kjellson
Enslaved chronology
E
(2017)		 Utgard
(2020)		 Caravans to the Outer Worlds
(2021)

Utgard is the fifteenth studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved, released 2 October 2020 by Nuclear Blast.[1]

Background

Utgard is the first Enslaved album with new drummer Iver Sandøy, who had previously co-produced several of the band's albums and joined full-time following the departure of longtime drummer Cato Bekkevold in 2018.[2] The album was originally scheduled for release in early 2020, but was delayed until October of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

The album is titled after a location in Norse mythology[5] and includes some Norse lyrics and song titles.[6] A video, filmed in Iceland, was released for the song "Jettegryta".[6] Utgard continues to display some of the band's early black metal roots while continuing their experimentation with 1970s progressive rock.[6]

Critical reception

The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release. Kerrang! noted that "Enslaved take the listener through a frightening landscape in Norse mythology where the gods have no control and chaos reigns" and called the band "masters" and "elder statesmen" of progressive black metal.[7] Blabbermouth noted that the album "feels like the true culmination of Enslaved's ascendancy to the throne of modern prog-metal wizardry."[5] The Prog division of Loudersound concluded that Utgard is the ultimate result of musical experiments that the band had been conducting over their past several albums.[8] In the words of Antihero, "Enslaved deliver their elite brand of Prog/Extreme Metal that they have so meticulously hammered out over the past three decades."[9] Metal Hammer named it as the 9th best metal album of 2020.[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ivar Bjørnson (under the name I. Peersen); except tracks 1, 4, 6, 7 with lyrics by Grutle Kjellson (under the name K. Grutle)

No.TitleLength
1."Fires in the Dark"6:00
2."Jettegryta"4:56
3."Sequence"6:39
4."Homebound"5:30
5."Útgarðr"1:51
6."Urjotun"4:21
7."Flight of Thought and Memory"6:22
8."Storms of Utgard"4:38
9."Distant Seasons"4:31
Total length:44:46

Personnel

  • Ivar Bjørnson – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, sequencer, FX, backing vocals (track 1)
  • Grutle Kjellson – vocals, bass, synthesizer
  • Iver Sandøy – vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, FX
  • Håkon Vinje – keyboards, piano, vocals
  • Arve Isdal – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, backing vocals (track 1)

Additional personnel:

  • Martin "Bellhammer" Horntveth – percussion, synthesizers, glockenspiel, tubular bells, rototoms, programming (track 3)
  • Inger Sunneva Peersen, Sonja Elisabeth Peersen – backing vocals (track 9)

Charts

Chart performance for Utgard
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 59
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 162
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 59
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 30
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] 48

References

  1. ↑ "ENSLAVED | Utgard - Nuclear Blast USA Store". shop.nuclearblast.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  2. ↑ Munro, Scott (June 2018). "Drummer Cato Bekkevold parts ways with Enslaved". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  3. ↑ Blabbermouth (2020-03-24). "ENSLAVED To Release 'Utgard' Album In The Fall; Cover Artwork Unveiled". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  4. ↑ "Enslaved Announce New Album Utgard, Unveil Artwork". news.yahoo.com. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  5. 1 2 Blabbermouth (2020-09-28). "Utgard - ENSLAVED". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  6. 1 2 3 DiVita, Joe (2020-07-10). "Enslaved's New Song 'Jettegyrta' Is Proof They Can Do No Wrong". Loudwire. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  7. ↑ "Album Review: Enslaved – Utgard". Kerrang!. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  8. ↑ Ewing, Jerry (October 2020). "Enslaved - Utgard review". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  9. ↑ "Album Review: ENSLAVED - Utgard". Antihero Magazine. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  10. ↑ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 8, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Enslaved: Utgard" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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