Enslaved - Below the Lights (2003)^{Release ID: 1410}

Now we are talking!  Far and away my favourite Enslaved release, Below the Lights is a work of great confidence.  The songwriting and and structure building that went into this record is nothing short of remarkable.  Add to this the blending of black metal with progressive elements to create an album that swims elegantly through its own torrid tide and you know you are dealing with a band at the top of their game.  For me they have slowly declined since this record, although I grant you that Isa as a follow up album is also superb, just not quite on the same level.

On their 2003 offering, Enslaved create clever black metal.  Unafraid to stick to tried and tested formulas as well as explore further the progressive side of their repertoire, for every grim black metal section there's usually a soaring lead, melodic passage, hazy atmospheric or staccato riffing awaiting around the corner to add some real maturity to proceedings.  With so much on offer it would be easy to think you may get lost on this record but as already mentioned there was some serious thought put into the arrangement and structure of Below the Lights and as such nothing ever really feels out of place.  There's a need for every brick in the wall on all the structures Enslaved create here, they all add something to the overall album.

Alongside catchy songs like Havenless there's still raging torrents like Ridicule Swarm.  Big numbers like album closer A Darker Place meanwhile, explore all manner of styles, pace and tempo, from rabid, blackened verses to ever building layers of progression and soaring arena rock leads.  It is just impossible to fail to be entertained by this album.  Never low on energy or ideas it weaves a complex yet accessible tapestry full of obvious influences that instead of coming across as opposing or challenging end up feeling like a perfect marriage.

The title to the album always fascinated me as it is superbly brought to life in the content of the music.  To quote Ivar Bjørnson from an interview in 2003 "the lights are where everything's acted out, but it's all made below... Like nice green grass and flowers - the stuff going on below... worms, dead leaves, dead bugs, dead animals, everything shift-shaping and growing into new stuff all the time".

Over Produced Blackened Avant-Garde Metal

Enslaved is an early starter in the scene forming in 1991 amidst the Black Metal revolution in Norway. Now I haven't heard any of their earlier stuff, only later. These guys definitely stand out to that sound. At least on this record, it does not sound like a Norwegian Black Metal band from then. This album did release in 2003, and my late 90's- early 00's black metal is a weak game and I know that many of the older acts who release during this time also had some weaker albums. This is not a bad album but I won't be coming back to this. This is too avant-garde, or progressive, for a black metal mood and it's too black metal for a progressive metal mood for me. 

For a black metal album, this is way too cleanly produced. I miss the time of old when the records were made in a cold dirty basement with sub-par equipment. At this point, they're so glossy and overproduced the instrumentation is so clean at times I wonder if it was done by a computer. Listening to this as I write, Queen Of Night, begins and it feels like Opeth or another folk/prog metal band. I'm into it, but then the black metal screams come in with completely different battling instrumentation going on in the background. I hear a lead guitar giving a solo while a rhythm guitar is giving a really cool progressive melody that eventually becomes repetitive and grading. And now an almost Depeche Mode like gloomy singing. Then back to fast beating guitars with the black metal vocals. This is a perfect song to talk about this album really, as it's all over the place and I am not a fan. 

It's like a mash up of 3 or 4 good songs being played at once, if I focus one aspect at a time I enjoy it quite a bit. They're vocals keep me involved, the guitar work is super fun, the drums are driving, but together they don't feel like they belong. I would give this album an even worse rating, but I feel there is still talent and worth listening to. I can imagine there are those that find this to be one of the best, but for me it's talent wasted on overproduction and bad songwriting.