Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini (2010)^{Release ID: 1414}

I must admit it had been quite a while since I last listened to Axioma Ethica Odini, with Isa and RIITIIR being my go-to albums if I fancy a bit of late-era Enslaved so it was long overdue a revisit. After a strong run of albums from 2003's Below the Lights to 2006's Ruun, Enslaved released Vertebrae in 2008 and, for me, it was one of their weakest albums in quite a while, lacking any kind of punch at all. So this disappointment left me a little apprehensive for the release of Axioma Ethica Odini and the direction in which Enslaved appeared to be heading. Happily these fears are expelled within moments of opener Ethica Odini kicking in and it becomes apparent that this a completely different beast to Vertebrae. Ethica Odini contains more bite than the entirety of Vertebrae and is an excellent opening track. The black metal sections pummel the listener and sound more savage than Enslaved had for a while, as if the band had rediscovered their passion anew, and the clean-sung sections retain this viciousness whilst simultaneously coming off as quite melodic. Ultimately the song concludes in a gentle coda that then sets up the next track, Raidho very nicely.

The mood and methodology of the opener is continued throughout the album, with Grutle Kjellson's black metal vocals sounding more evil than they had for a while and being beautifully countered by the cleans, the black metal / prog metal dichotomy being at the very core of the album's success as the band switch seamlessly between the two contrasting styles. As had always been the case with Enslaved, the performances are quite exemplary - it was apparent very early on that Enslaved were technically a cut above most of their Norwegian contemporaries and they just continued to get better and better as time passed, becoming an ever tighter unit in the process. Special mention must go to Cato Bekkevold's performance on drums which is super-efficient but never less than spot-on.

There are some killer riffs here - Ethica Odini, The Beacon and Singular to name but three - are fantastic and the guitar sound is chunky and muscular - long gone is the weak sound from Vertebrae and the thin, tremolo-heavy sound of their early work. Keyboards are deployed exceedingly tastefully throughout the track listing. They are ever-present, but never swamp the sound or allow it to stray into symphonic metal territory. There is even a short, futuristic instrumental with a dystopian atmosphere (Axioma) in the middle of the album to provide a break from all the surrounding heaviness which is followed by one of the album's most interesting tracks, Giants. During this epic, Enslaved seem to draw on doom metal influences with a couple of the riffs and the track plumbs whole new depths of heaviness, sounding absolutely brutal when Grutle's black shrieks hit hard. The songwriting is never anything less than stellar and few progressive bands are as concise when it come to composition as Enslaved, they manage to explore and expand without wandering down musical dead ends or indulging in instrumental excess.

Axioma Ethica Odini is possibly Enslaved's heaviest later-era release and, along with subsequent release RIITIIR, mark a high watermark for their progressive metal styling, their more recent releases falling increasingly short of these two classics (despite still being pretty good records in their own rights, such is Enslaved's quality). In revisiting this I have got to admit to being even more impressed than I originally was and, even though I always liked it, I now consider this to be one of the bands premier releases and I will most definitely be returning to it more often.

This is a very impressive album indeed. I have been overwhelmed by how much I like it really & haven't listened to anything else for a few days now. It's also highlighted just how poor a year 2010 has been for the black metal genre in general as it is far superior to anything else I have heard so far. Not being overly familiar with Enslaved's recent albums, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't enjoy "Axioma Ethica Odini" as much as their early material due to the increased progressive influence however I needn't have worried because they have certainly not discarded their black metal roots. On first listen I wasn't overly impressed with the progressive sections but they certainly grow on you with each listen & ultimately make the all-out black metal sections sound even heavier due to the wonderful contrast.   

The sound is nothing short of perfect for this style of music. The guitar sound is a definite highlight & it's wonderful to see so many tributes to "Hammerheart"-era Bathory throughout the album. Also the black metal vocals are incredibly powerful & aggressive. In fact they might be my favourite of the whole genre. The clean vocals have been gaining more & more impact with each listen & are really digging their claws into me at the moment. Second track "Raidho" would have to my album highlight. It really gets me going.   

It's nice to hear an extreme metal band that doesn't feel the need to drown their riffs in blastbeats & instead lets them breath with simpler, more open drumming accompaniment for the benefit of the songs. Fans of Rush & Yes will hear some obvious tribute sections here & there too (which is not a bad thing as far as I am concerned) but these sections never let the album lose momentum or sound wanky. A fantastic release that has gone close to restoring my faith in the black metal genre.