Review by Daniel for Enslaved - Vikingligr veldi (1994)

Revisited this oldie for the first time in ages this week. I picked the CD up upon release back in the day after being impressed by Enslaved on the Emperor split & the album didn't disappoint me either. The majority of the tracklisting takes an expansive Norwegian black metal approach but there's also a Viking Metal component that differentiated it from some of the competition along with the regular use of keyboards without ever threatening to push out into "symphonic black metal" territory. I have to say that time hasn't been that kind to those synthesizers as they sound very dated & more than a little cheesy these days. Grutle Kjellson's vocals were pretty gurgly at this point too & could have been a little better. There's some wonderfully classic black metal on here though & I was heading towards awarding it a premier rating until the decidedly Moonsorrow-ish closing instrumental piece "Norvegr" popped up at the last minute to bring me back to earth. It's not a bad track but it's folky Viking Metal stylings aren't anywhere near as much to my taste as a blasting black metal monster like "Vetrarnótt" (my album highlight) or "Midgards eldar" with it's obvious early-90's Bathory influence. After revisiting Enslaved's super-popular 2003 album "Below the Lights" recently I'd have to say that I prefer "Vikingligr veldi" these days & I wonder how much of that is nostalgia. I'm not too sure but I can't say that I think of "Vikingligr veldi" as sitting amongst the elite Norwegian black metal releases. It's a second tier record for mine but a strong one at that.

For fans of early Emperor/Windir & Viking-era Bathory.