Utgard (album)

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

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)

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]

The album is titled after a location in Norse mythology[4] and includes some Norse lyrics and song titles.[5] A video, filmed in Iceland, was released for the song "Jettegryta".[5] Utgard continues to display some of the band's early black metal roots while continuing their experimentation with 1970s progressive rock.[5]

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.[6] Blabbermouth noted that the album "feels like the true culmination of Enslaved's ascendancy to the throne of modern prog-metal wizardry."[4] 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.[7] 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."[8]

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."Útgarđr"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
  • Ice Dale – 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)[9] 59
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 162
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] 59
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 30
Scottish Albums (OCC)[14] 48

References
  1. "ENSLAVED | Utgard - Nuclear Blast USA Store". shop.nuclearblast.com. 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. Blabbermouth (2020-09-28). "Utgard - ENSLAVED". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  5. DiVita, Joe (2020-07-10). "Enslaved's New Song 'Jettegyrta' Is Proof They Can Do No Wrong". Loudwire. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  6. "Album Review: Enslaved – Utgard". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  7. Ewing, Jerry (October 2020). "Enslaved - Utgard review". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  8. "Album Review: ENSLAVED - Utgard". Antihero Magazine. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  9. "Austriancharts.at – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  10. "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  12. "Enslaved: Utgard" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
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