Photo: Thor Broedreskift
Enslaved: Grutle Kjellson (center)
N
orwegian Viking black metal stalwart, Enslaved, has a glorious,
genre-defining history.
Germinating in the early nineties at the
genesis of the second wave of black metal,
the quintet carved out its own niche by forgoing the predictable Satanic slant of bands
at the time such as Emperor, Burzum and
Mayhem, and immersed itself in Norse
mythology instead. Formed in 1991, a
young Grutle Kjellson (17 at the time) witnessed the so-called "Black Metal Inner
Circle" first-hand. Signed to Mayhem's
Øystein Aarseth, (aka Euronymous) record
label, Deathlike Silence Productions, and
frequent visitors to his record shop,
34 illinoisentertainer.com march 2015
Helvete, Enslaved's debut album was
delayed by six months due to Euronymous'
murder. The band's 13th studio album, In
Times (released March 6 through Nuclear
Blast Records), displays Enslaved's diverse
musical influences on its 6 expansive and
epic tracks.
IE: Enslaved was born during the second
wave of black metal, but you had a different dynamic and aesthetic from other
bands of that time period.
GK: We were probably the only band starting around 1990-91 that did not have a
Satanic black metal concept. Not that we
had anything against those bands, but the
There were a lot of creative bands back
then, although there weren't that many
bands as there is nowadays or in the late
nineties, but it was definitely a strong scene
back then. It was actually a very good scene
when it came to music.
IE: Scandinavia is known for its rich history in ancient Norse mythology. How were
you first introduced to it?
GK: The mythology has always been a lyrical and conceptual platform for Enslaved.
My mother used to be a teacher and she
wrote a piece about Norse mythology and
she made this little book about it. She gave
it to me when I was a kid and I was really
fascinated from day one. We feel our roots
are based on that tradition. It was never a
question of what the concept of Enslaved
was to be about, it has always been about
Norse mythology.
NORWEGIAN VIKINGS
By Kelley Simms
label "black metal" was not very suitable for
a band like Enslaved. We had a clear definition of what black metal was in Norway
back in the day and since we didn't have
any Satanic lyrics, we decided to call it
Viking metal.
IE: Your debut album, Vikingligr Veldi, was
going to be released on Deathlike Silence
just before Euronymous' murder. It finally
got released later than planned, but was
that whole situation a little nerve-wracking?
GK: Of course it was. It was released a half
year later than when it was supposed to be
released. It was the distribution label Voices
of Wonder who ended up releasing those
Deathlike Silence records that were ready;
Mayhem, Sigh, Enslaved. After that we didn't have any recording label at all. We had
signed for a couple of records with
Deathlike Silence and since they didn't exist
anymore, Voices of Wonder claimed that
they had the rights to more Enslaved
albums. We strongly disagreed and there
was a huge and boring argument.
Suddenly, we just broke the contract and
eventually
signed
with
Osmose
Productions.
IE: The media sensationalized the so-called
"Inner Circle" in the early nineties. You visited Helvete and obviously knew
Euronymous, but what are some of your
fondest memories of that time period?
GK: My best memories would definitely be
concerning Helvete. We went over there
with our rehearsal tapes and gave them to
Euronymous and we listened to them, and
we were listening to some new Mayhem
riffs. It was something that inspired both of
us (including guitarist Ivar Bjornson). We