ENSLAVED — Axioma Ethica Odini (review)

ENSLAVED — Axioma Ethica Odini album cover

Album · 2010 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-06-18
UMUR

"Axioma Ethica Odini" is the 11th full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Enslaved. The album was released in September 2010 by Indie Recordings. The "regular" version of the album contains 9 tracks but there is a special edition available which features two bonus tracks.

The music on "Axioma Ethica Odini" is epic sounding black metal (not symphonic) with a progressive edge. While Enslaved maintain their signature sound as they always have, "Axioma Ethica Odini" is a very different album from the band´s last album "Vertebrae (2008)". "Vertebrae" had an organic sound and a very obvious influence from seventies progressive rock. The progressive rock influence is also there on "Axioma Ethica Odini", but the album is much harsher and metal oriented than was the case with "Vertebrae". On the other hand of some of the clean sung parts and choruses on "Axioma Ethica Odini", are of the most accessible nature yet written by Enslaved. The clean vocals are of course accompanied by the raspy vocal delivery by Grutle Kjellson, which gives the vocal department nice variation.

The album is divided into two parts of 4 tracks each seperated by the short ambient instrumental "Axioma". At least that´s how the album feels like to me and I´m pretty sure that´s how the band wanted the listener to perceive the album. I like this way of doing things and I appreciate that the band obviously have given the sequence of the tracks a lot of thought. It´s important to have a good balance and flow on an album and that´s certainly the case here.

It´s interesting to note, that even though the music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Enslaved, the band have made little changes, adjustments and improvements to their sound, which gives "Axioma Ethica Odini" a unique position in the band´s discography. As an example the metallic and grand production sets the album apart from the last couple of albums and as a consequence provides Enslaved with yet another instrument to play on. Sound production is an extremely important aspect of creating music and the lavish and detailed sound production on "Axioma Ethica Odini" is a good example of why that is.

The album strikes a good balance between epic black metal and progressive extreme metal with space/ psychadelic rock moments. Parts of "Night Sight" even incorporate a prog folky vibe. The music is generally melodic and atmospheric but with the raw edge that characterize most black metal releases. Tracks like "Ethica Odini" and "Lightening" are simply wonderful, but the album is very consistent and there´s nothing here I would point to as a weak link.

It seems Enslaved just can´t fail and "Axioma Ethica Odini" is another high quality release by the band. The primary reason for the band´s success is the clever songwriting and the unique sound they have created over the years. Enslaved challenge themselves every time and add to that excellent musicianship and a really well sounding production and you have the foundation for a really great album. I´d say a 4.5 star rating is fully deserved.