Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini (2010) Review

Enslaved’s newest offering is a worthy addition to their discography.  That’s not to say it’s without flaws, but overall I thought this album was very solid and enjoyable.  Here’s what I thought of each of the individual songs:

1- “Ethica Odini” starts with a fairly typical creepy intro (seems like no black metal album is complete without a creepy intro of some sort), followed by driving guitars and black metal vocals.  The real treat in this song is the clean vocalization. The music is at its best and most innovative when the clean vocals kick in.

2- “Raidho” is a fairly boring, uncomplicated song.  It doesn’t seem to move much.  It drives, but in no particular direction…until the music slows and plays the melody which the clean vocals adopt later in the song.  There are a few interludes in this song which provide complication and variety, at least enough to keep the song from being bad, but this song doesn’t really stand out to me.  It certainly doesn’t live up to the “progressive” part of genre “progressive black metal.”

3- In “Waruun” things slow down and get a bit more progressive (more like what one would expect from a progressive black metal band!).  There is much more atmosphere.  The songwriting includes some very pretty, simple moments.  Both the clean vocals and black metal screams seem to fit the song well where they’re placed.  I thought this was a pretty strong, enjoyable song.

4- “The Beacon” starts out like more typical black metal fare, in that it’s driving and relentless.  Then it changes pace and adopts almost a black n roll feel in spots.  The music changes pace again with the clean vocals, which seem to usher in a more almost doom metal sound.  The song gets progressively more interesting, layering clean vocals and screams.

5- “Axioma” sounds like it belongs in the Blade Runner soundtrack or something.

6- The beginning of “Giants” has some silly electronic sounds that don’t seem to really fit the moodiness of the guitar.  The sound is akin to having an annoying bug in your ear while you are trying to listen to the song.  Fortunately the odd electronic sound drops out of the song fairly quickly.  This is a slower paced song, with lots of atmosphere and moodiness.  The screaming vocals become more guttural, which I quite liked.

7- “Singular” is another stronger song, as there is more innovation with the instruments.  The atmosphere builds up as the song progressed.  This is one of my favorite songs of the album.

8- “Night Sight” starts slow and sweet, almost a little melancholy.  The instrumentals are solid and interesting.  As the song progresses it becomes more typical black metal, with driving instruments and screams.  The pace changes enough to keep the song dynamic and interesting.  It is another strong offering.

9- “Lightening” has much more progressive instrumentals.  It’s possibly my favorite from the album.

This album definitely got better as it progressed, and the last three songs are probably my top three from the whole album.  My favorite part of this album is the clean vocals.  The melodies written for the clean vocals keep the pieces interesting.  There are also a few innovative guitar riffss, rhythm changes, and moments of dissonance, all good things in a progressive black metal album.

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