Enslaved "Vertebrae" CD

Descripción I was not sure what to expect of Enslaved's tenth album Vertebrae. With the bands side project Trinacria recently releasing an album I became even more curious as to what this progressive band would come up with.
Vertebrae either expectedly or surprisingly comes accross as a very natural progression from Isa and Ruun. The production is crisp but atmospheric. The music is actually quite smooth and digestable like Ruun, with Ivar's signature songwriting and surprisingly odd chords and riff structures, but is also varied and diverse like Isa. Grutle's growls haven't let up an iota which provides an excellent contrast to the smooth rockiness of the music. The clean vocals are often harmonized and sweep in and out of the music with a curious catchiness that one might find themselves singing along with. It is apparent that the band may have been listening to pink floyd a lot lately, with sweeping lengthy solos peppered throughout the album, the clean vocals often sounding very floydian, all giving the album a haunting spacey. Accoustic guitars often accompany the distorted guitars creating a lush spacious sound, while maintaining heaviness.
The viking metal elements of their older material are almost totally absent from this album, but somehow that feeling is still there, especially in the haunting lyrics. But rather than proud tales of battles, longboats and stories from nordic mythology, the subject matter seems to be about death, the dead, and rising from the ashes. However the lyrics are open to interpretation
On this release, Enslaved have managed to perfectly combine the diversity, quirkiness, and ass kicking of Isa with the flow and atmospherics of Ruun, which makes this album stand out. It can take multiple listens to fully absorb this album. But it is normal for Enslaved albums to be quite challenging upon first listen, and perseverance pays off. Vertebrae is tasteful, consistant, introspective, colourful and subtle while still having a lot of kick. High volume is mandatory. An awesome solid album.
Official promo video: youtube.com/watch?v=CGOHk2J4jV4&list=RDCGOHk2J4jV4&start_radio=1

Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=Wz3j7gVmTC0&list=RDWz3j7gVmTC0&start_radio=1