Norwegian black metal is an animal of it's own. There's cultural influences, historical influences, influences from nature, and a real introspective quality to it. It's cold, dark, and consuming like a blizzard in a Nordic forest. There is much to discover down this rabbit hole.

Mgła - Exersices In Futility V

Spot on with the cultural influences. This is a Norwegian metal band that has a heavy theme of nordic history, vikings etc.

This song is great, but their more recent stuff really showcases the atmosphere and progressive mastery they've come into. Storm Son is soooooo cool. Even my 65 year old mom loves it🤘

Not an easy first song - I'd recommend "Building with fire" or "Death in the eyes of dawn" as more melodic follow up.

Agalloch - In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion !! You will absolutely love it and there are sooo many things to comment on and pick out for your videos!

I highly recommend "Thoughts Like Hammers" by Enslaved. It has one of the most *beautiful* choruses in the history of heavy metal.

hell yeah. Welcome to Norwegian Black Metal! On another note I recommend Agalloch- In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion for some real melt your face stuff.

I love "As fire swept clean the earth" from the same album as it perfectly showcases black, death and more progressive and atmosphering passages all in the same song.

Bathory- A FIne Day To Die would be an interesting one too

Please, please breakdown a song from the band Cynic!! Some of their older songs such as Textures are considered masterpieces. Love your vids

Enslaved's discography is one of evolution, from straight up black metal to something much more progressive, and it's quite the ride. Still dropping requests for Thy Catafalque and Wilderun, both of which will blow your mind.

Great band, I consider them the Opeth of black metal. And great decomposition as always. May I request My Dying Bride?:)

For more Enslaved I'd recommend Building with Fire or One Thousand Years of Rain.

I saw Enslaved many many years ago in a dumpy place in North Attleboro Ma with my son. I swear there were maybe 25 people there in total, yet Enslaved played their hearts out and were thankful for being able to perform at the end.

Another band I never expected to see being reacted. Really love the musical mix on the channel!

Glad you got to Enslaved. Great band! Please check out another great Norwegian band whenever you can: Arcturus - Crashland .

They are Norwegian and were among the first wave of Scandinavian black metal groups (early nineties and still going strong). They are often dubbed viking metal and their lyrics are steeped in Norse mythology and viking culture. They are masters of creating sonic landscapes. This song is from one of their earlier albums (actually, as you correctly guessed, pretty much the middle of that album). On later albums they go more progressive, infusing their black metal with very Pink Floyd-esque influences.

Please do The Raven That Refused to Sing - Steven Wilson!!! :D

Dang you getting into Enslaved now too? I will have to recommend my entry point into Enslaved then. The song Clouds started my Enslaved Journey and I'm loving every second of it.

That cyclical riffing that is the main body of the song is absolutely genius level construction. Ivar is not your traditional guitar hero but his playing and composition is next level without any wankery…

Cool, two songs ive recommended made it.

Enslaved's "Return To Yggdrasil" is also a great track....and they have a lot more progressive stuff later in their discography that might be fun to dig into.

oh, hell yeah!!!!! THis is one of the greatest metal bands of all time. They have a huge discography and have gone through several major changes in styles similar to Opeth. Early stuff is more black metal and new stuff is more prog/avant garde. This is right in the middle of their career and a good mix of their old and new styles. Also their best album in my opinion. (Below the Lights) Ridicule Swarm next from them please. Oh, and Bergen, Norway is where they are from. I actually met the lead singer/bassist working as the bouncer to one of the local bars when I was there on vacation back in 2008. Folk metal.

One of my favorite by Enslaved, good choice... 👍👍👍

You hit the nail right on the head with the growling vocals being used as an atmospheric element. Great observation and video.

Slice The Cake - Stone And Silver Part 1 - The Mountains of Man Textures - Awake Slice The Cake - Unending Waltz Slice The Cake - Westward Bound Part I - The Lantern Slice The Cake - The Holy Mountain Emarosa - The Past Should Stay Dead Emarosa - Pretend. Release. The close. Emarosa- A Toast To The Future Kids! Slipknot - Vermilion part 1 and 2. The Faceless - The Autotheist Movement 1-3. Type O Negative - Love You To Death Soilwork - As We Speak Circa Survive - Get Out Van Halen - Aint Talking Bout Love Cane Hill - Kill The Sun Static X - Destroyer Coal Chamber - Loco Deftones - My Own Summer Billie Holiday - Blue Moon Spiritbox - The Mara Effect pt.3 Fifth Dawn - Allure The Paper Melody - The Nightmare Academy Vildhjarta - All These Feelings Letlive. - Younger Celldweller - Switchback Shakey Graves - Roll The Bones (live) Glass Cloud - If He Dies, He Dies Ovid`s Withering - The Omen of Lycaon Rings of Saturn - The Macrocosm Rings of Saturn - Embryonic Anomaly Animals As Leaders - Brain Dance Born Of Osiris - Recreate Soilwork - The Living Infinite 1 Spiritbox - The Mara Effect live

Enslaved is one of my favorites, although this is pretty old! This song is from the 2003 album Below The Lights. Enslaved came out of the Norwegian black metal scene, and their earlier material is very much in that vein or like viking metal. I do like this album, but in my opinion as time went on Enslaved only improved from here! This is towards the beginning of when they started becoming proggier. They do have a keyboard player who typically does a lot of the clean singing. I would recommend "Storm Son," "Building with Fire," "Thoughts Like Hammers"... I could go on and on, Enslaved has been around several decades and have a TON of great albums

Ohhhhhhhhhhh. No way. Never even thought of suggest enslaved to him. Nice . Love this band. Just a solid and ever evolving discography

Enslaved are one of the best/most important bands in Metal at this point in its 50 or so year long history as a genre. I almost was gonna say "modern" then chuckled when I remembered that the 90s is no longer that. An amazing discography. I discovered them through Axiomia Ethica Odini and have never looked back. Some bands you hear that first song/riff and just recognize as something special.

Dunkelheit by Burzum would be awesome to hear you cover!! Norwegian black metal mastery

I think you’d love “Ethica Odini” by Enslaved as well.

I think you hit the nail with the "cultural metal" concept, lots of metal bands take their distinctive tone from their traditonal folklore music, kind of bringing their cultural heritage back to these days. So glad you reacted to Enslaved, amazing band, I'd definitely recommend more of their recent stuff, more progressive, like "Storm son", "One thousend years of rain", "Sacred Horse". Cheers from Argentina!

"Sacred Horse" by Enslaved comes naturally after this.

You're correct about the vibe and song placement. Not to take anything away from the song, but it is more of a "headbanger" compared to the compositions of other tracks on the album. I definitely recommend listening to the album as a whole, and their others! Timeless band!

Edge of sanity -crimson II ... Is an album that one of the most beautiful blends of prog/rock/melodic/tech/metal ever created... it's worth a album listen...

Another from this channel added to favorites.... well revisit . Especially because of the vocal reaction & *feel of the vocal after 10 min mark. Beautiful*

Hey Geebz, Aloha! Enslaved, one of my favorite Norwegian black metal band and you have opened the flood gates of BLACK METAL!!! They have a very deep catalog and started off playing pretty much straight black metal to progressive metal. This song is from a CD in the middle of their catalog and yes a very tough song to get into at first. Definitely have to cycle back through. Ethica Odini and the Watcher are pretty good picks but so many...New bands and songs to blow the mind, prog metal. Soen: Opal (Swedish prog metal), Borknager: Winter Thrice (Norwegian prog metal), DImmu Borgir: Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse (Norwegian symphonic black metal), Eluveitie: Omnos (Swiss folk) Recycle: Katatonia: Heart Set To Divide, Draconian: Sleepwalkers, Opeth: Burden, Mastodon: Jaguar God, Type O Negative: Loved You To Death...

I've recommended this before and I'll keep recommending it. OBSCURA- Weltseele

Metal Mondays?!?! AWWWRIGHT!! BTW, Enslaved is one of the most consistent and RAD metal bands ever!! Brilliant band.

So cool that you did a video of my favourite band!! When I started to follow this channel I saw your videos of opeth, tool and devin townsend and thought it would be awesome that you did a reaction to one of enslaved's song. It was a great surprise to see it in my feed. Black metal it's very interesting to explore and for me enslaved in particular because of its mix of genres. Every album has a different sound and feel but somehow same root , it would be impossible to choose a single song from their 30 years of music but I'm so glad you listen one :)

They have a key board player/clean vocalist, and both their bassist and rhythm guitarist does sound effects

One of the songs that opened the door to these kind of metal genres for me back then, maybe worth a shot: Agathodaimon - Tristetea Vehementa

Yes!!! Awesome song and awesome decomposition

Try the band called Thy catafalque, it's an incredible band

Yup, can confirm what other comments have indicated. Enslaved is a Norwegian band, and the language in the beginning is a bit Old Norse inspired, to sound extra Viking-like. Kind of how an English band would sing in Shakespearean English; it sounds dramatic, but we don't quite talk like that anymore.

Very impressed you reviewed this track. Going deep, my friend.

Oooooooh a new one! Aloha! Hope you're weekend was good!

The Smoke of Many Fires, by Be'lakor. Super awesome

Spot on, Geebz ! it is Progressive Folk/Black Metal from Norway (their first Lp is from 1994 & this one is from 2003) & yes it is almost the middle of the "Below the Lights" album (5/7 track). They did change quite a lot during their journey but still maintaining a unique & complex style. I suggest among more recent albums these songs : "Ethica Odini" or "Giants" (2010), or "Entroper" ,"Ruun", "Tides of Chaos" (2006), to start with...

My favorites from this band come from their album 'Ruun.' I highly recommend it! Up there with Emperor for black metal in my opinion.

There is no such thing called Cultural Metal but as you explore Metal from all around the world you will notice that Bands from different Country's will put their Culture into the music. This is what makes Metal so great.

"Somewhere in the middle of the album" Spot on! Out of the 8 tracks on the album (Below the Lights), Havenless is nr 6, and leads further on the endgoal track "A Darker Place". The entire album is well worth a listen!

Hey GeebZ, it's so exciting too have you review and listen to this song. I'll be sporting my Geebz t-shirt here soon!

Good way to start off the week indeed 🤘

enslaved is what you get if you mix pink floyd, king crimson, and norwegian metal.

Also, Wardruna played a live show online this weekend with english subs if you wanted to check it out. You can find it on KZfaq as well.

Wow! this is awesome! I've heard of Enslaved but never dwelled deeply into their music. My bad, but I love their authentic Norwegian Black Metal. I've always loved anything Viking!

Enslaved are my all time favourite band! This is from the middle of their career; from their 7th of 15 albums currently. The thing with Enslaved is that they are constantly evolving. Below the Lights sounds much different than Frost and their newest album Utgard for example. I am obviously biased but I think it is worth checking out songs from all over their discography, with their albums after this one (Below the Lights) being more accessible for the average listener than the earlier ones.

Omg chimera- on broken glass Youd love it Pure mastery all instruments including voice

I strongly recommend Moonsorrow - Jotunheim, is a long song but is quite a journey, they have a really interesting style of composition with heavy and clean sections, nature sounds and etc, definitely worth to check out cheers

Agalloch - In the shadow of our Pale Companion

ELDER. A band you have to decompose 😁 thanks geebz.

Another great video! Just thought I'd throw out a recommendation since you've only done this band once and you said you wanted to go deeper with them. Protest The Hero: "All Hands". Cheers!

A really good Enslaved track is "Thoughts Like Hammers". Much more of a progressive metal track with some nice clean vocals mixed in. Give it a try! Really hooky too.

Love the work by the way. All the way from down Under mate

Purgatorial northern mid-album march is a very spot-on observation! I have certainly requested this song before, and I'm really happy to see you react to it man! I see people comment that it is a bit weird introduction to the band and I don't disagree, heh. It is however the song that catapulted the band into the international sphere through Sam Dunn's Extreme Metal episode of Headbanger's Journey where composer Ivar Bjørnson famously said that it is not important to be extreme at all. But that the most interesting thing for them in terms of being "extreme" is how much emotion they can put into their music. Anyway, see a lot of good suggestions for other songs by them here! Personally, for maximum contrast, I'd go for Sequence from their newest album Utgard. A truly progressive band in terms of pushing themselves into new directions, without losing their core. Cheers!

Please do a video on “Sade-Is it a Crime?” Amazing brass section and a big so g

Fantastic! You should do some more recent Enslaved to check how the band developed! I’d suggest Storm Son!

Purgatorial chant haha that's a great description. Try "Þat er stormr ok bláköld vatnssmíðin litar regna borg" by Árstíðir Lífsins for some Icelandic culture in badass folky black metal form!

Now that you opened up the northern gates try Satyricon- Dawn of a new age

queen of the night!

Mysþyrming! Ísland (and whatever the hell the restvof the title is) Icelandic black metal. And a banger of a tune. Far more isolated scene than the one that Enslaved grew out of, and it's more idiosyncratic for it. It's pronounced mis-thearr-ming (meaning misery). For American black metal Absu or Skáphe (for something really messed up musically) for a drastically different take on the genre. Saw Enslaved with High on Fire in London 2019. Fucking great live, very chill and friendly on stage. Saw most of them as Einar Selvik's backing band a few months later too

Master Geebz Glad we reached my favorite band As some said below, hard song to start with but glad you did it Please try to visit the following when you can 793 Slaget om Lindisfarne The crossing Reflection Hollow Inside Violet Dawning Ground Thoughts like Hammers Giants Nauthir Bleeding

Oh yes !!! 🤟🤟

Can you do Storm Son by them for your thirty days of anniversary? It shows a different progy side of them that has evolved since this album. Happy anniversary and keep preachin the good word bud!

Havenless by Enslaved?! Respect!

ALOHA Geebz!

If you wanna know the more usual tag for "Cultural Metal", you'll likely to find more stuff with strong ethnic influence in another rabbit hole called Folk Metal. As you might guess, there's a lot of variations in this theme coming from different regions of the world, I mean you're already acquainted with The Hu and there's a lot more bands with those strong regional vibes with a great variety in sound and feel. Off the top of my head I can mention Finntroll, Moonsorrow or Turisas as quick examples and that's just the very tip of the iceberg. Thanks for the video! Enslaved was a great pick!

You should definitely do more Enslaved, especially some of their recent stuff. No one single song would do them justice, as their palette is wide and their discography an epic journey.

Nice review, if you would make Alcest - Ecailles de Lune pt 1 I would be very happy, I am very interested on your thoughts on this type of shoegaze

I don't think I have seen ads on any of your videos, up until now anyway.

These guys are from the same place as me! Haugesund/Kopervik Norway!

You should check out their song The Watcher, it's I believe their most popular song and a little more conventional but still black metal.

Metal is very well known for having scenes that reflect the local area in some ways. Even within small countries different cities might be known for different takes on the same subgenre of metal. Cultural/traditional music is part of it but also interaction with different genres of music.

On the rabbit hole of black metal, I'm request dropping Dark Funeral

Enslaved, hailing from Norway, recorded their first album while most of their members were either 16-18 years old. Their early work mainly their first 5 albums are almost straight black metal. The album before this one, Monumension, they started adding in more progressive elements. The viking themes however have been their since the beginning. I would highly recommend checking out their latest work, way more complex and way more progressive. *edit* also "Havenless" is in the middle of the album (track 5 of 7 to be specific).

Roots of the mountain is my favorite song by them

I'm soo happy you got to Enslaved! I'm soo disappointed you listened to "Havenless." As a number here have already said, this not a great track to start with. As you picked up on, this song is in the middle of the album, a bridge in the journey. It's great in between other songs but doesn't stand up too well as a solo piece. Enslaved have like dozens of other songs that are (not better, ... more representative? more complete?) fuckin' awesome. A few great tracks: Storm Son (my personal favorite) Sacred Horse (sweet organ solo!) Thoughts Like Hammers Homebound Nauthir Bleeding Sequence (... fascinating. I'd describe it but I don't want to give out any spoilers.) Roots of the Mountain Building With Fire (a little more accessible) Death in the Eyes of Dawn (a lot more accessible) Distant Seasons (completely accessible prog)

Enslaved! Finally!

I love their album RIITIIR, haven't listened to too much else from them though

I highly recommend trying Level the Hourglass by Aerial Ruin, american dark folk. Just a dude, Erik Moggridge, and his acoustic guitar. He writes some of the best hooks I’ve ever heard and it’d be cool to see what you think of his musical decisions.

Discovered a song yesterday. IGNEA - Leviathan. (Live at BSMF). The dude goes off on his keyboard halfway through. You might enjoy it.

I love getting your takes on music like this. It's weirdly like re listening to songs I love for the first time, and I've found a bunch of new music because of it. It's nice having someone who just loves music and is open minded to everything and enjoys new experiences. If I had some suggestions you should definately take a look at, Jacob Collier (solo Jazz fusion act) Native Construct (progressive metal but with heavy Jazz, orchestral, and Broadway musical influences) Artificial Language (similar to Caligulas Horse which you should definately do again) Eidola (in the same general area as Dance Gavin Dance, I would suggest Humble Ledger (Agnostic State)) And finally, The Contortionist (first album is Death core, second is more progressive metal, then more recent is more progressive rock)

Whoa it’s funny I only got into Enslaved in the last couple years so this is new to me and so different from their more recent sound! Still very cool but I think you’d really dig something from their last two albums

i think some other commenters have touched on it but i think "folk metal" is the term you are looking for. bands will use more "traditional/native" instruments or things we recognize as having a "middle ages sound" [pirate metal, viking metal etc.. fall under this umbrella. some other comments of mine after watching a bunch of your videos today. first, i'm not sure on your audio capabilities but if you have a way to hook up your keyboard and play the notes to show scales, octaves etc... it would be very cool. second, i'll drop a request of Protest the Hero - Little Snakes (progressive punk metal with some small orchestral pieces snuck in there) lastly a plug for AKG; I'm sure you are using the AKG 240DTs as they are tried, true and extremely familiar to you but i would recommend looking at the AKG k371s, they follow the "harman curve" developed by Sean Olive and colleagues so they sound very natural and are very affordable. Love the channel!

That chanting had some very clear Sámi roots. They're the indigenous people from northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. So I was not surprised to learn the band is Norwegian. It's been a while since I requested this, so just repeat myself. How about some Finnish prog. Kylmänmarja by CMX. They've done everything from punk and pop-rock to industrial rock and prog, but this one is from their prog epic, Dinosaurs Stereophonicus.

a marching song of the Vikings. I could be wrong. Sung in Scandinavian

Just here to give Be`Lakor another push. You need to check that out one day.

That song was a pretty cool experience. Dropping a recommendation for Vultures by Wheel and either Citizen Erased or Knights of Cydonia by Muse. Awwwright!