Utgard (album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Utgard
| type = studio
| artist = Enslaved
| cover = Enslaved_Utgard.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{start date|2020|10|02|df=yes}}
| recorded = 2019
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Progressive black metal
| length = 44:46
| label = Nuclear Blast
| producer = Iver Sandøy, Ivar Bjørnson, Grutle Kjellson
| prev_title = E
| prev_year = 2017
| next_title = Caravans to the Outer Worlds
| next_year = 2021
| misc =
}}
Utgard is the fifteenth studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved, released 2 October 2020 by Nuclear Blast.{{Cite web|title=ENSLAVED {{!}} Utgard - Nuclear Blast USA Store|url=https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/products/sound/cd/cd/enslaved-utgard.html|access-date=2020-10-07|website=shop.nuclearblast.com|archive-date=2021-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330155631/https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/products/sound/cd/cd/enslaved-utgard.html|url-status=dead}}
Background
Utgard is the first Enslaved album with new drummer Iver Sandøy, who had previously co-produced several of the band's albums and joined full-time following the departure of longtime drummer Cato Bekkevold in 2018.{{Cite web|last=Munro|first=Scott|date=June 2018|title=Drummer Cato Bekkevold parts ways with Enslaved|url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/drummer-cato-bekkevold-parts-ways-with-enslaved|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Prog Magazine|language=en}} The album was originally scheduled for release in early 2020, but was delayed until October of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|last=Blabbermouth|date=2020-03-24|title=ENSLAVED To Release 'Utgard' Album In The Fall; Cover Artwork Unveiled|url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/enslaved-to-release-utgard-album-in-the-fall-cover-artwork-unveiled/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET}}{{Cite web|title=Enslaved Announce New Album Utgard, Unveil Artwork|url=https://news.yahoo.com/enslaved-announce-album-utgard-unveil-172309890.html|access-date=2021-07-13|website=news.yahoo.com|date=25 March 2020 |language=en-US}}
The album is titled after a location in Norse mythology{{Cite web|last=Blabbermouth|date=2020-09-28|title=Utgard - ENSLAVED|url=https://www.blabbermouth.net/cdreviews/utgard/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=BLABBERMOUTH.NET}} and includes some Norse lyrics and song titles.{{Cite web|last=DiVita|first=Joe|date=2020-07-10|title=Enslaved's New Song 'Jettegyrta' Is Proof They Can Do No Wrong|url=https://loudwire.com/enslaved-jettegyrta-song-utgard-album/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Loudwire|language=en}} A video, filmed in Iceland, was released for the song "Jettegryta". Utgard continues to display some of the band's early black metal roots while continuing their experimentation with 1970s progressive rock.
Critical reception
The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release. Kerrang! noted that "Enslaved take the listener through a frightening landscape in Norse mythology where the gods have no control and chaos reigns" and called the band "masters" and "elder statesmen" of progressive black metal.{{Cite web|title=Album Review: Enslaved – Utgard|url=https://www.kerrang.com/reviews/album-review-enslaved-utgard/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Kerrang!|date=30 September 2020 }} Blabbermouth noted that the album "feels like the true culmination of Enslaved's ascendancy to the throne of modern prog-metal wizardry." The Prog division of Loudersound concluded that Utgard is the ultimate result of musical experiments that the band had been conducting over their past several albums.{{Cite web|last=Ewing|first=Jerry |date=October 2020|title=Enslaved - Utgard review|url=https://www.loudersound.com/reviews/enslaved-utgard-review|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Prog Magazine|language=en}} In the words of Antihero, "Enslaved deliver their elite brand of Prog/Extreme Metal that they have so meticulously hammered out over the past three decades."{{Cite web|date=2020-10-01|title=Album Review: ENSLAVED - Utgard|url=https://www.antiheromagazine.com/album-review-enslaved-utgard/|access-date=2020-10-07|website=Antihero Magazine|language=en-US}} Metal Hammer named it as the 9th best metal album of 2020.{{cite web |title=The 50 best metal albums of 2020 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-50-best-metal-albums-of-2020/5 |website=Metal Hammer |publisher=Future plc |access-date=March 12, 2021 |date=January 8, 2020}}
Track listing
{{tracklist
| total_length = 44:46
| all_writing = Ivar Bjørnson (under the name I. Peersen); except tracks 1, 4, 6, 7 with lyrics by Grutle Kjellson (under the name K. Grutle)
| all_lyrics =
| all_music =
| title1 = Fires in the Dark
| length1 = 6:00
| title2 = Jettegryta
| length2 = 4:56
| title3 = Sequence
| length3 = 6:39
| title4 = Homebound
| length4 = 5:30
| title5 = Útgarðr
| length5 = 1:51
| title6 = Urjotun
| length6 = 4:21
| title7 = Flight of Thought and Memory
| length7 = 6:22
| title8 = Storms of Utgard
| length8 = 4:38
| title9 = Distant Seasons
| length9 = 4:31
| title10 =
| length10 =
}}
Personnel
- Ivar Bjørnson – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, sequencer, FX, backing vocals (track 1)
- Grutle Kjellson – vocals, bass, synthesizer
- Iver Sandøy – vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, FX
- Håkon Vinje – keyboards, piano, vocals
- Arve Isdal – electric guitars, acoustic guitars, backing vocals (track 1)
Additional personnel:
- Martin "Bellhammer" Horntveth – percussion, synthesizers, glockenspiel, tubular bells, rototoms, programming (track 3)
- Inger Sunneva Peersen, Sonja Elisabeth Peersen – backing vocals (track 9)
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Chart performance for Utgard |
| scope="col"| Chart (2020)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{album chart|Austria|59|artist=Enslaved|album=Utgard|rowheader=true|access-date=15 October 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Flanders|162|artist=Enslaved|album=Utgard|rowheader=true|access-date=9 October 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Wallonia|59|artist=Enslaved|album=Utgard|rowheader=true|access-date=9 October 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Finland|42|artist=Enslaved|album=Utgard|rowheader=true|access-date=11 October 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Germany4|30|id=440635|artist=Enslaved|album=Utgard|rowheader=true|access-date=9 October 2020}} |
| {{album chart|Scotland|48|date=20201009|rowheader=true|access-date=9 October 2020}} |