Enslaved Live In Seattle

Enslaved YOB Ecstatic Vision Bell Witch Wednesday, March 11, 2015 El Corazon 206-262-0482 109 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm). 21 & Over. $18.00 advance tix from Cascade Tickets. $20.00 at the door. ABOUT ENSLAVED-- Never faltering, Norway's iconic ENSLAVED continue to exist as one of the most dependable components in extreme metal's indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts in metal, they once again offer us talent of the highest calibre with eight new songs, rightly doing justice to their signature extreme/black/Viking/progressive metal sound. Vertebrae is a bold declaration of ENSLAVED's tenacity and displays all the vital characteristics of their musical genre (referred to by music scribe Brandon Stosuy as "a psychedelic, almost Floydian form of post-black metal"), thus easily meeting the incredibly high level of expectation thrust upon these respected, subterranean veterans. Decibel Magazine avidly praises Vertebrae as another "Album of the Year" contender from Norway's best band."Revolver Magazine asserts: "True to their Viking roots, black-metal warriors ENSLAVED rape and pillage like Orcs gone wild, but they do it with such intelligence and grace that you'll barely realize how you've been savaged until long after the smoke clears." Formed in Haugesund, Norway in 1991 by Bjørnson (then 13 years old) and Kjellson (then 17) and named after Immortal's demo track "Enslaved In Rot,"ENSLAVED recorded their first demo Yggdrasill in the summer of 1992. One year later, they released the legendary split-EP Hordanes Land with their fellow countrymen in Emperor (later released as its own mini-album). Completing their first full-length album, Vikingligr Veldi, for Norway's Deathlike Silence Productions (Euronymous of Mayhem's label) in 1994, their debut was successfully followed-up that same year with the highly-acclaimed Frost album on France's Osmose Productions. Three years later, Eld marked a horizon-widening era for the band. The fury and blacker edges on 1998's Blodhemn (translated: Blood Vengeance) surprised some fans. The 11-track Mardraum: Beyond The Within, released in 2000, was an aural nightmare of an album that sent shock waves through the extreme metal scene with its experimental, innovative approach. The ever-prolific ENSLAVED followed-up with Monumension in 2001 (marking the launch of a long-time collaboration with artist/painter Truls Espedal) and was shocked to receive such a widespread positive response to their "no rules"approach to extreme metal. Two years later, the band released Below The Lights, a perfect blend of power, tradition, progressive elements, and dark psychedelia which became the most important milestone in what was to become their progressive yet darker signature sound. A line-up change in 2003 introduced scene veteran Cato Bekkevold (Red Harvest, Ashes To Ashes), Arve Isdal aka Ice Dale (Trinacria, I), and Herbrand Larsen (Audrey Horne) into the fold, and ENSLAVED began to climb to new heights with their live performances, adding strong visual elements by way of dynamic video art. This acclaimed new line-up released the extremely lauded album Isa in late 2004. The album catapulted ENSLAVED to the very forefront of contemporary Extreme Metal - both as studio and live artists. Not surprisingly, the band was honored (in absentia since they were on tour) with both the Norwegian Grammy for best achievement in the "Metal" category and the independent Alarm Prize for Isa. In order to share their stunning live shows with their worldwide fan base, ENSLAVED released their highly praised live DVD, Return to Yggdrasill, in 2005. Never ones to fall short of new material, ENSLAVED released yet another highly-lauded collection of songs: 2006's Ruun. Their review on Blabbermouth.net advocated that "[t]he metal world needs more bands this willing to throw out the rule book and go wherever their mad Muse takes them."With their reputation of expanding the peripheries of their genre firmly in place, Ruun was awarded the Norwegian Grammy for Best Metal Album of 2006. The band celebrated in early 2007 with a world tour that began in the U.S. and Canada and took them throughout Europe to enormous accolades from their faithful and fervent fan base which would have to wait another year before being graced with new material. Recorded in the first quarter of 2008, mixed by "Evil"Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age) at TNT's personal studio in Norway, and mastered by the legendary George Marino (Metallica, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin) at Sterling Sound, Vertebrae was produced by Ivar Bjørnson, Herbrand Larsen, and Grutle Kjellson themselves. Considered by all band members to be their strongest material in the seventeen years of their existence (this is their third studio album with the exact same line-up), Vertebrae's elegant music, epic lyrics, gallant vocals, and hypnotic guitar tone "combined with ambient atmospherics and seasoned, soul-travelling guitar solos - marks a crowning achievement for ENSLAVED as musicians and as a contribution to their musical genre as a whole. "ENSLAVED," touts Barresi, "is a perfect blend of beauty and darkness." Featuring artwork by Truls Espedal " the gifted painter who has worked with the band since 2001's Monumension " Vertebrae is a concept album of the highest order. According to guitarist/lyricist/founding member Ivar Bjørnson, "there are mythological, philosophical lyrics in the songs 'Clouds' and 'Vertebrae' written by Grutle [Kjellson, vocalist/bassist/lyricist], where thick layers of metaphors and mythological references point towards existential questions. On the other hand, there are also lyrical pieces like the straight-forward 'New Dawn' and the somewhat surreal 'Center' that I've written that are far more aggressive and break into more contemporary observations on 'reality.' The connective piece between them all is the 'vertebrae' - in a metaphorical sense and the literal. 'To have a backbone' is an expression almost every language contains. In the literal sense it is the piece of the body where body and mind communicate. We see the vertebrae as a symbol for the communication between the real world and the worlds of ideas. The blood vessels you see embracing the vertebrae part on the album cover make up the rune of Mannaz the Rune of Man. In the language of the pre-Christian users of the Runes, Man was a term used for both sexes. It was distinguished between the two types of Man: the male and the female Man. This abstract piece of art showing blood vessels on a piece of bone making up a rune symbolizes the core of the ˜what might be' concept " a movement towards a physical philosophy/way of life." For those who have followed ENSLAVED's seventeen-year career, many know the band has incorporated Icelandic, Old Nordic, and ancient Norwegian linguistics into their musical world view while simultaneously drawing on the rich sagas of Viking mythology. For Vertebrae, all songs are sung in English, providing dedicated non-Norwegian fans with a non-translated, first-person, trance-inducing listening experience (especially via headphones) of their mesmerizing cosmic accessibility, tantalizing aural dissonance, and profusely mature majesty that has remained at its inherent core beautifully and blessedly black. ABOUT YOB-- "Yob might be one of the best bands in North America," declared Ben Ratliff in a feature New York Times article in March of 2010 that can be best described as gushing. The Eugene, OR-based doom metal trio has seen similar praise worldwide, with a growing host of fans citing the band as one of the most profound and accomplished doom metal phenomena of the 21st century. It's all too rare for a band to reach such moderate success and massive acclaim based on sheer quality of music. There's certainly no overt commercial bow on any of YOB's five albums. Songs commonly stretch beyond the twenty minute mark, and to date there's never been a radio edit or any effort to appease anyone but the band's muse. Indeed, the shortest song on latest album opus The Great Cessation clocks in at over seven and a half minutes of bludgeoning heaviness and cosmic wandering. The journey began back in 1996 when vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mike Scheidt began composing classic doom metal riffs in the vein of his heroes Sleep, Cathedral, and Black Sabbath. By the turn of the millennium, the band had recorded debut album Elaborations of Carbon, and was rapidly growing from a NW secret, to a highly sought after support act for tour stops by luminaries like High on Fire and Isis. By 2003, Candlelight had the rights to sophomore album Catharsis, a record with a side-spanning title track that breaks twenty-three minutes into a heartbreaking odyssey. Upon completion of Catharis, Scheidt invited drummer Travis Foster to join the band, and Foster's immaculate percussive force became a signature element in YOB, as fundamental to the sound as Scheidt's alternately monstrous growls and triumphant, soaring wail. Full US tours commenced due to a symbiotic partnership with then-fledgling Nanotear booking agency. YOB proved to audiences night after night that it had chops and sonic glory to deliver that exceeded the promise of its albums. Brian Slagel of Metal Blade records took note, and the man who discovered Metallica, Slayer, and Voivod took YOB under his wing. Two fantastic albums were released, 2004's The Illusion of Motion, and 2005 masterpiece The Unreal Never Lived. By this time, YOB had shed the sound of its early influences, and was in turn creating a new and original doom sound that would in turn inspire others from around the world. Then YOB went into reclusion as the line-up shifted, and Mike Scheidt took several years to regroup and try his hand at other projects. Scheidt is a family man living in a small town, and in the real world, there are bills to pay. He trained hard in a form of Israeli self-defense called Krav Maga, eventually becoming an instructor. Between teaching this grisly martial art and reading extensively in eastern philosophy, Scheidt struck a fine spiritual balance which has led to seemingly endless creative inspiration. In 2009, YOB awakened from its slumber, adding bassist Aaron Rieseberg and releasing the surprising and long-awaited The Great Cessation. The reformed band's debut for Profound Lore records proved that YOB had retained every ounce of inspiration, and was recognized on nearly every year-end list, from the Village Voice to Terrorizer. More surprising still was how much YOB's legacy had grown during its hiatus. Invitations to perform at Scion Rock fest between Shrinebuilder and Pelican were followed by the unprecedented response at YOB's first European appearance at the fabulous 2010 Roadburn festival in Holland. The day YOB touched down in the Netherlands, a volcano in Iceland erupted--but Scheidt is no stranger to catastrophe, and the band took its stay in stride. Seemingly dictated by nature itself, Europe wanted more YOB--and it got more. Gigs were added in Germany and Belgium, and with only two days notice, curious crowds arrived to witness the finest cosmic doom on the planet. So here it is, 2010, and YOB stands at the ready. There will never be a sacrifice made when it comes to writing and producing the ultimate progressive heavy metal music. Nor will the live presentation be anything but stellar. A world hungry for doom is poised to support the band, and drag YOB from the grim northwest out into the previously unimagined vistas beyond. -- Nathan Carson