Enslaved - In Times (2LP) - Transparent Red Vinyl

Some records feel like they were built to stretch time, and Enslaved’s In Times is one of them. Released in March 2015 on Nuclear Blast, the Norwegian stalwarts took stock of their long run and delivered six expansive tracks that move with the patience and power of weather crossing a mountain range. It sits between RIITIIR and E, and it turned out to be the final Enslaved album with Herbrand Larsen on keyboards and clean vocals. That matters, because his voice is a compass on this one, cutting through the blizzard with a warmth that plays off Grutle Kjellson’s rasp like sun on ice.

The opening rush of Thurisaz Dreaming wastes no time, all tremolo guitars and blastbeats from Cato Bekkevold, but there is shape to the storm. Arve Ice Dale Isdal and Ivar Bjørnson knit riffs that surge forward, then tilt into these glowing, modal phrases that feel almost pastoral. When Larsen enters, the whole thing lifts. It is classic Enslaved alchemy, black metal grit wedded to progressive rock spaciousness, and it never sounds like a compromise.

Building With Fire was an early standout for good reason. It is one of their most inviting songs, a gateway track you could play for a friend who loves later-era Opeth or vintage Rush but still wants something with teeth. The chorus resolves with real grace, almost luminous, and the rhythm section lets it breathe. Enslaved have always been great at momentum, but on In Times they are even better at restraint. They hold back just long enough to make the next wave hit harder.

One Thousand Years of Rain brings the mythic weight the band have refined since the 90s. You can hear the old Norse obsession in the cadence of the lyrics, but the delivery is less about reenactment and more about weathered memory. The drumming is thunderous without crowding the mix, and those clean vocal harmonies slide in like daylight between cloud bands. Then Nauthir Bleeding pulls the mood into something haunted and searching. It is the most meditative piece here, a slow-burn climb with keyboards that shimmer rather than sparkle, and a guitar break that hints at folk melody without ever becoming folk metal.

The title track lands near the end and earns its place. Ten minutes feels like five, which is a neat trick. There is a sense of travel in the way themes return with new colours, and the production gives each layer room to bloom. Truls Espedal’s cover art suits this perfectly, all stark contours and surreal calm, a visual analogue to the music’s cold light. Daylight closes the record on a strangely hopeful note, Larsen carrying the melody while the band swells behind him. It is not sentimental. It just feels lived in, like the sun after a long Bergen winter.

Critically, In Times was embraced as another high point in the band’s late-period run, praised for balancing aggression and atmosphere without slipping into safe habits. If you have followed Enslaved since the Grieghallen days, the evolution makes sense. The core of gritted teeth and long-form thinking never left, but the palette grew wider, the confidence in melody deeper. This is also a great-sounding album. Everything is clear without feeling polished smooth, and the guitars keep their grain. It is the kind of mix that rewards volume and good speakers.

On vinyl, the album breathes. You notice how the cymbals bloom, how the bass sits under the clean vocals like a tide. If you are hunting for Enslaved vinyl, In Times vinyl is an easy recommendation, one of those mid-career statements that works as both entry point and deep cut treasure. I grabbed my copy from a Melbourne record store a while back, but you will have no trouble finding Enslaved albums on vinyl if you buy Enslaved records online. For anyone digging through vinyl records Australia wide, this is the one you pull out when someone asks why people still talk about this band with so much respect.

What sticks with me most is how humane In Times feels. The songs are long, the themes old, the screams fierce, yet the album never postures. It moves like a band completely sure of who they are, happy to let a chorus glow or a riff grind for as long as it needs. By the time Daylight fades, you have travelled a fair way, and the trip lingers. Not every veteran metal band gets a renaissance like this. Enslaved made theirs count.