In a quick follow-up to Nordic Sound 69, Ivar returns to the podcast to talk about Enslaved’s the inspiration behind the new album Mi∂ and the process of its making.
“On the album, Enslaved turn their gaze toward the fundamental concept of the axis: the middle, the origin, and the infinite reach of the present moment. Their journey has been at once a commitment to a promise that found its embryonic form in the Norwegian black metal scene they emerged from, and a willingness to challenge both orthodoxy and themselves from the off to make that potential manifest. Enslaved’s new album, “Mið”, an Old Norse word for ‘centre’, or ‘middle’, marks another departure, and another new beginning.”
What struck me about this conversation was the discussion of where academic and scholarly approaches to myth and history diverge, rather than converge, with music and art. “Source criticism would be the death of any Enslaved album,” as Ivar said, and he went on to explain that music, to him, is about exploring that unknown beyond the borders of verifiable knowledge.
Ivar also reflected on how the band’s priorities have shifted over the years from their origins in the “Viking metal” movement to deeper existential and philosophical questions. The two are interconnected, as Ivar explains, in that Viking history and heritage were the “literal” access point that was necessary before moving to more abstract concepts. Ivar’s feelings reflect what I’ve largely found to be the case across the Viking reenactment and living history scenes in Scandinavia, in which the Vikings are merely the symbolic entry point for much more universal conceptualizations of place and belonging.