ENSLAVED — Monumension (review)

ENSLAVED — Monumension album cover Album · 2001 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
bonnek
Monumension is another impressive Enslaved album, be it a rather weird one with a very creepy atmosphere. It’s an enormous step away from their black metal roots and it couldn’t be more different from the fury of the preceding album Mardraum.

The music has become very experimental, incorporating uncanny organ sounds and lots of guitar effects like the chorused opening bars of the epic monster Convoys to Nothingness, a song that is still close to the previous album. The following track adds entirely different elements to the Enslaved sound. After its black metal opening, The Voices has that typical groovy Voivod-styled riff (around minute 1) that Enslaved would explore ad infinitum on the ensuing albums.

The songs have become very adventurous and unpredictable, The Sleep is a certain highlight in their new-found sound. The album ends with a strong Viking chant that they performed together with a number of guests, an occasional gathering fittingly baptized ‘Tribal Choir’.

This album should fit my taste perfectly but somehow I miss something. On most listens I enjoy it, but at other times it appears studied and sought-after. The spontaneity seems to have disappeared from this music. It's a flaw the appears in varying degrees throughout the ensuing albums. 3.5 stars
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