2020 studio album by Enslaved Utgard Studio album by Enslaved Released| 2 October 2020 (2020-10-02) Recorded| 2019 Genre| Progressive black metal Length| 44:46 Label| Nuclear Blast Producer| Iver Sandøy, Ivar Bjørnson, Grutle Kjellson Enslaved chronology | E (2017) | Utgard (2020) | | | Utgard is the fifteenth studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved, released 2 October 2020 by Nuclear Blast.[1] ## Contents * 1 Background * 2 Critical reception * 3 Track listing * 4 Personnel * 5 Charts * 6 References ## Background[edit] 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.[2] The album was originally scheduled for release in early 2020, but was delayed until October of that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4] The album is titled after a location in Norse mythology[5] and includes some Norse lyrics and song titles.[6] A video, filmed in Iceland, was released for the song "Jettegryta".[6] Utgard continues to display some of the band's early black metal roots while continuing their experimentation with 1970s progressive rock.[6] ## Critical reception[edit] 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.[7] Blabbermouth noted that the album "feels like the true culmination of Enslaved's ascendancy to the throne of modern prog-metal wizardry."[5] 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.[8] 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."[9] Metal Hammer named it as the 9th best metal album of 2020.[10] ## Track listing[edit] All tracks are written by Ivar Bjørnson (under the name I. Peersen); except tracks 1, 4, 6, 7 with lyrics by Grutle Kjellson (under the name K. Grutle). No.| Title| Length | | 1.| "Fires in the Dark"| 6:00 2.| "Jettegryta"| 4:56 3.| "Sequence"| 6:39 4.| "Homebound"| 5:30 5.| "Útgarðr"| 1:51 6.| "Urjotun"| 4:21 7.| "Flight of Thought and Memory"| 6:22 8.| "Storms of Utgard"| 4:38 9.| "Distant Seasons"| 4:31 Total length:| 44:46 ## Personnel[edit] * 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 * Ice Dale – 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[edit] Chart performance for Utgard Chart (2020) | Peak position | Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] | 59 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] | 162 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] | 59 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[14] | 42 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] | 30 Scottish Albums (OCC)[16] | 48 ## References[edit] 1. ^ "ENSLAVED | Utgard - Nuclear Blast USA Store". shop.nuclearblast.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 2. ^ Munro, Scott (June 2018). "Drummer Cato Bekkevold parts ways with Enslaved". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 3. ^ Blabbermouth (2020-03-24). "ENSLAVED To Release 'Utgard' Album In The Fall; Cover Artwork Unveiled". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 4. ^ "Enslaved Announce New Album Utgard, Unveil Artwork". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-07-13. 5. ^ a b Blabbermouth (2020-09-28). "Utgard - ENSLAVED". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 6. ^ a b c DiVita, Joe (2020-07-10). "Enslaved's New Song 'Jettegyrta' Is Proof They Can Do No Wrong". Loudwire. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 7. ^ "Album Review: Enslaved – Utgard". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 8. ^ Ewing, Jerry (October 2020). "Enslaved - Utgard review". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 9. ^ "Album Review: ENSLAVED - Utgard". Antihero Magazine. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-07. 10. ^ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 8, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021. 11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020. 12. ^ "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020. 13. ^ "Ultratop.be – Enslaved – Utgard" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2020. 14. ^ "Enslaved: Utgard" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 11 October 2020. 15. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Enslaved – Utgard" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 9 October 2020. 16. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 October 2020. * v * t * e Enslaved * Ivar Bjørnson * Grutle Kjellson * Ice Dale * Håkon Vinje * Iver Sandøy * Trym Torson * Harald Helgeson * Dirge Rep * Roy Kronheim * Herbrand Larsen * Cato Bekkevold Studio albums| * Vikingligr Veldi * Frost * Eld * Blodhemn * Mardraum – Beyond the Within * Monumension * Below the Lights * Isa * Ruun * Vertebrae * Axioma Ethica Odini * RIITIIR * In Times * E * Utgard EPs| * Hordanes Land DVDs| * Live Retaliation * Return to Yggdrasill Related articles| * Early Norwegian black metal scene * Enslaved discography Authority control | * MusicBrainz release group | *[No.]: Number *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template