Enslaved are worthy to hold the hammer of the elder statesmen of Pagan Black Metal. Mið (Nuclear Blast Records) is the Norwegian band’s 17th album. Below the Lights is where they stepped away from being church-burning heathen Black Metal and began to introduce more progressive elements, which is why they now have 17 albums under their bullet belts, because they gave themselves room to grow. They are not returning to the black metal style of their early work, but the opening track might be more black metal than you might expect, though it still ll ebbs back into the more progressive grooves. Sami musician Johan Sara Jr. contributes to this song, which is not going to be that big of a deal to anyone outside of Norway.
