Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi (1994)

Enslaved - Vikingligr Veldi (1994)

Tracklist front / back album covers

1. "Lifandi lif undir hamri" ("Living Life Under the Hammer")   11:31

2. "Vetrarnótt" ("Winternight")   10:58

3. "Midgards eldar" ("Fires of Midgard")   11:16

4. "Heimdallr" ("Heimdall")   6:15

5. "Norvegr" ("Norway")   10:56

Total length:   50:56

Enslaved Band Members / Musicians

Grutle Kjellson – bass guitar, vocals, production, mixing

Ivar Bjørnson – guitar, keyboards, electronics, piano, production, mixing

Trym Torson – drums, production, mixing

 

Pytten (Eirik Hundvin) – production, recording, mixing, engineering

Davide Bertolini – recording, engineering

Padde – mixing

Vikingligr Veldi (Norse meaning roughly In the Veld of the Vikings or "In the Viking Veld") is the debut studio album by Norwegian heavy metal band Enslaved. It was released in 1994, through Deathlike Silence Productions, the record label run by Euronymous, who was murdered before the album's release. The album is dedicated to him.

Despite Enslaved's nationality, the lyrics on this album are mainly in Icelandic, perhaps due to its resemblance to Old Norse. The lyrics of "Heimdallr", however, are in Old Norwegian. The distinct cover features the Anglo-Saxon helmet uncovered at the Sutton Hoo site in England, ostensibly belonging to the 7th century bretwalda, Rædwald of East Anglia.

Guitarist and keyboardist Ivar Bjørnson was just 15 years old when Vikingligr Veldi was recorded.

Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in Haugesund in June 1991. They are currently based in Bergen. The band's lineup has changed many times over the years, and Bjørnson and Kjellson have been the sole constant members. The current lineup also includes lead guitarist Arve Isdal, keyboardist/singer Håkon Vinje, and drummer Iver Sandøy.

The band's music draws heavily on the Viking cultural and religious heritage of their home country of Norway for inspiration, and most of the band's lyrics relate to Norse mythology. Though they began as a traditional black metal band their sound has undergone significant changes over time resulting in a more progressive sound. In 2014, members of Enslaved were commissioned by the Norwegian government to create a musical piece in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution. This was later released as a studio album called Skuggsjá in 2016. To date, the bands has released fifteen full-length studio albums; the most recent of which, Utgard, was released in October 2020 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Enslaved  Band Members / Musicians

Grutle Kjellson – lead vocals, bass, synthesizers (1991–present)

Ivar Bjørnson – rhythm guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals (1991–present), lead guitar (1991–1997)

Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal – lead guitar (2002–present)

Håkon Vinje – keyboards, clean vocals (2017–present)

Iver Sandøy – drums, clean vocals, keyboards (2018–present)

Trym Torson – drums, percussion (1991–1995)

Harald Helgeson – drums (1995–1997)

Dirge Rep (Per Arild Håvarstein Husebø) – drums, percussion (1997–2003)

Richard "Roy" Kronheim – lead guitar (1997–2002)

Herbrand Larsen – keyboards, clean vocals, live guitar (2004–2016)

Cato Bekkevold – drums, percussion (2003–2018)

Inge Joakim Ripdal - guitars, effects, vocals

Enslaved Discography Full

1994 Vikingligr Veldi

1994 Frost

1997 Eld

1998 Blodhemn

2000 Mardraum – Beyond the Within

2001 Monumension

2003 Below the Lights

2004 Isa

2006 Ruun

2008 Vertebrae

2010 Axioma Ethica Odini

2012 RIITIIR

2015 In Times

2017 E

2020 Utgard

2023 Heimdal