IN TIMES

"In times" may have the most boring name of the Enslaved album ever but its music makes an ambitious impression when looking at the song times, none of them below 8 minutes. From my perspective, the band has developed again, even though various fans may dispute if forwards or backwards. I see a raised commercial potential and accessibility by introduced a "single-friendly" "Thurisaz dreaming" and a bit monotonous rocking "In times".

Melody rock driven is also the second song "Building with fire" in the beginning but gets a bit more challenging and wild later on. Those waiting for a black-metal passage will be pleased although it sounds forced from such song. In any case, Enslaved are good producers and arrangers to pack the candy in a tasty cover.

The title song has more than 10 minutes but fails to fulfill my expectations as it should be shorter to what it brings. Quite repetitive rocking pattern with calming guitar soloing is finally interrupted by wild screams and "something happening". This is perhaps the most similar song to Opeth in its acoustic and rocking moments without sounding dark though.

Although there is no single weak song, I think that Enslaved remained varied at the expense of using more pop/rock moments instead of complex patterns. So 3 stars for a progressive minded fan and 3.5 from a metal perspective.