MARDRAUM - BEYOND THE WITHIN

Enslaved's debut album included some comparatively fancy progressive influences for black metal of its era, but their second album (Frost) took a turn back towards more straight-ahead black metal inspired by the model for Viking metal put forth by Bathory, and their next two ploughed ahead in that vein. Mardraum, by contrast, sees that progressive influence return to their music.

In turning away from a "pure" black metal approach, Enslaved bring up to date the approach of their debut album, with its curious blend of harsh and relaxing musical elements, and also takes into account both recent advances in technical black metal and in the band's own mastery of the studio. No longer feeling the need to take a particularly lo-fi or "kvlt" approach to producing black metal, the band simply take their mystical Viking metal approach in their own direction without asking for or requiring the approval of any particular metal scene.