THORN

"Thorn" is a 7" vinyl EP release by Norwegian black/progressive metal act Enslaved. The two track EP was released through Soulseller Records in August 2011 and is limited to 1000 copies. Enslaved have been really productive in recent years and "Thorn" is their second 2011 EP.

Fortunately being productive doesn't always mean that you don't release high quality material and that is certainly the case when speaking of Enslaved. The two tracks on "Thorn" might not quite reach the hights of their best material but we're still talking intriguing and unique sounding black metal. Actually by now it's probably wrong to call Enslaved a black metal act, as they have long ago transcended that genre term. Progressive extreme metal sounds better to my ears. The two tracks on "Thorn" are in a more ambient/atmospheric extreme metal style than usual for the band, but it's still unmistakably the sound of Enslaved. The raspy vocals by Grutle Kjellson are in place and as always the intrumental performances are also of high quality. Not that much actually happens in the two tracks on the EP in terms of powerful riffing or rythmic variation. Both tracks are pretty repetitive and feature epic ambient keyboards as one of the main elements. There are plently of dark atmosphere too keep "Thorn" an interesting release though.

...so even though I prefer Enslaved's more "regular" music style more than the ambient style they present on "Thorn", they are still skilled enough to pull this off with ease and conviction and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.