Enslaved enter studio for album no.15

Enslaved
Enslaved (Image credit: Nuclear Blast)

Enslaved report they’ve entered the studio to begin work on what will be their 15th album.

The Norwegian outfit have a tentative release date for the follow-up to 2017’s E of May 2020, with Enslaved guitarist and founding member Ivar Bjørnson checking in to give fans an update.

He says: “The days are growing darker in the northern hemisphere – and Bergen is covered in a blanket of frost. This sets the scene as we have entered the studio to record the new Enslaved album. 

“Since our last album, we have a ‘new’ drummer – in quotation marks, since Iver Sandøy has been with us behind the scenes for more than a decade. 

"Together with me, guitarist Ivar Bjørnson and vocalist Grutle Kjellson, he constitutes the production team on this new album – and as before we will record in Bergen in Duper Studio and next door at Iver’s Solslottet Studio.”

Bjørnson confirms that Jens Bogren will handle mixing duties and calls the new material “very powerful,” adding: "The Enslaved signature is there, but there is a wild drive and a level of energy that makes me extremely excited. 

“All five members have poured their dedication and souls into the preparations, and there are new sides to the band shown that will elevate this album.”

When the as-yet-untitled album arrives, it’ll be released through Nuclear Blast, after Enslaved re-signed with the label last month.

In November, Enslaved released a video for their cover of Royskopp track What Else Is There, which appeared as a digital bonus track on the E album.

The band have also announced a handful of 2020 festival appearances which can be seen below.

Enslaved 2020 festival dates
Mar 20: Eindhoven Prognosis Festival, Netherlands
Jun 25-27: Ekeberg Tons of Rock, Norway
Jul 11-12: Moran Fire In The Mountains Festival, WY
Aug 07-09: Kortrijk Alcatraz Festival, Belgium

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.