Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini review
| Band: | Enslaved |
| Album: | Axioma Ethica Odini |
| Style: | Progressive black metal |
| Release date: | September 2010 |
01. Ethica Odini
02. Raidho
03. Waruun
04. The Beacon
05. Axioma
06. Giants
07. Singular
08. Night Sight
09. Lightening
[Limited Edition Bonus 7" Vinyl]
01. Jotunblod (Doom)
02. Migration
Here we are again. I say that because Enslaved are beating the proverbial "Nordic Black Metal" horse to death. It seems like this is becoming a standard out of the Northern European Black Metal scene these days. Scary makeup, growling vocals, droning guitars, and a complete lack of direction other than to throw in some "evil" lyrics. Like anyone will ever go as far as Mercyful Fate did in the 80's lyrically? Doubtful, and I haven't seen anyone do it yet.
The only redeeming quality of this band is that the guitars have distortion, other than that it sounds like the rest of an already clichéd mess of metal coming out of northern Europe. It's basically a carbon copy of Immortal or Gorgoroth + (insert any band using the same gimmicks and sound from that region). The guitars drone away with the same simplistic rhythms using a grand total of 3 or 4 bar chords maximum for pretty much the length of any given track. Exhausting? More like headache inducing. The drums are nothing out of the ordinary providing a monotonous driving beat with little or no change, which when compounded with the lack of time changes or anything really interesting at all from the guitars, leaves the listener wondering, where's the beef? Where are the balls this music is supposed to retain which all the fanboys blather about?
Heavy? This couldn't be further from heavy. There's little or no chunk and grind which you'll find in bands like Nevermore or Exhumed. Heavy means driving, deep, rhythmic bass, and double bass drum blast beats with chunky, low, 7 and 8 string guitars. Heavy is music that has bite and gets right up in your face. Enslaved seem to be more about long, drawn out almost symphonic rhythms that never really go anywhere. Where are the time changes? Where are the melodic, blistering solos? Also, what's with all the growling and screaming all the time? Is everyone in Norway really so pissed off that there isn't any time to thoughtfully plan a cd and put some effort into the music?
When did people give up singing for growling, screaming, and grunting as if the vocalist is suffering from a bout of violent diarrhea throughout the entire cd? I like a good growl here and there like Opeth, but after an entire cd of it I want to take an ibuprofen. Enslaved made an attempt at mixing clean vocals with a growl on this cd, but it fell flat like the rest of their music.
The only thing I can fathom about the complete blind-devotion of the fans is that they don't know any better or haven't heard anything better. Enslaved left this listener wanting a hell of a lot more musically and lot less of the exact same tired, angry Nordic "scene," cd after cd. Giving this offering anything over a 3 is being generous.
This cd was a monotonous journey into boredom which would eventually spawn a headache. I actually enjoy bands like Amon Amarth, Ensiferum, and Wintersun because they all offer something musically. Their music actually goes somewhere, and some of the musicianship in these bands is god-like. Enslaved just aren't the caliber of musicians their fans make them out to be. You'll find so much more in bands like Symphony X, Fates Warning, Nevermore, Opeth, Death, Slayer, etc...
I don't hate Enslaved, I just think their music is severely lacking on just about every front. At least it's not Lady Gaga and the guitars are distorted
Rating:
9.5
9.5
|
Rating: 9.5 |
Let me tell you how I know that an album is hard to digest but great. When I put it on for the first time, most of the songs blur together, it's impossible to tell them apart. The first impression about the album is accentuated by those cool fragments of songs that remain in my memory. During the second listen I manage to hear most of those fragments. Just when I'm about to play the album for the third time to get those last cool bits, I realise that there are some more cool bits that I picked up during my second listen. With every consecutive listen, the number of cool bits increases, and my mind connects them to respective songs. After 10 listens all bits are in place, the picture is complete and my smile is wider than a six-lane freeway, because the album is brilliant. Read more ›› |
Rating:
7.0
7.0
|
Rating: 7.0 |
It is almost certainly true that in each professional musician's life - if they are passionate and serious about their art - comes a point, when they become almost too good at what they do and the result is an album that doesn't take very many risks or doesn't include any truly mind-blowing melodies, riffs, solos, etc. For Enslaved, that point of becoming too good to take risks came with 2010's Axioma Ethica Odini. Few albums will impress as highly on the first listen as this one, but that's not necessarily a good thing when it comes to (extreme) metal. An initial reaction of "I don't quite get it yet, but it's interesting" holds much more promise of an album becoming a true classic than does "OMG! This is awesome!" Read more ›› |
Comments page 4 / 5
Comments: 128
Visited by: 832 users
| koob Posts: 360 From: France |
|
| M C Vice ex-polydactyl Posts: 3346 From: Australia  |
Don't remove this review. This is some funny shit. Remember ponderer's comments about Therion's Sitra Ahra album and how he claimed to be an english teacher? Well, I spotted a few english grammer errors in the 1st paragraph of his review, so he couldn't have been much of a teacher. And Enslaved and Immortal sound nothing alike, except that they play the same genre. (havn't heard any Gorgoroth)
---- "Another day, another Doug." "I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples." " 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
Loading...
|
| malaikat Posts: 405  |
In short: when Ponderer talky about music, he actually talks about melody. So, the bands that, according to him, "do something musically", aren't some inovative composers but simply artists who make (more or less) melodic metal. That's why he compares Enslaved to Symphony X or Ensiferum. To him, (metal) music is just something that has melody you could humm or sing along with. In other words, n00b.
Loading...
|
| R'Vannith ghedengi Posts: 3099 From: Australia  |
This album is a tough nut to crack, which is more than I can say for the reviewer, that nut was already cracked. Might give Enslaved's earlier releases a try, this one really isn't grabbing my attention, perhaps in time. It's certainly better than most Black metal I've heard though.
Loading...
|
| Frost Beast Account deleted |
|
| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847 From: Canada  |
This review is shit, period.
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
Loading...
|
| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502 From: USA  |
Well, you're pretty much a fucking idiot... sorry, but i mean, come on. A 2.9? Clearly a troll, which would normally be accepted by black metal fans and bands, but not now!
Loading...
|
| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 8972 From: Canada  |
Written by Alex F on 25.02.2012 at 06:13 I guess you missed the whole ponderer thing... http://www.metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=9027 read this.
Loading...
|
| Alex F Slick Dick Rick Posts: 3502 From: USA |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.02.2012 at 06:37 Ahhhh, I see... After reading my post again, and most of my posts, I come off as a bit of a jackass don't I?
Loading...
|
| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 8972 From: Canada |
Written by Alex F on 25.02.2012 at 06:50 No, not at all, its just this was a... yeah... read the previous posts, and look through ponderers post. then you'll understand.
Loading...
|
| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493 From: Bulgaria  |
Haha, I didn't know about Joe referencing ponderer's review. ponderer was a hero. A true savior and purist of metal. He still comes back occasionally under the guise of a new account, but I haven't seen him in half an year or so.
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
Loading...
|
| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
|
| X-Ray Rod Skandino Posts: 18274 From: Sweden  |
Written by Guest on 25.02.2012 at 14:14 Heh nice, I suppose it most be very amusing considering that you allow him to write in your page (Asuming he does that... I'm also asuming that you can block him if you wanted to, I don't know about those things of course).... Heh, nothing better than seeing a poor bastard wasting time like that.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Loading...
|
| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
|
| X-Ray Rod Skandino Posts: 18274 From: Sweden |
Written by Guest on 25.02.2012 at 14:25 You don't answer back...right? xD Or if you do I suppose you are just witty.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Loading...
|
| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
|
| X-Ray Rod Skandino Posts: 18274 From: Sweden |
Written by Guest on 25.02.2012 at 14:42 I'm surprised how nice you are to him 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Loading...
|
| BitterCOld The Ancient One Posts: 15250  |
It's funny how fucking nuts that dude went because someone scored an album a 5.9 in a review... not that he was a stable individual beforehand.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
Loading...
|
| Daniell _爱情_ Posts: 6058 From: Poland  |
Written by BitterCOld on 25.02.2012 at 18:03 Good times hah. He wrote 2 reviews in answer to mine. This one, which is what it is, and a review of that Kamelot crap which I rated 5.9. The latter was at least based on him actually listening to the album, which wasn't the case with Enslaved
Loading...
|
| BlueMobius Account deleted |
|
| Maco Pvt Funderground Posts: 3593  |
Ahahahahhahahah THE BEST REVIEW EVER hail ponderer  .... wherever you are now HAIL xD
---- Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
Loading...
|
| CobiWan1993 Secundum Filium Posts: 1364 From: USA  |
This review is quite silly. 
---- Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
Loading...
|
| mz Posts: 4773  |
Legendary "review", I wish we could have find more reviews like this. It is even funnier than MA's reviews of MoP by metallica. Hail ponderer
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
Loading...
|
| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 8972 From: Canada |
Best review ever.
Loading...
|
| Jaeryd Nihil's Maw Posts: 1062 From: USA  |
I was totally sure this was satire until I went back and read through all his comments on Daniell's review for that one Kamelot album. I can't believe anyone would be dead serious about this. It's not that it's surprising that someone thinks the albums sucks. That makes perfect sense, since not everyone likes the same things. I don't mind seeing a negative review for an album I enjoy. What really gets me is how he acts like he's an expert on this kind of thing, when he obviously has no idea what he's talking about (how do you get so many simple facts wrong, like the bit with them wearing makeup/corpsepaint, or Enslaved sounding like Immortal/Gorgoroth? Makes absolutely no sense). As you read along, everything he says just makes it seem more and more like he's never even touched the album, let alone listened to it. Until I found out the drama behind this whole thing, I was sure it HAD to be satire, since no one would get that many things so terribly wrong unintentionally. But I suppose I was wrong about that. Anyway, it's nice that it's here for laughs, satire or no. I think the fact that it's deathly serious just makes it all the more humorous, so I suppose I appreciate that the guy wrote this...
---- 
Loading...
|
| Necrodamus Posts: 435 From: USA  |
I sincerely hope this is/was intended to be a troll review. Cause there is NO WAY the reviewer knows anything about this amazing album. Ugh that was a horrible read....
Loading...
|
| Uldreth Posts: 1150 From: Hungary |
|
| Necrodamus Posts: 435 From: USA |
Written by Uldreth on 16.06.2014 at 11:50 Ohh, gotcha. Thanks for the insight. Good thing about the ban too, those types of comments should not be tolerated anywhere. If I were staff I would have banned him solely on the fact that he hates Enslaved
Loading...
|
| Occh Posts: 6 From: USA |
|
| joshsteph Posts: 133 From: UK  |
So... This was funny, specially because someone 40+ is acting like someone my age (15-16) who got butthurt over something. Hilarious. Revenge review
Loading...
|
Hits total: 15585 | This month: 28