Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini [2010]

There's no way I could have foreseen the utter brilliance found here. As mostly fan of progressive, power and thrash metal, I just took a completely blind, impulsive shot in the dark here, convinced by many who seemed to believe this thing holy and frustrated with an absolutely dismal appearing year of music (I missed some releases, however). The reason I'm telling you this is to emphasize the point that anyone and any fan of any genre can appreciate this creative masterpiece, because that was the best impulse acquisition anybody could dream to make; Axioma Ethica Odini is unbelievable.

The album didn't strike me as magnificent immediately; of course, they rarely do, and even more rarely in this genre. Starting off with the clean, sweeping riffs of Ethica Odini, however, a few things did catch my ear and serve as harbinger to how I would feel about it. First off, the simplicity, oh, the beautiful simplicity. In a modern era of nothing but suffocating and numbing overindulgence in guitar tone and fast, complex riffs that leave you struggling to catch up, Enslaved settle for the basics, sacrificing their vain sides for the greater good of the songwriting. Such is the root of why I'm typically indifferent to this style, but they completely got me with a wonderful, almost lighthearted (albeit dark) mood that never ceases to be pleasing to the ear. It really is memorable, too; most bands in progressive black betal will just play ten minutes of incoherent riffs and chanting and call it a song. Not here. There are repeating parts-a-plenty, athough it never gets boring or repetitive.

Another factor that I immediately knew I liked was the inclusion of clean vocals, and I tend to be a sucker for vocal mix hybrids. I usually don't take to them as much as I do here, though, as they provide an essential element to the memorability of the record and its uniqueness. The calm, somewhat low-pitched tone of the vocals (characteristic of post-rock) is used to perfection in slow passages and mindblowing choruses albumwide. Some of these caught my ear the very first time I heard it, which is quite an anomaly among difficultly perceived projects such as this. This is one of those albums that may require a lot of patience and repeated listens to enjoy; I can't emphasize this enough.

It didn't take long for me, though. After a few listens, everything fell into place and I realized how profound and masterfully crafted Axioma Ethica Odini is. The songs (all of them are brilliant highlights; I wouldn't insult any of them  with separate mentions) started infiltrating my mind and really took hold of me. I even found myself singing along to the shrieky black metal vocals in parts. I believe that in some cases, people can't appreciate music not because it can't fully grasp the listener, but because the listener won't let it grasp them. Unfortunately, many will let this divine experience slip away with few listens, if any, because of a general closemindedness or absentmindedness. Don't be that guy, because after nine spins in one day, I can tell you that this is the last thing you want to miss. This is THE album of 2010.

   Overall: 10/10 (Absolute - ...embrace the opposite)