States guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjørnson: “We wanted to do something else for the album video this time around. The track ‘Ethica Odini’ opens the album and stood out as the choice for making a video. Earlier, we have done videos more or less by ourselves ('Isa'), semi-professionally ('Path To Vanir', 'Essence'), and all-the-way-glossy-pro ('The Watcher'). Now we are really curious to see what our listeners can conjure up out there: an entire new angle and blank sheets is always a good thing in the Enslaved universe! This is a way to interact directly with our listeners, which feels very right – as we seem to have the most involved listeners in the first place. We can’t begin to express the appreciation for the support we have been shown through the run-up to this release! May the best director win!”
Interested fans can obtain details here. Contest ends Thursday, September 30th.
First Place:
· Video will be uploaded to Enslaved’s YouTube channel and branded as an “official” video for 'Ethica Odini'.
· Enslaved will use the video in a live setting.
· Winner will receive ALL VERSIONS of Axioma Ethica Odini, including the limited edition wooden box, autographed by the band.
· Two guest list spots + a Meet & Greet session with Enslaved at a live concert nearest to the winner’s city of residence.
· Band merchandise.
· A special “thank you” video from Enslaved sent directly to the winner.
Second Place:
· Video will be uploaded to Enslaved’s YouTube channel and branded as an “official” video for 'Ethica Odini'.
· A special “thank you” video from Enslaved sent directly to the winner..
· Two guest list spots + a Meet & Greet session with Enslaved at a live concert nearest to the winner’s city of residence.
· Band merchandise.
Third Place:
· Video will be uploaded to Enslaved’s YouTube channel and branded as an “official” video for 'Ethica Odini'.
· A special “thank you” video from Enslaved sent directly to the winner..
· Band merchandise.
Audio samples of all tracks from Axioma Ethica Odini are available online at Amazon.co.uk
Axioma Ethica Odini will be released on September 27th in Europe and September 28th in North America.
The album will feature the following tracklisting:
'Ethica Odini'
'Raidho'
'Waruun'
'The Beacon'
'Axioma'
'Giants'
'Singular'
'Night Sight'
'Lightening'
The artwork for the album was recently revealed - see below:
The artwork for Axioma Ethica Odini is done by the Norwegian artist Truls Espedal, who has painted every Enslaved album cover since 2001’s Monumension.
Bassist and vocalist Grutle Kjellson comments: “On every new album cover, me and (rhythm guitarist/songwriter) Ivar (Bjørnson) come up with the idea of what the cover art shall include in terms of elements, symbolism and so forth. After that, we contact Truls and tell him about our ideas for the cover art. Then we arrange a meeting where we sit down for a couple of hours making sketches. Truls also has the opportunity to come up with his own ideas of how we can transform our original ideas the best possible way. He has made a masterpiece this time as well! The cover art is simply amazing! Amazing…”
Artist Truls Espedal comments: “I’m always excited about working with Enslaved, which is the reason I feel that too much time goes by between releases – ha, ha! But once again I sat down with Ivar and Grutle, and their ideas were more complex and interesting than ever. Also, their expectations and confidence that I’m able to come up with something better than before pushes me to set the bar even higher. This time around, we set out to expand further what we have done on earlier works: mixing the figurative paintings with the ‘symbolic’ design even more. By doing this, I feel that we are able to convey a lot more atmosphere, story, and a visually more interesting cover throughout. Hopefully other people will think the same. Good times.”
Axioma Ethica Odini is the eleventh studio album from Enslaved, and is produced by Bjørnson, Kjellson, and keyboardist/backing vocalist Herbrand Larsen.
The album was recorded at three different studios in Bergen, Norway: 1) Duper Studios; 2) Earshot Studios (belonging to Enslaved members Larsen and lead guitarist Ice Dale); and 3) Peersonal Sound (owned by Bjørnson). The album was mixed by Jens Bogren (OPETH, BLOODBATH, AMON AMARTH, ELUVEITIE) at Fascination Street Studios in Orebro, Sweden and mastered by Chris Sansom (MORTIIS) at Propeller Music Division in Oslo, Norway.
Enslaved will embark on a seven-show Circling Above and Within Tour of Europe beginning October 15th. Dates include:
October
15 – Underworld – London, Great Britain
16 – Aeronel – Paris, France
17 – L’autre Canal - Nancy, France
18 – Nouveau Casino – Paris, France
20 – Kade – Zaandam, The Netherlands
21 – W2 – Den Bosch, The Netherlands
22 – Trix – Antwerpen, Belgium
