Below the Lights is the seventh studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved. It was released on 5 May 2003.[2] Beyond it being their last full-length for production company Osmose (they would move to Candlelight for their next studio album), a few lineup changes would take place. This would be the last album Enslaved recorded with Dirge Rep on drums (he also co-wrote two songs), and the first album featuring Arve Isdal as lead guitarist. They would also enlist a full-time keyboardist in Herbrand Larsen (who helped engineer the record), bringing the band personnel from four to five.
| Below the Lights | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 May 2003 | |||
| Recorded | September–October 2002, Greighallen Studios in Bergen | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:17 | |||
| Label | Osmose | |||
| Producer | Pytten, Jørgen Træen, Ivar Peersen, Grutle Kjellson | |||
| Enslaved chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception edit
AllMusic's William York wrote a positive review of the album, writing that "for all its variety, this is still a fairly heavy, meat-and-potatoes album with plenty of emotional nuance as well. There are a few spots where Enslaved's ambitions get the better of them, but the experimentation is welcome in any case, and most of it does work. Below the Lights will likely stand out down the road as one of the top black metal releases of 2003."[1] In 2016, About.com named it the best Enslaved album to date, highlighting it for being "everything the band had been slowly building towards was fully realized", fully unleashing the band's potential, and "their crowning achievement."[3]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "As Fire Swept Clean the Earth" | Peersen / Grutle | Peersen | 6:35 |
| 2. | "The Dead Stare" | Peersen / Husebø | Peersen | 5:37 |
| 3. | "The Crossing" | Grutle | Peersen | 9:12 |
| 4. | "Queen of Night" | Peersen | Peersen | 5:59 |
| 5. | "Havenless" | Peersen | Peersen | 5:35 |
| 6. | "Ridicule Swarm" | Husebø | Peersen | 6:18 |
| 7. | "A Darker Place" | Peersen | Peersen | 7:01 |
"Havenless" contains excerpts from Aksel Sandemose's "Vi pynter oss med horn".
Personnel edit
Enslaved edit
- Grutle Kjellson – bass guitar, vocals
- Arve Isdal – guitar
- Ivar Bjørnson – guitars, keyboards, effectors
- Per Husebø (a.k.a. Dirge Rep) – drums
Additional musicians edit
- Gina Torgnes: Flute on "Queen of Night"
- Bjørgvin Tungrock Kor: Choir & Chants on "Havenless"
- Inge Rypdal: Lead Guitar on "A Darker Place"
- Dennis Reksten: Additional Synthesizers & Effects
Technical personnel edit
- Arranged By Enslaved
- Produced By Pytten, Jørgen Træen, Ivar Peersen & Grutle Kjellson
- Engineered By Pytten, Herbrand Larsen & Davide Bertolini
- Mixed By Ivar Bjornson, Grutle Kjellson & Jørgen Træen at Duper Studios in Bergen
- Mastered By Nicholas Ramaget, Pierre Dechamps (both at Digipro Studios) & Jørgen Træen (at Duper Studios)
- All Songs Published By Les Editions Hurlantes.
References edit
- ^ a b Below the Lights at AllMusic
- ^ "Bands News". Osmose Productions. Archived from the original on 18 June 2003. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ "Top 5 Enslaved Albums". Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved 2016-07-30.