Enslaved have released a new single and video from Heimdal, their 16th studio album due out on March 3 2023. Forest Dweller launches with progressive splendour, guiding the listener into a churning, psychedelic journey through archaic Norse folklore. One might ask what lessons we can divine from our celestial ancestors? We might never understand their true intentions, but their echo will live on regardless.
Enslaved’s Grutle Kjellson commented: “To me ‘Forest Dweller’ was the most immediate song on the album, at least in its earliest form as an instrumental demo. I spent quite some time to get into some of the other songs of the album, but this one seemed somehow logical, well logical by Enslaved standards that is. I had an idea for a lyric, and Ivar’s amazing and diverse riffs on this one made it easy to pan out the scripture. I made a rough plan on what to sing over it, and we actually ended up using some parts of those recordings on the album!
The song sort of showcases our representative samples of inspiration: Led Zep, Genesis, Destruction, Iron Maiden and David Bowie, to mention a schizophrenic tapestry of influences. It mirrors in the lyrics as well, which deals about both darkness and light in connection to the nature of Heimdal.”
