What unites a mysterious god who may be older than Odin, the motto of Blackadder ’s General Melchett and a cross-country skiing blastbeat? The surprising answer is Heimdal, the new album from Enslaved. Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson take Prog inside the making of their new prog metal masterpiece.

Words: David West

Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson celebrate the most enigmatic of all the Norse gods.

Images: Roy Bjørge

“‘Enslaved’ is a pretty good description of the sound. It’s an abstraction, it doesn’t really deal with everyday frustrations or teenage heartbreak. It’s more of a summary of life lived over 30 years, like the human experience.”

Ivar Bjørnson

In Norse mythology, when the great and terrible Ragnarök arrives to lay waste to the Nine Realms, the gods will know the hour has come when Heimdall blows the Gjallarhorn to rally the warriors to the final battle. Heimdal, the 16th album from Enslaved, opens with the sound of Heimdall’s fabled horn – and the god who guards the Bifröst bridge casts a long shadow over Enslaved’s career. The track Heimdallr appeared on their 1994 debut album, Vikingligr Veldi.

“That was one of the first songs we wrote, and it was even included on a demo tape we recorded in 1992,” says vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson. “Heimdall is one of the most important figures in Norse mythology and yet he is surrounded by mysticism because all the other gods and deities in Norse mythology have clear origins. Heimdall hasn’t. The concept of Heimdall has always been debated amongst scholars – where does he come from? Does he come from a pre-Norse mythology cult? Does he have an equivalent in other mythologies? Has he been around for longer than Norse mythology? And the answer is: probably.”