Last month, progressive trailblazers Enslaved officially announced their forthcoming studio album, Mið, set for release on October 30 via Nuclear Blast Records. Throughout their 35-year journey, across 17 albums, the Norwegian vanguard have continually redefined the boundaries of progressive black Metal, weaving Old Norse histories and sacred traditions into complex modern soundscapes. With their latest offering, Enslaved turn their gaze toward the fundamental concept of the axis: the middle, the origin, and the infinite reach of the present moment.
Building on the momentum of their latest tracks Solar Will and Spirit Helper (feat. Kevin Kicking Woman), the band have now unveiled the album’s next single, Tales Of Trees. The song uses the majesty and fragility of the natural world as a mirror for the human condition. Through a blend of complex progressive structures and searing black Metal atmosphere, the band draws a parallel between Mother Nature and the psyche.
“Tales Of Trees is indeed tales about trees,” Vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson said, “but perhaps not first and foremost in a botanical sense. Trees can grow, shine, and flourish, but they can also wither and burn. They need to be tended to and looked after in one way or another, and thus serve as a fitting parallel to the human mind, let alone humanity as a whole.
“Trees as symbols of something more than mere botanical creatures have appeared throughout history, both in mythological tales and in folklore. So, I think this tale is a fitting accompaniment to the Heavy and yet dynamic tunes of this composition.”
“Tales Of Trees can be both a tribute to our wooden relatives on this planet – who have had rather a lot of patience with us – and a metaphor for so much more,” Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson said. “The winding time signatures of folk music and the adventurous spirit of classic prog are natural ingredients in my songwriting, and they feel particularly at home here.
“There is something about our kinship with trees that is both deeply familiar and wonderfully strange: everyday encounters with something we barely understand. That sense of recognition and mystery is at the heart of this song, opening another path into the world of ‘Mið’.”
You can pre-order Mið from enslaved.bfan.link/mid.
To celebrate the arrival of Mið, Enslaved will hit the road across the UK and Europe in February 2027 on a co-headline tour with Iceland’s Sólstafir, with support from Norway’s Gaahls Wyrd.
“Europe! In February we are heading out on a co-headlining tour with our good friends in Sólstafir,” Enslaved said. “There is a kinship here that goes beyond a shared enthusiasm for questionable weather: the belief that music should be allowed to find its own path, even when it refuses to explain where it is going.
“Bringing Mið into that company, and into a room with all of you, feels very right. Making a record is one part of the adventure; discovering what happens to it when we meet you out there is another. That exchange still means everything to us. See you in the flesh.”
Tickets go on sale on 25 September at 9am BST / 10am CEST from Enslaved.no
Enslaved & Sólstafir Co-Headline Tour 2027
04/02/27 – DE Berlin, Festsaal
05/02/27 – DE Leipzig, Felsenkeller
06/02/27 – DE Hamburg, Fabrik
07/02/27 – DK Copenhagen, Amager Bio
08/02/27 – DE Frankfurt, Batschkapp
09/02/27 – FR Strasbourg, La Laiterie
11/02/27 – FR Rennes, Antipode
12/02/27 – FR Clermont-Ferrand, La Cooperative de Mai
13/02/27 – FR Toulouse, Le Metronum
14/02/27 – ES Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
16/02/27 – FR Paris, Elysee Montmartre
17/02/27 – UK London, Electric Ballroom
18/02/27 – BE Liege, OM
19/02/27 – NL Nijmegen, Doornroosje
20/02/27 – NL Utrecht, Tivoli Pandora
21/02/27 – DE Cologne, Live Music Hall
23/02/27 – CH Solothurn, Kofmehl
24/02/27 – IT Milan, Magnolia
25/02/27 – AT Vienna, SIMM City
26/02/27 – PL Warsaw, Progresja
27/02/27 – CZ Brno, Fleda
