ENSLAVED Shares New Single 'Tales Of Trees', Announces February 2027 European Tour With SÓLSTAFIR

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" (featuring Kevin Kicking Woman),the band have now unveiled the album's next captivating 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 poignant parallel between Mother Nature and the psyche.

ENSLAVED vocalist/bassist Grutle Kjellson states: "'Tales Of Trees' is indeed tales about trees, 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 the the heavy and yet dynamic tunes of this composition."

ENSLAVED guitarist Ivar Bjørnson adds: "'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. 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'."

To celebrate the arrival of "Mið", ENSLAVED will hit the road across Europe in February 2027 as a co-headline with Iceland's SÓLSTAFIR, with support coming from Norway's GAAHLS WYRD.

ENSLAVED commented: "Europe! In February we are heading out on a co-headlining tour with our good friends in SÓLSTAFIR. 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 will go on-sale on September 25 at 9 a.m. BST / 10 a.m. CEST from enslaved.no.

ENSLAVED and SÓLSTAFIR 2027 co-headline tour with GAAHLS WYRD:

Feb. 04 - DE Berlin, Festsaal
Feb. 05 - DE Leipzig, Felsenkeller
Feb. 06 - DE Hamburg, Fabrik
Feb. 07 - DK Copenhagen, Amager Bio
Feb. 08 - DE Frankfurt, Batschkapp
Feb. 09 - FR Strasbourg, La Laiterie
Feb. 11 - FR Rennes, Antipode
Feb. 12 - FR Clermont-Ferrand, La Cooperative de Mai
Feb. 13 - FR Toulouse, Le Metronum
Feb. 14 - ES Barcelona, Razzmatazz 2
Feb. 16 - FR Paris, Elysee Montmartre
Feb. 17 - UK London, Electric Ballroom
Feb. 18 - BE Liege, OM
Feb. 19 - NL Nijmegen, Doornroosje
Feb. 20 - NL Utrecht, Tivoli Pandora
Feb. 21 - DE Cologne, Live Music Hall
Feb. 23 - CH Solothurn, Kofmehl
Feb. 24 - IT Milan, Magnolia
Feb. 25 - AT Vienna, SIMM City
Feb. 26 - PL Warsaw, Progresja
Feb. 27 - CZ Brno, Fleda

Never faltering, Norway's iconic ENSLAVED continues to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene's indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest caliber, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound.

ENSLAVED was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo, "Yggdrasill", in the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-album "Hordanes Land" coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-length "Vikingligr Veldi" arriving in the spring of 1994.

It's a rare and remarkable feat that 35 years and now 17 albums in, ENSLAVED's horizons still continue to expand. Every stage of the Bergen band's evolution, every new phase entered, has felt like an organic act of discovery and renewal. Their journey has been at once a commitment to a promise that found its embryonic form in the Norwegian black metal scene they emerged from, and a willingness to challenge both orthodoxy and themselves from the off to make that potential manifest.

ENSLAVED's new album, "Mið", an Old Norse word for "center" or "middle", marks another departure, and another new beginning. The band have always dealt in states of transition, nor least on the thematically linked, mythology-steeped rites of passage that were 2020's "Utgard" and 2023's "Heimdal". What lay beyond, however, was… unexpected.

"Mið" is an album that sheds light on harmonies and dialogues embedded all around us: between the ways of the past, and how they can bring enlightenment to the present, between small kernels of truth and their ability to project on to the most universal of canvases, and between bandmembers relying on instinct and each other to create a record that galvanizes on every possible level.

"Mið" track listing:

01. Non-Being
02. I Am Ice (featuring Johan Sara Jr)
03. Solar Will
04. Mountain
05. Spirit Helper (featuring Kevin Kicking Woman)
06. Parting
07. Tales of Trees
08. I Miðju

ENSLAVED is:

Ivar Bjørnson - guitars
Grutle Kjellson - vocals, bass
Arve "Ice Dale" Isdal - guitar
Håkon Vinje - keyboards
Iver Sandøy - drums

Photo credit: Chantik Photography