Last month, progressive trailblazers Enslaved officially announced their forthcoming studio album, “Mið”, set for release on October 30th, 2026, 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 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.
Voicalist / 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”.
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’”.
Watch the video for “Tales of Trees” below.
“Mið” is available to pre-order in the following formats:
• CD Jewelcase
• CD Digipack (w/ bonus track & sticker)
• LP gatefold vinyl (black, transparent blue, arctic blue pearl, blue/white/dark green/black marbled)
Pre-order & pre-save “Mið” here.
Tracklist:
1. Non-Being
2. I Am Ice (feat. Johan Sara Jr)
3. Solar Will
4. Mountain
5. Spirit Helper (feat. Kevin Kicking Woman)
6. Parting
7. Tales of Trees
8. I Miðju
To celebrate the arrival of “Mið”, Enslaved will hit the road across the UK and 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 9am BST / 10am CEST here.
European & UK Tour Dates 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
European Live Dates 2026:
29 Oct 26 NO – Bergen @ Kulturhuset*
30 Oct 26 NO – Oslo @ Big Dipper**
31 Oct 26 NO – Oslo @ Oslo Spektru#
* (Album Release Show)
** (Signing Session / Meet & Greet)
# (w/ Dimmu Borgir & Satyricon)
Festival 2027:
27-30 May 27 US – Baltimore @ Maryland Deathfest 2027
Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue 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 calibre, 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 ‘centre’, 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 onto the most universal on canvases, and between band members relying on instinct and each other to create a record that galvanises on every possible level.
Line-up:
Ivar Bjørnson | Guitars
Grutle Kjellson | Vocals, bass
Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal | Guitar
Håkon Vinje | Keyboards
Iver Sandøy | Drums
Weblinks:
enslaved.no
www.facebook.com/enslaved
