The band entered the studio to begin work on the follow-up to 2017’s E in December last year and had hoped to release the record in May. However, with all that’s been happening around the world, the band and their label Nuclear Blast have agreed to push its launch back until the autumn.

 

ENSLAVED explain: “Due to the current situation, we took the decision together with our label Nuclear Blast to postpone the release of Utgard to the fall. Therefore, as you can imagine, the whole schedule had to be adjusted quickly! 

 

“We understand that seeing a video teaser followed by nothing has been confusing. As of today, we can announce that our first single and video will be released on May 22, and we can’t wait to share this new music with you all! We are sure you understand that this is for the best.

 

“In the meantime, we’d like to tell you a little more about the Utgard cover artwork. This is the ninth consecutive album cover done by Truls Espedal – and like the album itself, it is definitely on the wavelength of the long-distance pulse from the Enslaved generator. 

 

We can’t wait to share this new music with you all! We are sure you understand that this is for the best.“

While the music world reels due to the coronavirus pandemic, ENSLAVED have also confirmed that they’ll play a live online set at Bergen's Verftet Online Music Festival on April 1, which will be streamed on Bergens Tidende and YouTube.

 

A full tracklist and pre-order details for Utgard will be revealed in due course. 

 

Enslaved (Image credit: Roy Bjørge)