Considering how vehemently
punk and
progressive rock audiences detested each other back in the late '70s, it is truly ironic that the
prog rock element has become so strong in melodic
death metal and
symphonic black metal. The
death metal/
black metal field, after all, wouldn't have existed were it not for
punk;
black metal came out of
death metal, which came out of
thrash (the first true fusion of
metal and
punk). But then, dogma and sectarianism are things that intelligent musicians ultimately reject, which is why a
symphonic black metal jewel like
Ruun can be influenced by
Pink Floyd (among many others) even though
black metal's overall debt to
punk remains undeniable (for that matter, very little post-'80s
metal doesn't have some type of
punk influence). There are some
black metal purists who would argue that
Enslaved's
Ruun, like their
Isa album, is too mindful of mainstream tastes, that the strong
power metal and
prog rock influence one hears on this 46-minute disc is an example of
black metal being watered down and diluted. But what is watered down to one person is expansive and broad-minded to another, and make no mistake:
Ruun epitomizes a very expansive vision of
black metal. This is loud, heavy, intense, forceful, in-your-face music -- no one is going to mistake
Ruun for a
Celine Dion album anytime soon -- but it is also highly melodic, elaborate, and intricate. Listing all of the influences on this release would be time-consuming, but suffice it to say that elements of everything from
punk to
Pink Floyd to
Ronnie James Dio to
Scandinavian folk make their presence felt on
Ruun. Recorded in 2005 and 2006, this excellent CD finds
Enslaved very much on top of their
black metal game 14 and 15 years after their formation. ~ Alex Henderson
