Enslaved released the single “Jettegryta” this Friday, the 10th, which will be on their upcoming album Utgard release on October 2nd. The song came with a video that shows a glacial landscape in Iceland transforming into something quite sinister.
According to vocalist and bassist Grutle Kjellson , Iceland was chosen as the recording location because the song's name refers to a natural phenomenon where rivers or any flowing water create a cylindrical hole in rocks. He further explains that in Norse folklore, giants created these holes so they could cook in them.
“Although this specific phenomenon doesn’t occur in the volcanic area of Iceland, there are several places in this magical land that giants may inhabit,” he said, “When the Norse settled in Iceland between the eighth and ninth centuries, the smoke and mist from the hot volcanoes clearly signaled that the island was inhabited by elves, dwarves, and giants! This reminded them of the stories of Utgard. For them, Iceland was at the gate of Utgard, the border of the mundane world – it was a portal.”
Speaking about “Jettegryta,” Kjellson explains that the lyrics were inspired by the image of this esoteric and mythological place in the depths of our minds and imagination, a portal to dreams, the unconscious, and the realm of chaos. The music video, he adds, attempts to illustrate exactly that message.
Watch the video below, then check out the cover art and tracklist for the album Utgard.
Enslaved:
Utgard 1. Fires In The Dark
2. Jettegryta
3. Sequence
4. Homebound
5. Utgardr
6. Urjotun
7. Flight Of Thought And Memory
8. Storms Of Utgard
9. Distant Seasons
