JSR Merchandise and Norwegian masters of progressive/experimental metal ENSLAVED have recently teamed up to bring you some exclusive merch designs which are available for purchasing now at: http://www.jsrdirect.com/bands/enslaved/

The video for "The Watcher" – directed by Norwegian Grammy Award winner Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Keep Of Kalessin, In Flames) – is available for viewing here: http://www.youtube.com/user/enslaved...

Now available at the Nuclear Blast America Web Shop ( http://store.nuclearblastusa.com/Art... ) and Nuclear Blast Europe ( http://www.nuclearblast.de/showShopS... )Web Shop, purchase the limited editions of Vertebrae!

Triple LP VERTEBRAE set
Colored vinyl (two red and one white) with full live show from Rock Hard Festival 2008

Purchase at: Nuclear Blast America: http://store.nuclearblastusa.com/Art...
Purchase at: Nuclear Blast Europe: http://www.nuclearblast.de/showShopS...

Limited VERTEBRAE box
Edition w/Patch, lanyard, Bonus CD incl. full live show and a video with a personal greeting from the band

Purchase at: Nuclear Blast America: http://store.nuclearblastusa.com/Art...
Purchase at: Nuclear Blast Europe: http://www.nuclearblast.de/showShopS...

Purchase Vertebrae at:

BUY - NB USA: http://store.nuclearblastusa.com/Art...

BUY - NB EUROPE: http://www.nuclearblast.de/showShopS...

BUY - eMusic: http://www.emusic.com/artist/Enslave...

BUY - Napster: http://free.napster.com/view/artist/...

BUY - Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/enslaved-2

BUY - iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...

BUY - Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...

BUY - FYE: http://www.fye.com/viewamgrefdata.ht...

Enslaved MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/enslaved

Enslaved Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/enslaved

Guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjornson offers a more details on the band’s visit to the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. on May 27th, the day of the last show on their North American tour with Opeth in support of their Billboard-charting album, Vertebrae:

“We were very excited about visiting the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. and were heartily welcomed by Ambassador Wegger Chr. Strommen and a large group from the Embassy staff. We were invited to talk about the band’s history, our own efforts in the American music market, and in more general terms about the export of Norwegian music; Metal in particular. The staff’s questions were updated and detailed; it turned out to be a very interesting and fruitful conversation. Later that night, a group of five staff members came to the concert – we know this for a fact, as shouts of ‘Go Norway!’ came from the VIP-section when Grutle [Kjellson, vocalist/bassist] told the audience about the visit from the Embassy. We hope we get to meet them again, and that other foreign stations take on the challenge to get as involved in Norwegian culture abroad as the Norwegians in Washington D.C.”

In response to the questions posed online about why Bjornson and Kjellson were looking skyward while at the Embassy: “They were looking up to the balcony as people came out from their offices to check out the ‘death metal’ guys.”

The video for "The Watcher" – directed by Norwegian Grammy Award winner Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, Keep Of Kalessin, In Flames) – is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGOHk...

View live photos of ENSLAVED taken by Tom Couture on May 2nd at the House Of Blues in Boston here: http://photos.tomcouture.com/p33323281
__________________________________
 _____

The organizers of the 2009 edition of the Hole In The Sky Festival (http://www.holeinthesky.no/2009/) (a.k.a. Bergen Metal Fest X) — which is scheduled to take place August 25-29 in Bergen, Norway — have issued the following update:

"Hole In The Sky X is closing in fast. We give you the lowdown of the spectacular anniversary concert that is set to close the Friday night proceedings. Hosted by the mighty ENSLAVED.

"Formed in the heydays of the Norwegian extreme metal scene, ENSLAVED has been a constant and pioneering force for 18 years.

"Their history can be divided into three phases:

1. The early years 1991-1996: closest to the black metal scene, from the EP Hordanes Land to the second album Frost.

2. Middle years 1997-2002: experimental and extremely varied, from third LP Eld to Monumension.

3. Present ENSLAVED 2003-present: a synthesis of the roots and the new elements; ENSLAVED has created a sound and a scene of its own, from Below the Lights to Vertebrae.

"The 'A Blaze in the Northern Sky' show will reflect these periods and will have the following setup:

PART ONE: Present ENSLAVED - The band will be presenting a cross section of songs from Below The Lights, Isa, Ruun and Vertebrae.

PART TWO: Hordanes Land - For the first time in history, the legendary Hordanes Land EP (also released as a split CD with EMPEROR) will be performed in its entirety — with EMPEROR members Samoth (guitar) and Trym (drums), who also played drums for ENSLAVED in this period, as guest musicians.

PART THREE: Roots - This final part will feature ENSLAVED performing songs from the formative period, in other words, their influences in the early '90s — featuring the frontmen from the original bands as guest vocalists: L.G. from ENTOMBED, Attila from MAYHEM, and the man himself, Nocturno Culto from DARKTHRONE. Nocturno will also be performing on a world premiere of an exclusive ENSLAVED song written specially for the occasion of celebrating ENSLAVED's extreme roots. This song will be the A-side of a 7" EP strictly limited to 500 copies to be released after the performance; more news on this will follow. The show will be concluded with a grandiose surpri

Kiki Ryan and Jeff Dufour of WashingtonExaminer.com report: You can't say the Norwegian Embassy doesn't take seriously its commitment to supporting the country's art. Even when that art happens to be death metal.

On Wednesday night, the Norwegian progressive metal band ENSLAVED played the 9:30 Club, its first show in D.C. And, to the crowd's surprise and delight, there were a group of embassy staffers in the VIP section, getting a shout-out from front man Grutle Kjellson.

Anne Myklebust, a cultural adviser at the embassy, said she and four of her colleagues went to see the show. But that wasn't by any means the beginning of their support. She said the embassy helped the band out with funding for its U.S. tour. So "they asked if they could see the embassy," and Wednesday afternoon, the band met with Ambassador Wegger Strommen for an hour.

Read the entire report from WashingtonExaminer.com: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/po...

Purchase Vertebrae at:

BUY - NB USA: http://store.nuclearblastusa.com/Art...

BUY - NB EUROPE: http://www.nuclearblast.de/showShopS...

BUY - NB MP3 SHOP: http://www.nuclearblast-musicshop.de...

BUY - eMusic: http://www.emusic.com/artist/Enslave...

BUY - Napster: http://free.napster.com/view/artist/...

BUY - Rhapsody: http://www.rhapsody.com/-search?quer...

BUY - iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...

BUY - Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...

BUY - FYE: http://www.fye.com/viewamgrefdata.ht...

BUY - Barnes and Noble: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/sear...

Enslaved MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/enslaved

Enslaved Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enslav...