RIITIIR

RIITIIR, occasionally typeset as "RIITIIЯ," is the twelfth studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved. It was released on September 28, 2012 in Europe and on October 9, 2012 in North America. The name RIITIIR is Ivar Bjørnson's "Norse-ified" take on the words "Rites/Rituals", or "The Rites of Man", and rituals form the central concept of the album. The album received positive reviews from music critics, and sold around 2,300 copies in its first week of release in the United States, which made it their highest debuting album to date in terms of sales.

== Musical style and writing == BBC Music described the album as "a complex, schizophrenic work, verging on the overly sensorial at points, leaving the listener feeling as if they’ve been repeatedly bashed over the head with a really clever hammer. It’s marked by sudden shifts in tempo and disposition, propelled by unhinged rhythms: check the title track’s arabesque, Melechesh-like pummel." They also noted that keyboardist Herbrand Larsen's clean vocals "dominate" the album, "imbuing its eight tracks with a sheen of accessibility that may test the tolerance of some."