Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjørnson has spoken about declining an invitation from Type O Negative’s Peter Steele to support his thrash band Carnivore on tour when he was 17 years old, told Louder Sound.
Bjørnson explained that Steele made the offer after the two met during an earlier interaction. At that age, Bjørnson was already pushing the limits of what was allowed for a young touring musician.
“[Steele] was really nice, super friendly,” Bjørnson said. “Some weeks later came the offer: ‘If you want to hang out for another month after the tour, you can support Carnivore.’ I was like, ‘Umm, I think I need to go back to high school.'”
The guitarist later admitted he had second thoughts about turning down the opportunity. “Yes, [I regretted that decision],” he said. “Then again, I was 17, so we were barely allowed to go on tour in the first place! And we’d already stayed two weeks longer than we were supposed to. We made up a story that we were staying with a friend in Dallas, but we actually spent two weeks touring Mexico. I didn’t tell my mum about it until I was 26.”
Bjørnson reflected on this moment from his early years in Enslaved when the band was still finding its place in the touring circuit.
The decision shows the complicated reality young musicians face when balancing band ambitions with school and parental expectations.
Bjørnson was 17 when he met Steele during Enslaved’s first tour of the US in 1994. Steele was a dedicated fan of the band—he had a copy of Enslaved’s second album “Frost” on his tour bus. Before forming Type O Negative, Steele had played in the heavy metal band Fallout and the thrash metal band Carnivore.
The tour that brought Bjørnson and Steele together was groundbreaking for Norwegian extreme metal. Enslaved’s 1995 tour of the US, Canada and Mexico marked the first time a Norwegian black and extreme metal band had undertaken such an extensive North American tour, making the experience already significant for the young musicians in the band.
Bjørnson’s decision to return to high school rather than extend his time on the road reflected the practical constraints facing teenage musicians. At 17, touring itself was already pushing against restrictions placed on young musicians, and staying two weeks longer than allowed to travel through Mexico had already tested those boundaries. The offer to tour with Carnivore would have extended his absence even further, making the choice between pursuing a rare opportunity and meeting his obligations at home a genuine dilemma for a teenager trying to establish his band.
