EXTOL
Extol
Indie Recordings (2013)
Rating: 9/10
|
|
I first heard Norway’s Extol on the Rowe Productions’ (the label owned by Mortification’s Steve Rowe) Northern Lights compilation (1996) back when there was a blossoming market for Christian metal. I then saw them perform in Illinois while supporting their 1998 debut album Burial and I was sold. Their technical and progressive black metal early work was unparalleled and challenged the norms of the scene in the same way the oft-overlooked Believer albums did.
After going on hiatus in 2007, nearly two years after their 2005 The Blueprint Dives album, Extol return with a new self-titled album. The album features vocalist Peter Espevoll, guitarist Ole Børud and drummer David Husvik. Although solid, this is far from the “classic line-up” I’m sure many fans were hoping for.
So, let’s cut right to the chase. Does Extol sound like the band’s blackened early works Burial and Undeceived (2000)? Or does it sound like their more alternative and progressive sounding later works Synergy (2003) and The Blueprint Dives? The answer, quite simply, is neither. This is the sound of Extol moving forward, not a reunion cash-in that features bloated nostalgia.
There are two things you notice here right away. The first is that Extol have gone even further into the progressive aspect of their music than their last two albums did. The band full-on channel aspects of Rush, Yes and King’s X without apology. The breaks in the opening track ‘Betrayal’, offers it loud and clear, with a recurring Beatles-eque harmony piece backed by clean guitars. The off-key swagger of ‘Wastelands’ is another moment laden with Rush innuendos as is the atmospheric and beautiful ‘Dawn Of Redemption’ that could easily have been penned by Ty Tabor (King’s X) and boasts a gorgeous string section and is entirely sans vocals.
The band don’t even attempt to be heavy and I find it tremendously surprising. There is plenty of heavy here (such as the back to back ‘Ministers’ and ‘A Gift Beyond Human Reach’ and the verses of ‘Betrayal’, among others) as well, but the progressive elements seem to be the overall focal point.
The other thing you notice are the blatantly Christian-themed lyrics. ‘Ministers’ and ‘Extol’ in particular hearken back to the Burial and Undeceived era. In the crushing anthem ‘Extol’, Peter Espevoll spits “Above all else you stand mighty and terrible / Yet gracious and compassionate / Slow to anger and of great mercy / Until the day I take my last breath / My soul will praise the Lord and everything within me / Extol his holy name”.
Likewise, ‘Faltering Moves’ and the massive wall of drum-driven goodness that is ‘Open The Gates’ make no bones about what the band represents in 2013. The idea of extended grace and the search for wholeness and mercy are found throughout the album. While not quite as poetic as the band’s later works, I find the return to these themes at the forefront of the band’s music to be a powerful statement. Some will certainly be put off by the lyrics but that won’t be anything new to the band.
Overall, Extol is proof that the band was, in fact, on a hiatus. Elements of all of the band’s prior albums are evident here but they far from rest on their “500,000 albums sold” laurels. The band are heavier than they have been in years but also at their most progressive and melodic as well. If you are a fan of bands as varied as Believer, King’s X, Galactic Cowboys, Darkane, Mnemic, and other bands that walk the fringes, then you’ll love Extol.
Mark Fisher
