Extol

Extol is a Christian metal band from Oslo, Norway that formed in 1993 and announced hiatus in 2007. They are known for playing a variety of different styles of metal which include progressive death metal, melodic death metal and thrash metal. They are mainly described as a progressive / melodic death metal band since they gained their popularity primarily through their earlier works in that genre.

Signed to Century Media Records, the band has released 4 studio albums and 2 EPs. The band is noted for their precise, technical musicianship. The 4th album, The Blueprint Dives received Spellemannsprisen nomination for best metal album of 2005. They have toured US and Europe several times with such bands as Mastodon, God Forbid and Opeth. Collectively, Extol has sold over 500,000 CD's worldwide.

Currently on a hiatus, their recent line-up included vocalist Peter Espevoll, guitarists Tor Magne Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen, drummer David Husvik, and bass player John Robert Mj?land. Notable original guitarists were Ole B?rud (of Schaliach fame) and Christer Espevoll, who contributed significantly to the band's virtuoisic songwriting. All the band members share Christian faith, which is apparent in their lyrics and themes.

History

Extol was formed in 1993 by drummer David Husvik and guitarist Christer Espevoll, who had been playing together and wanted to start a band. Peter Espevoll became their vocalist. In 1994, bassist Eystein Holm joined the band just before their first gig. Emil Nikolaisen joined as a second guitarist in 1995.

In 1996, they recorded for Norwegian metal compilation, Northern Lights. Later that year they recorded "Embraced", a short demo. Ole B?rud, formerly known for his death/doom project Schaliach, soon replaced Nikolaisen, who wanted to give more attention to his other band, Royal, on guitar. Nikolaisen currently plays guitar and lead vocals for indie rock band Serena Maneesh. They signed with Endtime Productions in 1998, and released Burial, the band's first full album. It was licenced to US through Solid State Records and to Japan through Avalon Records. The album introduced a melodic and technical, blackened death metal oriented style.

The next year, they released the EP, Mesmerized, which featured three industrial remixes of songs from Burial by the bands Raison d'?tre and Sanctum. Eystein was replaced by Tor Magne Glidje on bass. They later recorded Undeceived, which was much darker and more intense than its predecessor. The song "Ember" proved to be a popular song among their fans. Then Ole left the band, so Tor Glidje switched over to guitar, and John Robert Mj?land joined as bassist.

In 2001, another EP, Paralysis, was recorded; it was only released in Sweden. This EP featured a cover of "Shadow of Death" by the reputive American thrash metal group Believer, whom the band considers to be a great influence. After Paralysis, Tor Magne left the band to focus on his other project, Ganglion, and Ole returned to the line-up. After Undeceived was released, Extol was no longer obligated to Endtime, and they signed with Century Media in 2002. Their album Synergy, released in 2003, showed an even greater appreciation of the band Believer. The music on the album is very similar to Believer's style of thrash metal. Following the release, Extol toured Europe and US with the Swedish progressive death metal group Opeth.

In June 2004, Ole B?rud and Christer Espevoll left Extol to "invest their time and energy elsewhere". Taking their place as permanent members in the band are the return of Tor Magne Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen, both from Ganglion, that merged with Extol when four out of five bandmembers ended up playing in both bands.

In 2005, the band released what could be considered their most diverse album; The Blueprint Dives, or "Blueprint" for short. A music video was shot for the song "Pearl." The album was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannprisen, for best Norwegian metal album in 2005. Also, Blueprint was voted for the Top 5 metal albums of the year list by the reades of the biggest newspaper in Norway, Dagbladet. Afterwards, Extol toured Europe with Mastodon, God Forbid, and Opeth, and US with Haste the Day, Becoming the Archetype, and The Showdown. The album received rave reviews: For example, Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic gave the album 4.5/5 and writes that "To Extol's greatest credit, offhand comparisons to other bands are almost impossible!".

On August 9, 2007 the band announced through their MySpace page that they are currently on a hiatus.

Members

Most recent members
Peter Espevoll - vocals, acoustic guitar (1993?2007)
Tor Magne Glidje - bass guitar, guitar (1999?2001); guitar (2004?2007)
Ole Halvard Sveen - guitar (2004?2007)
David Husvik - drums (1993?2007)
John Robert Mj?land - bass guitar (2001?2007)
Past members
Christer Espevoll - guitars (1993?2004)
Ole B?rud - guitars, flute, vocals (1996?2000) (2001?2004)
Eystein Holm - bass guitar(1994?1999)
Emil Nikolaisen - guitars (1995?1996)

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extol