EXTOL: “EXTOL”

 Album Reviews  14 Responses »
Jun 262013
 

(Andy Synn reviews the spectacular new come-back album by Norway’s Extol)

So, all my cards on the table… I approached this album with an equal mix of awe and trepidation. After all, this band means a huge amount to me, and as much as I’ve been hoping for a reunion for a long, long time, there’s always been that nagging fear in the back of my mind that things simply might not be the same after so long.

So you can imagine my relief to discover that this album fulfils, and perhaps exceeds, all of my hope and expectations – combining the scintillating spirit and raw passion of their early orks with an even greater sense of self-awareness and mature song-writing – in a manner which simultaneously reinforces the band’s legendary reputation and primes them to be introduced to a whole new audience

Of course, my fellow acolytes will probably already be locked in… so what can I say that will entice the unfamiliar listener to give these long-lost legends a shot?

Well, a good place to start would obviously be with this edition of THE SYNN REPORT, wherein I take a deep-dive into the band’s diverse discography, as their long-awaited fifth album effectively draws from all the different eras of their career – from the Prog Death days to their Tech Thrash period to their more overtly melodic moments pre-hiatus – and combines them into what, as signified by the decision to call the record simply Extol, is perhaps the definitive statement of their identity. Continue reading »

NEW VIDEOS FROM EXTOL AND CHTHONIC

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Jun 112013
 

Within the last 24 hours two of our favorite bands have released new videos. Norway’s Extol have premiered a video for “A Gift Beyond Human Reach”, a song from their forthcoming self-titled album, which is due for release in a couple weeks (the album can be ordered here). It’s a cool song and a cool video to watch — a different kind of performance clip, as you’ll see.

And Taiwan’s Chthonic have released a third video in support of their new album, Bú-Tik, which will be released in North America via Spinefarm Records US digitally on June 18 and on CD June 25 (for pre-orders, go here). The new video is for “Supreme Pain For the Tyrant”. In teh words of the band: “Metalheads travel back in time to 1930s to disrupt a party between Nazis and KMT! Check out the incredible Martial arts, modern dance, debauchery, and Oriental Metal!!”

Both videos are definitely worth seeing and hearing, so go do that righty after the jump. Continue reading »

ROUND-UP: EXTOL, CONDUCTING FROM THE GRAVE, AND SUPER PUZZLE PLATFORMER DELUXE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 282013
 

DGR and I are collaborating on this little round-up of recent discoveries. The first item comes from moi, and the last two from him.

EXTOL (by Islander)

As previously reported (here), Norway’s Extol will soon be releasing their first new album in more than eight years — on June 21 in Norway, Germany, and Austria, and on June 24 everywhere else in Europe via Indie Recordings, and on June 25 in North America via Facedown Records. Pre-orders in a variety of formats and bundles can be placed here, and we’ve already featured the album’s first single, “Open the Gates” in that post linked above.

Today’s news is that Extol have released a new album teaser that collects excerpts from all the album’s songs. Man, it’s really a rich smorgasbord of diverse sounds — all of which sound very tantalizing. We have had high expectations for this album, and based on these excerpts, I think it’s likely they will be met in spades. Here’s the teaser reel: Continue reading »

AFTER AN EIGHT-YEAR WAIT, EXTOL “OPEN THE GATES”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Apr 232013
 

Today Norway’s Extol released their first new music in more than eight years. The single “Open the Gates” appears on the band’s self-titled fifth album, which will be released by Indie Recordings on June 21 in Norway, Germany, and Austria, and on June 24 everywhere else in Europe, and by Facedown Records on June 25 in North America. Pre-orders in a variety of formats and bundles can now be placed here. Today the band also unveiled the album’s cover art, shown above, by the renowned Travis Smith.

For fans of this band, the wait has been a long one. In 2007, after six studio-releases, a Norwegian Grammy award nomination, worldwide touring with bands such as Mastodon and Opeth, critical praise, and the amassing of devoted legions of fans across the globe, Extol seemingly disappeared without any explanation. Cryptic hints began appearing in 2012 on an unheralded web site which suggested that a film might be in the works — and indeed, it turns out that a documentary film about Extol is indeed in production. And then it became clear that the band was working on new music. (To find out more about all these events, check out our October 2012 interview with Extol’s Peter Espevoll at this location).

We probably have some readers who weren’t even listening to metal during Extol’s hey-day. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the band, check out Andy Synn’s January 2011 SYNN REPORT on Extol, which includes a review of their entire discography plus sample songs. You can find that via this link.

But enough with the background . . . let’s move on to “Open the Gates”. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT – A 30TH ANNIVERSARY ROUND-UP

 THE SYNN REPORT  12 Responses »
Dec 052012
 

(NCS writer Andy Synn pauses after the 30th installment of THE SYNN REPORT to take a look back at the first two years of the series.)

Ok, so we’ve now had 30 ‘official’ entries in The Synn Report. I hope that a good number of you have discovered new bands and gone out and shown your support for them, buying music, merch, gig tickets, etc.

I thought, since the year (and the world!!!) is coming to an end, it might be a good time to provide a quick one-stop summation of all the previous entries, for those of you who maybe missed a couple, or for new devotees of the site who have yet to encounter the earlier editions and the bands contained therein.

Did you know that the genesis for The Synn Report was not entirely down to me? There’s a post that I consider ‘The Synn Report: Year Zero” which was written by Islander himself, in response to my recommendation of a particular band. That post is included here, as I think it’s an important foundation stone in the genesis of The Synn Report, and because I think the band in question are utterly phenomenal.

So there we go, after the jump there’s a tiny entry on each band from each edition of The Synn Report, with a short genre description and a re-iteration of the “Recommended for fans of:” section. Which ones did you miss? Which ones should you give another shot to? Click each one to be linked to the appropriate article, where you’ll find the full write-ups and sample songs from each release! Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: PETER ESPEVOLL OF EXTOL

 Interviews  2 Responses »
Oct 222012
 

In 2007, after six studio-releases, a Norwegian Grammy award nomination, worldwide touring with bands such as Mastodon and Opeth, critical praise, and the amassing of devoted legions of fans across the globe, Norway’s Extol seemingly disappeared without any explanation. But Extol are now back.

Cryptic hints began appearing earlier this year on an unheralded web site, hints that suggested a film might be in the works. Predictably, fans began wondering if new music might be on the horizon as well. Now, we know more.

First, a documentary film about Extol is indeed in production. It will reportedly include extensive archived material from touring and recording, as well as interviews with artists from Norway and other nations, music journalists, and fans from all over the world. And of course, it will include exclusive interviews with the members of the band.

Second, Extol are indeed at work on new music, with plans for release of their fifth studio album by 2013.

To help finance the documentary, which is co-produced by Extol’s Peter Espevoll, the band started a “crowdfunding campaign” at indiegogo.com with a fundraising goal of $20,000. With time still left before the campaign closes, the goal has been exceeded — raising more than $25,500 at the time of this writing.

The documentary is being directed by Åsmund Janøy, and earlier today we published NCS writer Andy Synn’s interview of Åsmund (here). But now we’re delighted to give you Andy’s interview of Peter Espevoll.  We thank both him and Åsmund Janøy for agreeing to let us pick their brains. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: ÅSMUND JANØY (DIRECTOR OF “EXTOL – A DOCUMENTARY”)

 Interviews  1 Response »
Oct 222012
 

In 2007, after six studio-releases, a Norwegian Grammy award nomination, worldwide touring with bands such as Mastodon and Opeth, critical praise, and the amassing of devoted legions of fans across the globe, Norway’s Extol seemingly disappeared without any explanation. But Extol are now back.

Cryptic hints began appearing earlier this year on an unheralded web site, hints that suggested a film might be in the works. Predictably, fans began wondering if new music might be on the horizon as well. Now, we know more.

First, a documentary film about Extol is indeed in production. It will reportedly include extensive archived material from touring and recording, as well as interviews with artists from Norway and other nations, music journalists, and fans from all over the world. And of course, it will include exclusive interviews with the members of the band.

Second, Extol are indeed at work on new music, with plans for release of their fifth studio album by 2013.

To help finance the documentary, which is co-produced by Extol’s Peter Espevoll, the band started a “crowdfunding campaign” at indiegogo.com with a fundraising goal of $20,000. With time still left before the campaign closes, the goal has been exceeded — raising more than $25,500 at the time of this writing.

The documentary is being directed by Åsmund Janøy, and today we’re stoked to publish NCS writer Andy Synn’s interview of Åsmund, as well as a separate interview of Peter Espevoll (here).  Åsmund’s interview begins now: Continue reading »

EXTOL ARE RECORDING A NEW ALBUM AND SEEK FAN SUPPORT TO FUND A DOCUMENTARY

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Sep 182012
 

Between 1998 and 2005, Norway’s Extol recorded four albums and two EP’s, beginning with Burial and ending with The Blueprint Dives. As Andy Synn wrote for us in his third SYNN REPORT, which provided a detailed review of all six releases in January 2011, they had “a profound, and vastly underrated, influence on many of today’s bands” and “were in many ways the epitome of counter-culture in metal circles at one time.”

After years of silence, May 2012 brought the first of several cryptic videos at a site named www.extolfilm.com. No explanation for these videos accompanied them. When Andy reported about the first of the videos (here), he wrote: “What does it mean? A documentary about the band? A concert dvd? Or… dare I hope… a reformation? While the latter is unlikely, I can’t help but hope . . .”

Today there will be joy in the hearts of the Extol faithful, because we have received word from the band that after five years of silence and seven years following the release of their last album, Extol are returning to the studio to record their fifth album. Here is the band’s official statement:

“After the The Blueprint Dives in 2005 and the massive worldwide touring with bands such as MASTODON and OPETH, we dissapeared without any further explanation. Now, years later, we are back on track working on what is to be our fifth full-length. As expected from the musical legacy of Extol, no compromise is offered.”

Continue reading »

ANOTHER EXTOL TEASER — LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKE A DOCUMENTARY

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 152012
 

Andy Synn posted on NCS not long ago about a brief video teaser that suggested something is in the works concerning Norway’s Extol — a beloved metal band who have been on indefinite hiatus, with their last album released in 2005. The first teaser appeared on a Norwegian-registered web site called extolfilm.com.

This afternoon, “extolfilm” left a comment on Andy’s post tipping us to the fact that a second teaser has now appeared on the extolfilm.com site. Based on the latest teaser clip, it’s looking increasingly likely that what’s in the works is a documentary about the band, or at least a DVD compendium of live performances and commentary by others, because the clip features people talking about Extol. We don’t know who’s talking, because their heads aren’t shown in the clip (you can imagine why this was attractive to me).

Now, of course, even if this is a documentary or performance DVD, there might still be new music — or there might not be.  We shall continue to snoop around, because “nosy” is our middle name, and to report anything more concrete that may eventually surface. You can watch the latest piece of video titillation after the jump.

And for the hell of it, we’ll have some Extol music after the jump, too. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT: AN UPDATE

 Metal News, THE SYNN REPORT  4 Responses »
May 032012
 

(Andy Synn provides this update about two bands he previously featured in his SYNN REPORT series.)

Today saw the release of two pieces of news regarding two former Synn Report luminaries, both of whom happen to be amongst my all-time favourite bands. One piece of news is very bad, whilst the other one is potentially very good.

First and foremost:

AVERSE SEFIRA

“As we write the names, the stars go out…”

Sadly, the US black metal titans have officially disbanded. An official press release has been issued by Clawhammer PR stating:

“American black metal titans Averse Sefira has officially disbanded. The band formed in 1996, and went on to make their mark through Europe and the Americas, performing with other notable black metal groups like Dark Funeral, Gorgoroth, Watain, Marduk, 1349, Absu, Antaeus, and Secrets of the Moon.

“The band gained a respectable following despite a fiercely independent stance that garnered them a complex reputation in the underground. They achieved wider exposure with their signing to Candlelight Records in 2007 and the release of their highly-rated fourth LP, Advent Parallax, the following year. Over the last decade, they also appeared in multiple documentaries and books examining metal culture. Continue reading »

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