EXTOL - THE MIGHTY EXTOL

EXTOL

Entering this I had not listened to Extol in many many years. I was a huge fan of Extol around the release of ‘Burial’ and ‘Undeceived’, a band that followed and eagerly waited for a new album. But they sort of lost me when Synergy came, did sort of like ‘Blueprint’ but that album didn´t opened up to me until a few years later, at a different place in life and listening to the album without comparison to older Extol. I still own every album on cd. This turned out to be a long review. I tried to leave most of the sentiments out, all the memories of what an impact Extol made on me when I first saw them live etc. All the albums carry such deep nostalgic memories that this would´ve easily been double the pages if I’d go down that route. Hopefully this doesn’t bore you all too much.

Burial (1998)

What hits me is that this was released 22-23 years ago. This was something I absolutely loved when I heard it back in 1998. I hit play and I immediately react on the production; it feels quite thin and is a bit off putting at first. I do remember that the production felt thin and little weird back when it was released. So that same initial feel remains. You get used to the production fast and listen to the songs for what they are. I think Extol created something very unique on this album, this was something that was pretty original at that time and musically I think this stands out even today. Extol together with Ole Börud as one of the writers always had a very unique style in organizing harmonies. Often times introducing major scales, something that stood out a lot among the overly saturated diminished and minor scale-oriented metal we´re so used to. One perceives major with this happy feel but Extol managed to still maintain this black-death metal edge. It didn´t feel too cheesy. 

The album has some really good moments with some really cool and good technical moments, the performance is really stellar. BUT despite the great playing and there´s a lot of that. The overall vibe is that it feels maybe a bit too happy for my taste today, especially when it´s not backed up with a heavy production. Happy black-death vibe if that makes sense. So, it´s a mixed bag where I absolutely appreciate the skillful execution and the listening forces me back into these fond memories from my youth. Those memories still make this an album I cherish. If I try to put all the sentimental ties aside, then unfortunately the album lacks a heaviness and punch I’d want in this kind of music. And stylistically sounds a bit too happy for my taste today. A so and so production. However, if I would evaluate the mix as it is. Yes it´s thin but, you can hear everything. All the details are there, it is fairly balanced in terms of that I can hear everything. I think the OH on the drums would´ve needed some carving especially when riding on crashes. Some harsh frequencies there that bothers me. Obviously, one would have a lot to say about what would need fixing, especially out a production sense if this was made today. But this is what they pulled of back then with the resources they had and there´s really not much one can do about those things. There´s for sure a lot of my own albums I would do differently todays. So that’s that. I still enjoy a lot on this album, love things like the verse on ‘Celestial Completion’ or the break and onwards at 3:20, Intro on ‘Burial’, ‘Superior’, ‘Justified’ at 1:50 and absolutely love their rendition of the Psalm to mention a few. 

The Undeceived (2000)

I remember when I heard the Intro and thought it was so emotional and beautiful. When the band kicks in I thought It had a weird production and going back now 21 years later, It really sounds weird and coming straight from Burial it´s another different but weird production. And this was always my biggest issue with Extol. Such great musicians and awesome songs but the productions in the beginning were not good, not when comparing to bands I listened to at the same time, with productions by Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames, Darkane) or Studio Fredman (Dimmu Borgir, At The Gates, Arch Enemy) to mention a few, so the high quality was there but unfortunately not with Extol. The technical and songwriting aspect is just stellar. They had perfected their craft more and they had started to build a name for themselves on the scene. On the ‘Undeceived’ the style has moved more towards a Melodic Death metal sound with some technical elements but feels maybe a bit more straight forward compared to Burial. Things that bothers besides the overall production is the somewhat annoying guitar sound. It´s squeaky and scratchy and starts to irritate me after a while. It´s eq: ed in a way that all these normal minor scratches everyone makes while playing are highlighted instead of attenuated away. Some poorly crafted guitar sounds tends to accentuate those frequencies. On the song ’Undeceived’ at 4:35 you notice a, either bad drum edit or false trigger on the kickdrums just as a little side note, and if this was done on Adat or tape, those were not the easiest things to fix other than to re-record those parts.

I´m usually very picky when it comes to drum sounds. The drums often determine the whole production. Will it sound big or small? The drums sound very tiny and gives a feel of that there were no decent budget to record the drums in a good environment. The mix is pretty balanced for what it is. You can hear everything but it´s still a weird sounding production if that makes sense. Too bad, because this is a really good album in my opinion and still is if one takes a side all the nerdy, looking through a magnifying glass attitude. ‘Undeceived’ is a very good melodic death metal album. ‘Inferno’ is a really cool song, the chromatic intro on ‘Ember’ is really kick ass and is a cool showcase of their brilliant technical aspect which I enjoy a lot. ‘Shelter’ gives me a Tourniquet vibe from ‘Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance’ era. But also enjoy the softer elements they often introduce giving a nice shift in dynamics. All in all, the execution instrumentally is top notch and nothing to complain about, a really good album when it comes to songwriting, a diverse and interesting album. If this only had a stellar production this would still be playing frequently.

As a side note. What confuses me is that ‘Burial’ was released in 1998, ‘Undeceived’ 2000 with both a so and so drum and overall production but the EP ‘Mesmerized’ released in between in 1999 has a better drum and overall production than both of these full-lengths.

Synergy (2003)

Now this was an album I was really let down by when it came, because it was so different from ‘Burial’ and ‘Undeceived’. It is very rare that a fan expects the next one to be something totally new and unexpected. They envision it to be similar to what they loved about that particular band. But I know this firsthand, that bands usually want some change to keep it fresh and inspiring for themselves. Music is firsthand written out of the perspective ‘what do we like’ and then follows, if others like it it´s a major bonus. The change on this however was quite big and I had serious difficulties adjusting to the new direction. I did enjoy the production and they had signed a deal with Century Media by this time, so the budgets made sense now resulting in better productions. 

What I had issues with back then I absolutely loved now. It´s funny how tastes and perceptions changes over year. I did not like the vocals on this back when it was released but now it just feels right and fits like a glove. Kicking off the album with this thrashy drive is sounding really good. The execution is really solid on this one as well. I really enjoy David´s drumming on this album and the rhythm guitars are really good. Something I noticed and this is not negatively said, is that there´s a few drum takes that sounds a bit like he was struggling, drums were not fixed to the grid and it has a real and organic feel. There´s several takes where they could´ve been re-done or even fixed but they chose to keep it real. Hats off to that. The mix is really well balanced and polished and a significant face lift since ‘Burial’ and ‘Undeceived’ but what I find myself wanting here is a bit more grit, it is sounding maybe a bit too polished and nice, although in order to keep the riffing so clean and distinct it was probably for the better to use less distortion. On ’Synergy’ it´s notable how they steered away especially from the black but also their melodic-death sound introducing thrash vibes to their sound. These chromatic /diminished jumpy riffs sounds really cool to begin with but grows a bit tiresome towards the end of the album. For me the perfect blend would´ve been a touch of the old death-black vibes together with this thrashy side on this album.  ‘26 Miles From Marathon’ or ‘Scrape the surface’ is a great example of their technical side which I enjoy a lot, well the album is full of technical brilliance. Entering ‘Synergy’, the intro on ‘Paradigms’ is probably the one part I remembered after all these years, thinking there was this one song with a cool slayer type(ish) ride part. No, it´s not sounding like Slayer, just that type of drumming is something I’d associate with old slayer drumming. Another favorite is ‘Emancipation’ and ‘Nihilism 2002’. After what 18 years after release, the album is full of new things to me and I realize this is an album I’d have to listen to several spins in order to get a feel of remembering songs. After a couple of spins, I´m left with that it´s a cool album with a lot of cool moments but this definitely needs a few spins as a whole to fully grasp. 

The Blueprint Dives (2005)

In comes ‘Blueprint’ it starts off as if it´s a continuance on ‘Synergy’ sounded promising when it was released but the truth was to be revealed quite quickly. This is again sounding very different to the previous album. Now one could speculate the reasons behind this. One can be that personal musical tastes changes, your vision changes. The second might be the several lineup changes Extol went through. Ole and Christer leaving, and other members coming and going since then. The sound is bound to change due to different writers. So, the question remains should they´ve continued as they did under Extol or start a new band? Well musically it would´ve made more sense to change band name but what they would´ve lost was too risky. Record deals, a solid foundation you´ve spent years on building. To start a new band means you´d have to start from scratch with basically everything to build up a reputation and name for yourselves. So out of a marketing perspective it made sense doing ‘blueprint’ under Extol. These songs were originally done for the band Ganglion so that gives even more insight on why it sounds like a different band. Well because they were meant for another band. I was really bummed out by the fact that Ole left around the ‘Synergy’ era. To me he was the soul of the harmony usage in Extol, the total unique way of writing harmonies I´ve yet to come across elsewhere.

BUT if all this is set aside. This is a really cool album and if I’d just review this album alone without making any back references to pervious albums. Then this album is really cool which later on grew to become my favorite Extol album. It has a cool sense of groove and I like a lot of the songs. You can hear clear Deftones references and the absence of the more technical thrash or death things I loved with early Extol are basically gone and in comes this groove-core type of songs. The mix is really solid on this one, being the best so far. There´s really nothing to remark on other than, it´s sounding good. Highlights on this album is definitely David´s drumming. One hilarious thing what I think is someone´s mobile ringing while recording on ‘In Reversal’ at 1:50. Is this on purpose or accident? I remember back in the day that I always thought that my phone was ringing when this part came by.

Sadly Extol quits…for what one thought would be final. However, comes the year 2014 and the band came back as a trio. David, Peter and Ole. I was super excited to see Ole back in the realms of metal. 

Extol (2014)

Well this sets the bar production wise. Now they teamed up with none other than Jens Bogren behind numerous renowned world acts. So, I knew this would sound great and surely it did. Now envision ‘Burial’ or ‘Undeceived’ with these sounds. Would sound so good IMO. The mix is as a Melo death band should sound, it´s thick and massive sounding, if you play 7 string guitars, I think the production should give that very feel that it is low tuned. The bass is tangible, you feel it and the kick drum compliments that feel. Here´s such a good example on how a good mix is absolutely crucial for the end product. So yes, I absolutely love this production.

So, what about the songs on ‘Extol’? Well what´s so noticeable is the usage of harmonies again by the hand of Ole. This gives me an updated and matured feel of 'Burial' era. I love the diversity on this album, it keeps me on my toes so to speak, a lot of interesting little details and well written melodic-death metal. The album has a good dynamic feel, meaning that there´s a good variation in tempos which keeps the listener interested.  One thing that bothers me a bit and is just a personal preference. I like to hear the drums as I would sit behind the kit myself. Some mix it the opposite out of the engineer’s view, basically reversing the stereo image of the drums, making it sound like it´s a left-handed drummer. Just a tiny silly detail.  All in all, this is what I would refer as the Extol I love and when we jump in on the comparing albums train you´re left with a predicament. I would say that ‘Burial’ ‘Undeceived’ and ‘Extol’ has the most resemblance when it comes to the music although I think ‘Extol’ has a matured songwriting which is understandable 20+ years later. Then on top of that we have 2 other albums deviating quite a bit among themselves. 

So, the issue becomes when someone says I love Extol, which Extol are they referring to? Because in all truthfulness some of the releases sounds like a different band, especially ‘Blueprint’. But obviously there´s no correct answer to this. Someone likes them all and that is Extol, someone does not like the ‘Blue’ album, and someone thinks that´s their best representation of Extol. So, in the end, it´s up to the individual listener.

Like I said this was bound to be a long review, with a long history it was very very difficult to sum it up on just one page. Despite their ventures into different realms on each album making the discography a bit scattered I want to underline that I absolutely appreciate Extol and the members as awesome musicians, some of the absolute top and I have nothing but upmost respect towards these guys and their legacy. A band I would place as a band that really stood out with so many unique features where two things stands out the most: Ole Börud´s sense of using harmonies and David´s very characteristic soulful drumming.