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Extol is a Christian metal band from Bærum in Norway. They are known for playing a variety of different styles of metal which include melodic death metal, technical thrash metal, and currently a mix between prog-rock and post-hardcore. They are mainly dubbed as melodic death metal since they gained their popularity primarily through their earlier works which were of said genre.

History / Biography

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 Børud 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.

The next year, they released the EP, Mesmerized, which featured three industrial remixes of songs from Burial. Eystein was replaced by Tor Magne Glidje on bass. They later recorded Undeceived, which was much darker and more intense. Then, Ole left the band, so Tor Glidje switched over to guitar, and John Robert Mjåland 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 Believer, who 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.

In June of 2004, Ole Børud 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 also 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 in The Blueprint Dives, or "Blueprint" for short. The album was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannprisen, for best Norwegian metal album in 2005.

Current band lineup:

Peter Espevoll - vocals (1993-present)
Tor Magne Glidje - bass (1997-2001), guitars (2004-present)
Ole Halvard Sveen - guitars (2004-present)
David Husvik - drums (1993-present)
John Robert Mjåland - bass (2001-present)

Past Members

Christer Espevoll - guitars (1993-2004)
Ole Børud - guitars, flute, vocals (1996-2004)
Eystein Holm - bass (1994-1997)
Emil Nikolaisen - guitars (1994-1996)

Discography

Burial (1998 Endtime Productions, licensed to Solid State Records)
Mesmerized (EP) (1999 Endtime Productions, licensed to Solid State Records)
Undeceived (2000 Endtime Productions, licensed to Solid State Records)
Paralysis (EP) (2001 Endtime Productions)
Synergy (2003 Century Media, licensed to Solid State Records)
The Blueprint Dives (2005 Century Media, licensed to Solid State Records)

Side projects

Tor Magne Glidje, Jon Robert Mjåland, and Ole Halvard Sveen are the sole members of Lengsel, a progressive black metal band that formed in 1995 and released one album, called Solace, on Endtime Productions, which was subsequently licensed to Solid State Records for an American release. Shortly after releasing "Solace", Lengsel changed name to Ganglion and turned away from the progressive black metal to a progressive-agressive rock sound. In 2006, they reunited as Lengsel and released their second album, The Kiss, The Hope. Also, all members of the band were at one point members of the now-defunct thrash/prog-rock band Ganglion.

Christer Espevoll and David Husvik went out of their way recently to form a band named Absurd². They put out an EP in 2004.

Under the name Aperture, Peter Espevoll and David Husvik released an album of softer, acoustic rock songs, entitled Salvage.

Christer Espevoll was for a period of time in the band Benea Reach, which also features former members of Selfmindead.

External links

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 == Side projects ==
-Tor Magne Glidje, Jon Robert Mjåland, and Ole Halvard Sveen are the sole members of Lengsel, a progressive black metal band that formed in [[1995]] and released one album, called ''Solace'', on [[Endtime Productions]], which was subsequently licensed to [[Solid State Records]] for an American release. Shortly after releasing "Solace", Lengsel changed name to Ganglion and turned away from the progressive black metal to a progressive rock sound. In 2006, they reunited as Lengsel and released their second album, ''The Kiss, The Hope''.  Also, all members of the band were at one point members of the now-defunct [[thrash]]/[[prog-rock]] band Ganglion.
+Tor Magne Glidje, Jon Robert Mjåland, and Ole Halvard Sveen are the sole members of Lengsel, a progressive black metal band that formed in [[1995]] and released one album, called ''Solace'', on [[Endtime Productions]], which was subsequently licensed to [[Solid State Records]] for an American release. Shortly after releasing "Solace", Lengsel changed name to Ganglion and turned away from the progressive black metal to a progressive-agressive rock sound. In 2006, they reunited as Lengsel and released their second album, ''The Kiss, The Hope''.  Also, all members of the band were at one point members of the now-defunct [[thrash]]/[[prog-rock]] band Ganglion.
 Christer Espevoll and David Husvik went out of their way recently to form a band named Absurd².  They put out an EP in 2004.