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 »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 3: EXTOL

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  8 Responses »
Jan 272011
 

Our UK contributor Andy Synn returns with another edition of The Synn Report.

A band with a profound, and vastly underrated, influence on many of today’s bands, Norway’s Extol were in many ways the epitome of counter-culture in metal circles at one time. Whereas the majority of their countrymen were quite happy to worship Satan and live out their darkest black metal fantasies, these 5 individuals decided to play a progressive form of technical death/thrash metal with a lyrical bent covering their own shared Christian spirituality. Blasphemy!

Over the course of their career this Norwegian five-piece were never afraid to push the envelope with their sound and playing, their technical skills and song-writing prowess a real testament to their dedicated pursuit of musical perfection and progression. Difficult to precisely define in terms of sound and scene-affiliation, the band is most broadly described as a Progressive Metal band; at times (particularly in the early days) the band were notably extreme.

(more after the jump, including sample songs from Extol’s discography . . .)

Continue reading »

THE BINARY CODE (Part 2)

 Interviews, Metal News  No Responses »
Dec 212009
 

Yesterday we frothed at the mouth over The Binary Code, its just-released full-length Suspenson of Disbelief, and the kick-ass “Metal As Art” tour that The Binary Code is about to launch with Hypno5e and NCS favorites, Revocation. In the course of preparing that post, we put a few questions to the band’s guitarist and co-songwriter Jesper Zuretti, and the dude was good enough to indulge us. Yesterday’s post was so damn long that we didn’t want Jesper’s answers to get lost in the rest of our verbiage, so we deferred publication of the interview til today. If you’re already a Binary Code fan or just beginning to get curious about the band, there’s some interesting revelations in there. Read our interview of Jesper after the jump: Continue reading »

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