Reviews list for Extol - Synergy (2003)

I came to Norway's Extol fairly late in the game to be honest. By the time they first hit the underground in the late 1990's I was already heading for the exit door as far as metal music went & I wouldn't find myself returning to the scene until around 2009 which is when I first heard their 2000 sophomore album "Undeceived". It left quite an impression on me & received a lot of replays over the coming years & that experience would lead me to head back & explore Extol's 1998 debut album "Burial" & 1999 "Mesmerized" E.P., as well as to look forward to their 2003 "Synergy" third album which is the topic of discussion today. I don't recall revisiting "Synergy" over the many years since as it's generally been "Undeceived" that I reach for when I've looked for an Extol fix but Ben's introduction of the band's 2005 fourth album "The Blueprint Dives" to me a couple of years ago revitalized my interest in the band. I hadn't checked out that album before & it really hit the spot for me, despite it seeing Extol finally breaking free of the chains that tied them to their early extreme metal roots. It's been quite a while since I crossed paths with "Synergy" now, around fifteen years to be exact, but I held vague memories of it being a pretty decent release so this month's The Pit feature release nomination was most welcome.

Wow! "Synergy" jumps straight out of the gates with amazing complexity. It's one SERIOUSLY technical record performed by some incredibly ambitious & undeniably talented musicians. Extol's death metal roots had been completely cast aside by this stage in their evolution with the general consensus being that "Synergy" is a progressive tech thrash record. Look, there are certainly some thrash influences on display (i.e. Coroner, Believer, etc.) with three or four of the songs containing enough of a thrash component to justify the tag but the record is much better suited to a lone progressive metal tag when taken holistically as its scope is far more wide-reaching than the thrash metal genre allows for. The vocals of front man Peter Espevoll are quite raspy & a touch blackened, sitting somewhere between Meshuggah's Jens Kidman & a black metal shriek most of the time which is well suited to the occasional forays into tremolo-picked black metal territory. The links to Christianity are unfortunate but, in truth, they play very little role in the way the album plays out if you don't actively seek out the lyrics. The guitar solos of Christer Espevoll (Azusa/Benea Reach) & Ole Børud (Fleshkiller/Schaliach) are a real highlight & show both of them to be well on top of their chosen craft with a high level of sophistication displayed in the way they construct their leads. I can only imagine it must have taken drummer David Husvik (Azusa) a very long time to learn this material as it's heavily weighted towards unusual time signatures & polyrhythms. He does a splendid job of it though if you ask me.

The tracklisting on "Synergy" is very consistent with no weak songs being included to tarnish the overall impression left by the album. The high level of complexity does make it challenging for any of the numbers to really stand out from the rest as genuine classics but the struggle to balance out technical wizardry with ear-catching hooks is not isolated to Extol. It's been a perennial issue for ultra-progressive bands like this one over the years & if there's one area that Extol probably needed to improve a touch then that's it. Thankfully, we'd see them do a better job at it with 2005's "The Blueprint Dives" album which did contain a couple of true gems. If I had to pick favourites amongst this lot then I'd have to go with opener "Grace for Succession", "26 Miles From Marathon" &, my pick of the bunch, the thrashy "Paradigms". The quality does dip just a touch towards the end of the album with both the folk pop piece "Aperture" & thrashy closer "Nihilism 2002" being more acceptable than they are impressive but it's hard to complain as neither are exactly filler either. You get the feeling that Extol were likely beyond producing filler at this point in their careers given the strong grip that each member has on their chops & musical vision. Peter Espevoll's vocals can sound a touch one-dimensional at times & one gets the feeling that a more interesting clean singer may have been able to take the album to the next level.

I'm pleased to advise that "Synergy" is another high-quality & quite challenging release from an excellent metal band that sits very comfortably just behind "The Blueprint Dives" as an holistic package. It's actually surprised me a bit as I hadn't given it quite as much credit when I first encountered it back in the day. Perhaps it's not the most appropriate selection for a The Pit feature release given that it seems to be more closely affiliated with The Infinite but it's certainly exciting enough to encourage the thrashers out there when it hits on some of its higher tempos.

For fans of Believer, Azusa & Lengsel.

My first experience with technical progressive metallers Extol was when I checked out The Blueprint Dives two and a half years before this review. That album is an alt-ish prog-metal masterpiece. But somehow it wasn't until a year later when I finally embraced the greatness of their discography. Many of their albums are so f***ing perfect! And I'm not kidding about that; Burial and Undeceived are a one-two punch of atmospheric technical/progressive death metal, the latter expanding on that sound with complex ideas. Their catalog has truly made this band an unstoppable force!

Now here we are at their 2003 album Synergy. It is the band's first move to a different style from their earlier deathly sound, taking on more melodic thrash. This change of sound has turned away some earlier fans while winning some new fans who wanted to hear the continuation of progressive/tech-thrash after bands who have attempted that style in the early/mid-90s have faded out. It's safe to say that Extol took a lot of inspiration from fellow Christian progressive thrashers Believer. If Extol kept going with the violins from their deathly first two albums, they could've easily made "Dies Irae 2.0". At least they had first shown their Believer influences in songs like "And I Watch" and their cover of "Shadow of Death". Extol have executed their tech-thrash sound very well in Synergy, with only a fairly short amount of death remaining.

From "Grace for Succession" on, stunning guitars leap around, with ideas extracted from the 1990/1991 albums of Believer and Coroner. The harsh vocals continue their blackened death range, while the cleans have sweet flavor as they shine in the Opeth-like mellow sections. Tech-thrash reaches its height in "Paradigms" which also has lovely female singing by Maria Solheim. "Psychopath" has psychotic shredding and rhythms, while continuing the amazing blend of technical heaviness and more of that Opeth atmosphere. "Blood Red Cover" has more melodic progressiveness ala Fates Warning, hinting at Extol's direction in The Blueprint Dives.

"26 Miles from Marathon" is a fast riff marathon as different speeds collide. You can definitely hear some early 90s Atheist there, especially in the technical labyrinth that then leads to searing shredding. "Confession of Inadequacy" continues the progressive thrash, though they switch from rhythmic aggression to serene balladry for one section. Then we have a full-on thrash attack in "Scraping the Surface". They get closer to their early deathly drama while having some of the operatic drama of Arcturus.

The thrashy diversity sounds so excellent in the somewhat title track "Thrash Synergy". The technical guitarwork definitely has Believer all over, though the speed slows down when they have more psychedelia. "Aperture" is a nice acoustic break from all that madness. Then "Emancipation" snaps you back to riffing aggression while having slight balladry, followed by more of that Atheist-like guitar versatility. "Nihilism 2002" combines the best of both of Extol's worlds with a tech-death/thrash blizzard, then this progressive offering ends with the last bit of psychedelic soloing fading out.

As of this review, I had already reviewed The Blueprint Dives a long time ago and will take on their self-titled comeback album next. But for now, Synergy has really shown the band dialing back the deathly brutality for some dynamic progressive tech-thrash with some Rush-like psychedelics. It also shows an early hint of the accessibility of The Blueprint Dives. There's barely anything awkward about Synergy, and Extol shall continue to delight their audience from time to time!

Favorites: "Grace for Succession", "Psychopath", "26 Miles from Marathon", "Scraping the Surface", "Thrash Synergy", "Nihilism 2002"