Extol

Undeceived (Solid State)
by Tim Den

Forget In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, or any other band that supposedly “carries the torch of At The Gates.” Extol is the closest and the most passionate you’ll find to the original masters. In fact, so gorgeous is their mix of aggressive and melancholy elements that I dare say no other death metal band can touch Extol in their quest to be the most progressive and beautiful. Four vocalists trading off every sound from high-pitched screams to Carcass yells to tiger growls, a string quartet used in place of riffs in many places, and an unprecedented display of early ’90s fusion-jazz-death metal bands like Atheist and (especially) Believer.

Since the death of At The Gates and Carcass, when have we had a death metal band that challenged our feelings, brains, and organic machineworks like this? Just when you feel like you’ve had every ounce of subconscious memory invoked by these five Norwegians, they trigger another reaction in you with their tragic symphonies and tornado shapeshifts. Absofuckinglutely brilliant.
(PO Box 12698 Seattle, WA 98111)