Synergy
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I remember the first time I saw Extol perform. They were attending Cornerstone Festival and were talked into playing by another band who loaned them their equipment. Their time slot was absolutely dead last for the night and since they were an unknown band playing an impromptu show, there were less than thirty people there. I was completely blown away. They were incredibly talented, had a very original sound, and played their guts out to that tiny crowd. Not only did that one tiny show get them signed to Solid State Records in the US, but it also put them on a path to an entirely different audience than anyone would have guessed.

Inexplicably, Extol found the most receptive audience in the Christian hardcore scene. By the very next year, Extol was a major draw for Cornerstone. They played to a packed tent and took to the stage like bona-fide rock stars. The hardcore kids were eating it up. This wouldn't seem so strange except that they were playing a very original hybrid of technical blackened death metal with gigantic doses of prog and power metal influences right down to the occasional soaring clean vocals. This just didn't make sense to me. The Christian "hard music" scene had abandoned metal completely saying it was dead and gone. Hardcore and punk were all the rage. Metal was smugly mocked by Christians who had once supported it. But here was Extol literally storming that same scene with music that displayed proudly every element of metal that the Christians had deemed old news, and all the Christian kids loved it. Sure, they didn't have the slightest understanding of Extol's music, but they loved it.

But now comes Extol's newest album Synergy and I'm almost ashamed to say that Extol is pandering to the audience that first accepted them. Rather than standing tall on their own originality, they are positioning themselves to capitalize on a trend. They are clearly aiming this album at the hardcore crowd. No, this doesn't have any hardcore elements per se, it's just that they have changed their sound to have all the elements that are popular for hardcore bands to "borrow". Their base sound is now thrash/melodic death instead of blackened death metal. And, surprisingly enough (note the sarcasm), that melodic death/hardcore sound is getting some real attention in the Christian hard music scene as of late (checks calendar: yup, about five years after it hits the secular scene, as usual). Not only does this compromise their originality, but it pisses me off that they would pander to an audience that is so clearly trendy and lacks any real appreciation for their creativity.

Now don't get me wrong, this album isn't bad at all. These are some truly talented musicians. Truth is, they do a damn good job at their new thrash sound and they still retain all the insane creativity that they are known for. Ole Borud is a musical genius who took Extol from a boring mid-paced death metal band to the wildly unique entity that they are today and he has yet to disappoint me in regards to originality. Musically they mix brutality and melody in a sickly brilliant way that defies written description and sounds like something only Extol can do. And while there is a little less musical exploration than they are known for, there is still plenty of variety of the extreme metal kind. Also, Ole's trademark power metal vocals appear often and are as good as ever, though they lean towards rock territory on occasion. On the other hand, the lead vocals stick mainly to a thrashy shout and show less of the extreme range of past releases. Peter Espevoll's death growls and blackened shrieks were some of the best in the business and I think he's wasting his voice with such a pedestrian performance. However, they are still pretty good, just nothing special.

Despite my total exasperation with this band, this album could have easily won me over if not for one gigantic annoyance: the lyrics. Now, anyone who knows me knows that some of my favorite bands are Christian. I don't care what a band is inspired by whether it be a god, space aliens, weed, or women - just as long as it's sincere and genuine. And I certainly don't give a rat's ass about lyrics as long as they aren't distracting, but most of Extol's lyrics are so clichéd and easily understood that I just can't ignore them. It's as if these lyrics were written on auto-pilot. Growing up deeply embroiled in Christianity has given me an intolerance for insincerity and I'm smelling it all over this CD. I keep getting "testimony night" flashbacks to a bunch of redundant hypocrites saying the same things over and over and everyone pretending to be impressed and uplifted each and every time they hear it. These lyrics are safe and predictable and quickly gobbled up by the Christian masses. It distracts horribly from some good music and is pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back.

To sum it up: If you are looking for a totally new twist on the melodic death metal sound and you can tolerate clichéd, religious lyrics, then you will most likely be blown away by Synergy. I wish I could be, but it feels like such a step down for them in so many ways. Combine that with the distracting lyrics and you have an album that grates on my nerves more than anything else.