Customer Reviews

Burial

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Extol are a Christian extreme metal band that takes the lessons they learned from thier predecessors like Mortification, Living Sacrifice, Believer and Tourniquet to the next level and beyond. Extol combines elements of thrash metal, death metal, grindcore and progressive rock to produce one of the all around best metal cds I have heard in a long, long time. The band utilizes two vocalists that employ drastically different vocal styles. The main vocalist uses a deep guttural death metal voice along with a high pitched screech. The second is a good vocalist who can actually sing,(a rare thing in metal these days). The two contrasting vocal styles work quite well together. Overall Extol is a fantastic band with each member displaying excellent musicianship. The dual guitar work is heavy and distorted, however all of the licks are played cleanly. The two guitarists have written some of the best and most imaginative riffs I have heard in several years. The drummer blows me away, he is excellent. The tempos vary wildly within many of the songs. Unlike so many extreme metal bands Extol writes great riffs and great songs. The lyrics communcate many facts about God's love and His truth. This is extreme metal at it's absolute finest. If you like challenging metal that is fast, heavy, loud and thought provoking this should be the band for you.

First of all, I would like to say to a fellow reviewer that I don't own this only because it's Christian. I have heard most secular black/death metal, and much of it is actually very dumb. Especially In Flames...they are...well...boring.

Anyway, this album is full of great melodies and brutality throughout. The length just passes the one hour mark, so you are definitely getting your money's worth time wise. The lyrics are very relevant, especially since most death metal bands have very cheesy anti-religion lyrics. Seriously, most of them are a joke. Here the writers take a stand for what they believe in. Some people just like to bash this band because they're Christians. Since I listen to secular music with an open mind, I wish that more people would listen to Christian music with an open mind. Alas, I fear that will probably never happen.

Even though this was not the first album that I have heard by Norweigan metal act Extol, Burial is a really good melodic death metal release by these guys. Having been a big fan of Extol ever since their release titled 'Undeceived' I was excited to pick up their debut.

This album starts off extremely well with the song, Celestial Completion. The black-metal inspired screams by lead vocalist Peter Espevoll are awesome. This is one of the best songs on the album. It follows by the title track, which is long but another head-banger. Track four, which is titled 'Renhetens' Elv and the last song, 'Jesus Kim Til Jorden For A Do' are in Norweigan! They are fun listens, and backup vocalist Ole Borund has nice clean vocals.

Burial is a good buy for fans who already have their Undeceived release. That one is the masterpiece. (Extol only have 3 full-lengths, but they are all good) I am looking forward to hearing Extol's new album titled 'The Blueprint Dives.' It won't be released until early next year. Their two new guitar members for that album were from Christian black metal act, Lengsel. Please check out Extol! CENTURY MEDIA sought fit to pick them up!! They are amazing musicians, and they had a great melodic death metal debut with Burial!

I have to disagree with a lot of people reviewing this album. Some said that it sounds like the vocalist is throwing up and dying, some said it sounds too cheesy with christian lyrics, and others said this was the best album ever. They are all wrong.

This is Extol's first album, but not the first I have heard of them. The first bit of Extol I have ever heard was Undecieved, and I was weary of it at first, being a Zao fan and not knowing much melodic metal, but I definatly grew to like, and love, the piece of art. It had many memorable tracks, and was a great example of what christian, if not all death metal should be.

This album is almost the same. The vocals are a little different, but not much. There are black metal growls and screams, along with the occasional back-up singing. In some songs, such as burial, the growling vocals can sound just plain weird, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. There are many amazing melodic riffs on this album, ones that I wish I could play myself, and are some memorable tracks on here.

Overall, this album doesn't have many songs that stick out as better than the others, but instead, this is a great album to listen to the whole way through. It is nice to hear an album that fits together, instead of a jumble of assorted songs that don't even sound right together like most mainstream metal out today. If you have an extra hour on your hands, listen to this album the entire way through to get the full effect. And if you don't have an extra hour on your hands, make time.

The guitar and drum work in this album is great, and is worth listening to over and over. The influences in this album is good too, with some classic metal influences and some other death and black metal elements too. It is difficult to throw Extol into a category, but black/death metal would probably be the one. This is a great example of how good metal can be, and should definately be purchased by anyone who enjoyed Undecieved.

Overall, in my opinion, Extol is one of the only christian metal bands that sounds as good or better than most of the secular metal bands out there. There is nothing wrong with wholesome lyrics in death metal, and I actually think they work quite well together. I must say that if you enjoyed other releases by Extol, you will definately want to purchase this one. However, if you haven't bought any Extol albums yet, you should definately go for Undecieved...or maybe, just buy them all!

It's easy to pigeonhole 'christian music' as a whole in general because if you have to start from the premise that your band has a 'message' or is 'for the Lord' then its pretty much de-facto that the music isn't worth anything as its only being used as a vehicle to deliver whatever.

The great thing about early Extol (not so much now) is that it was a band that was first and foremost about the music, specifically atmospheric black metal and coming from people just so happened also believed in a creator, which while opposite the 'conventional' black metal standards, nevertheless is understandable since Scandinavian countries espoused christianity for ages. As bands like Leviathan/Xasthur (from California) or even Pyha (a 13yr old boy from South Korea) have demonstrated, black metal cannot be confined to merely location, likewise beliefs shouldn't be held any differently; I use the same analogy when discussing Burzum with people.

Of course, none of this would matter if Extol simply sucked at creating black metal, the fact is just opposite: they do it very, very well. Extol here manages to evoke the almost folk-ish sensibilities that bands like Opeth or Agalloch do when they sound their most black (My Hearse... / Pale Folklore) , but they also channel a healthy amount of really fine tremelo picking/screeching that Ulver did so well around their Bergtatt album, while coating it with the kind of clean production Satyricon has gone with as of late all the while keeping it very grim..

Vocally they don't really sound like too many bands, but come close to Ulver again, but with the tradeoff that they have two vocalists and will switch constantly throughout the album; this aspect is also extremely well done and isn't gimmicky at all as its very consistant since they don't necesarilly have a full-range of screams to go around with ala Twilight...

Overall though Burial is absolutley the best Extol album there is as it definetly is kvlt especially since the clean vocals used on every subsequent album is not present & since they are first and foremost making great atmospheric bm. Its just a shame that Extol decided to abandon this path and move on to symphonic bm, and then abandon bm altogether since this album easily stands head and toe next to any like-minded atmospheric grimness I can name.

"It's a great time to be alive in Scandinavia. Whether you're into the grunge-core of Sweden's Blindside, or the experimental sounds of the same country's Royal, or the groove-core band Selfmindead, if you are a lover of edgy modern music, Nordic is the way to go. My most recently discovered ear candy comes in the form of Extol, a Norwegian band that can only be classed as metal. Combining everything from the bright sounds of the heavy metal of yesteryear to the growling thrash of ever-current death sounds, and all forms of metal in between, Extol is truly a master band. With metal legend Ole Borud at the helm of production, recording, and engineering (not to mention adding a few instruments including his voice), this group has produced one of this year's hard music masterpieces. If you're looking for the sounds of caucophony and mindless noise many of todays bands are unfortunately recording, look elsewhere. (May I suggest Training for Utopia?) But if, on the other hand, you are seeking a tight, technically impressive, and [gasp] harmonically creative recording, Extol may just be the band for you. At times, the melodies (yes, melodies!) on the guitars sound a bit bright for the gutsy vocals provided, but this is just the first step Extol takes toward creating an extremely unique sound. There are very few spots on the entire 62 minutes of music that lapse into atonality. With strong lead and rhythm guitar combinations, the guitars score a big hit in the harmony category. The instrumentalists of the band are nothing short of a collective machine. This means tight rhythms across the board as well as ever-changing harmonic creations. Throw into the mix a few acoustic guitar licks, a nice helping of keyboards and ambient effects, and a very beautiful string arrangement ("Tears of Bitterness") and you have a sound you're not likely to hear again too soon. The downside for some will be a somewhat dated sound in the guitar licks and in the rich vibrato vocals (a la Michael Sweet, once or twice) of Ole Borud. Myself being someone who appreciates classic heavy metal, this isn't so much of a negative to me, but if your tastes have left that sound behind, be forewarned. But take comfort in the fact that these two elements are not at all overwhelming. If you're expecting non-metal modern hardcore, I would encourage you to give this one a listen before you buy. But if you're looking for an amazing metal record for your collection, snatch up "Burial" right away.

Christian metal, and Christian black metal in particular, is often attacked by metal fans as betraying the purpose of metal. Extol's release, consequently, has gotten its share of criticism, not as much on a music level as on a religious one. I disagree with those who attack Christian metal for the reason that no genre of music should be limited to expressing one type of message--the brutal sound of hardcore music, for example, can express either violent, hateful revolt or a pacifistic but no less determined rebellion against the violence and debauchery common in 20th century youth (hence the `straight-edge' trend), or any other number of messages. Thus, the messages of metal, a far more expressive and diverse genre that often tends toward philosophical musings, should be more diverse, not less, than those of any other genre.

And, controversy notwithstanding, Extol expresses their message well. The sound is diverse, sometimes with a downright victorious tone (see "Celestial Completion", for example) expressing the glory of God's creation and sometimes with a harsher, more aggressive tone typically accompanied with lyrics speaking of spiritual warfare, as in "Embraced". The guitars are very technical, and the vocals are quite harsh. While some may complain that the CD isn't aggressive or dissonant enough (or just not `extreme' enough, with its lack of downtuned guitars and violent lyrics), I believe that is missing the point of the release. This five-piece band from Norway has put together a complexly built album that escapes the sometimes over-wrought anger other blackened-death bands create.

Indeed, Extol isn't afraid to break conventions and try new things on their album. From the brief, lovely flute solo in "Celestial Completion" to the clean vocals heard in "Reflections of a Broken Soul" and several others, this band swerves off the beaten path. Unless you're totally opposed to the clearly Christian lyrics of the release or simply hate metal of all types, this is a release you don't want to miss.

Now that I'm a little older and know a little bit about metal, I'm definitaly appreciating this album more. I got this cd in late August of 2004 and never realy paid it much attention because I had gotten Undecieved a month before and just loved it (and I still do). I'm not too sure why I didn't like it: maybe it wasn't as heavy as their second album or maybe the production wasn't the greatest, I just do not know. That all changed almost a year later when I got The Showdown's cd and later Killswitch Engage's 2nd album. After I got those cds, I started to listen to this cd more, especialy after I got As I Lay Dying's S.A.S.,U nearth's O.S., and Becoming The Archetype's T.D. Now for the music.
This cd, like all Extol cds, is different from everything else they have done. First off, I've been told that this is black metal, which is true, sort of. If I had to put this in a specific genre, it would be in black metal but it is much more than that. It has a good bit of gothenberg (melodic death metal) in it, which is real cool. In fact, if it had even more in it, I would classify this as gothenberg such as In Flames, Dark Tranqueility, etc. Also, this has some pretty good singing vocals too. Not the emo kind but the power metal kind, though they are not realy high pitched. There is also some doom metal in there too, I think. All the songs are good especially tracks 2;6;9;10;11;and my favorite, 12. This cd is a good buy and is worth every penny. You can also check my earlier review of this cd when I was called Neo X-Deth on here.

I've had this CD for a few months now and I've gotten to the point where I can't stop clicking my teeth and drumming my fingers to the songs wherever I am! This thing grows on you, especially if you're a guitar player (or drummer? ). I haven't been musically inspired by a group so much since my old secular days of Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. Yeah, Mortification is great, but not this technically inspiring. Great guitar playing, time changes, drumming....and even the freakin' flute playing is cool!

this is the best metal cd i have ever heard!all the songs are over 4 minutes long (no short punk songs), with a couple reaching 7 and a half minutes. all the songs have long guitar solos and intros. There is also a good variety of vocals, not just one voice over and over again(i especially liked the little touch of glam vocals in one song). all this from a band from sweden, and all sweden is known for is abba and ace of base. if you're wondering where all the good metal went , it went into this cd.