Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New sound, Same incredible band!, September 30, 2003
I wasn't sure about the new sound of Synergy when I first bought the album shortly after it came out, but now I love it! I was used to the black metal brutality of Undeceived and Burial. It took me a few times to get used to the new sound of Extol. Well, these metal masters from Norway have successfully changed their style a little bit and they have amazed their fans with a brilliant album. I was really glad that Ole decided to return to the band for the recording of Synergy. His background vocals on Undeceived were breathtaking and he continues to give us all chills down our spine here on Synergy. Fans of old Extol beware; their new sound is different, and I am focusing mostly on the vocals of Peter Espevoll. Give it a chance. This album is phenomenal. Fans new to Extol please check into this band. Not only are they talented musicians, but all of them are outspoken Christians and they are not ones to cover up their faith in Jesus Christ!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
intense musical evolution, September 3, 2003
I am not shocked by the great change of style/sound of extol with this album, probably due to the fact that I got ahold of the Paralysis ep(swedish only release...find a good import store like blastbeats). It showed a huge shift of direction, and Synergy is mostly a continuation of it. Everybody else who has reviewed this cd has already said it: the cd is entirely different than what you are used to. Burial was some of the best harmonic death metal ever. Undeceived was just a brutal death metal kick in the face with tons of beautiful, complex melodic strings/vocals underlying it. This time around, Extol was listening to the long extinct and out of print band Believer in order to do an accurate cover for the Paralysis ep. It seems that they realized what a great band they had found and decided to incorporate the Believer thrash sound into their own chaotic mix of melodic death/hardcore. This album is a nonstop technical metal masterpiece. Imagine the insane leads that Rocky Gray pulls off on Living Sacrifice cds being done the entire time the whole cd. The rhythm guitar is more insane than most lead parts, so just imagine the complexity of the leads! This cd is quite possibly some of the most technical, brutal, intense music I have ever heard. Evolution of the fittest usually favors bands who need to grow in their style. Extol could've easily become one of the greatest death metal bands of all time, with sufficient promotion, using their Undeceived sound. However, the sign of a truly great band is the ability to change and evolve in their careers into a bigger, better sound. Extol proves their greatness with Synergy. My only complaint with this album is that total play time comes in much shorter than any of their previous full lengths. But due to the style shift, this is understandable. If you like metal at all, or just appreciate a great show of talent, then buy this cd.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great metal from the Norwiegan metal band , December 20, 2005
First of all, I have to tell you that I'm very strict. I only give cd's 5's if the completely deserve it. I would have given this like a 4.8 but this site doesn't have that.
Okay, this is great music. At first when I heard it I didn't like it very much. It has very unusual guitar riffs and it has very fast paced songs. I'm not used to this very much. Usually I listen to lighter stuff like Blindside or POD. So the first time I heard it my ears were totally thrown off. On my first listen I liked Blueprint Dives a lot better, I still like it better, but this is close. Here is what I think of the songs:
Grace For Succession: 4.5/5 On my first listen this was one of the only songs that I liked. It has a lot of singing (well, a lot compared to the rest of the songs) and the guitar riffs aren't too strange. One thing I didn't like was that the second verse was too short. Pretty good song.
Paradigms: 4/5 Not quite as good as Grace For Succession. I like the way that this song starts though. It's still pretty good.
Psychopath: 4/5 Okay, this song is still growing on me. It has extremely strange guitar riffs, and this kind of wierd talking at the beginning. It has a good guitar solo in the middle, and it's a good song, but you probably won't like it at first.
Blood Red Cover: 5/5 This is one of the only songs on the cd that they actually repeat the chorus more than twice. I really like the guitar work in the beginning of the song too. Altogether, a great song.
26 Miles From Marathon: 5/5 I love this song. It also has very strange guitars but the guitars took a lot of talent to play and put together like they did it on this song. Great song!
Confession of Inadequancy: 3.5/5 I didn't know quite how to spell the title so sorry if it's wrong. Even though I rated this song lower than the rest of the songs so far it's still good. I love the singing in this song.
Scrape the Surface: 5/5 This and 26 Miles From Marathon are probably my favorite songs on the cd. This song doesn't exactly have screaming or growling. It just has Peter doing this wierd thing. Really good.
Thrash Synergy: 3.5/5 Extremely fast paced, and it's actually a long song. My biggest complaint about this song is the bridge. It's really long and kind of boring.
Aperture: 4/5 The first time I listened to this cd I was so glad when it got to this song. I was like, oh finally a break. I still like it when I listen to the cd all the way through, it is just a short break.
Emancipation: 4/5 Really good guitars at the beginning. The rest of the song is pretty good too.
Nihilism 2002: 4.5/5 Another extremely fast paced song. The best thing about this is the minute long guitar solo that it ends with. An awesome way to end this great album.
SO BUY THIS ALBUM NOW!
(By the way, all you old Extol fans, this is still good music, it's just different. Pretend like it's a different band and you'll love it)
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