Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Christian Death Metal, har har har.., October 26, 2001
By A Customer
Yeah, I've always thought of that as a bunch of play-on words. A giant pun. Guess not. Honestly.. I have a hard time swallowing the fact that these guys probably listened to death metal (which is basically all the "lets all murder christians now" theme recycled over and over). Not to mention half the time it's also very violent and very gory at times (hence bands discussing how to properly cut up a body so it sinks when you dump it in the river). Yeah, and now here's death metal all about God's wonderful glory. Woah, that's truely messed up. But hey, I listen to this stuff because it is excellent music. Amazon took a very bad clip from the song UNDECIEVED.. These guys do a unique thing by using violins here (yeah, I know they are really keyboards).. not to mention this is the second best Death Metal band at doing vocals.. The vocals make it all worth while..
But then the guitars were excellent.. man, if these guys were only Nihilists.. they could rule both worlds.. heh
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extol - Undeceived, August 4, 2004
Before I review this album, I am going to say that I am a Christian, but I do not only listen to Christian heavy metal. (See my reviews for great metal bands I enjoy) Yes, I even enjoy some of the music of the highly controversial band, Dimmu Borgir. They are also a talented band, even though I do not agree with their lyrics. I listen to metal with an open mind, but with ears that long for talent. Extol has the talent to be successful in this genre. Now onto the cd....
This is Extol's second release off of the Solid State record label. Extol amazed fans from Norway, which is their native country and metal fans from America with their first relase called 'Burial.' Undeceived is a great follow-up to Burial, but it is better in many ways. The opening track which is titled, Inferno, starts off strong and then gets very symphonic with string sections that play with the guitars. The title track, Undeceived, opens magnificently with violins, and then gets the listener head-banging and falling in love with the music. Ole Borund lets loose his beautiful voice more on this album on the songs, Ember, Structure of Souls, and Renewal. The vocals of Peter Espevoll sound as brutal as ever. His screaming style is a mix between Ihsahn of Emperor and Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth, with his awesome growls and black metal inspired screams.
Undeceived flows together very well and I like to classify this release as a type of symphonic black metal mixed with progressive melodic death metal.' Yes, I know there aren't keyboards here like on albums by Dimmu Borgir or Emperor. But, there are strings present in some of the songs. Others would say 'melodic death' or 'progressive death metal.' The thing is, Extol mix many elemants into their music and they can play their instruments extremely well. I have not seen them live yet, but I have heard they are amazing when playing live. I do know that OPETH had Extol open for them for their European tour of the 'Deliverence album.' For all of you metal fans that hate Extol and refuse to listen to their music just because they are Christians should give them a second thought and listen to their music and lyrics with an open mind. Come on, metal fans, CENTURY MEDIA added Extol to their amazing roster of metal bands, apparently with the help of the band, Borknagar. Extol knows how to combine brutality with symphonic elements and proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ with the beautiful genre of heavy metal.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favorite cd., January 21, 2004
It is very difficult to describe music in words. And it does not help me to have to use a language that is not my own. I am Icelandic and would do a better job using Icelandic.Undeceived is my very favorite cd of all time. It is some sort of death metal, but very different from the Florida-style bands like Cannibal Corpse. It has influence from all genres of metal. Sometimes it is rather slow, and the guitars make soothing melancholy melodies. Sometimes the pace is quite fast. The vocals consist in brutal growls, (sometimes a bit hardcore, or black metal like) but there are clean vocals as well. The song writing is very well done and thoughtful. There are a lot of stop and go, off beats and rhythm changes on the disk, but I think the songs are still manly based on the melodies. There is some use of classical instruments (violins) on there also. It is complicated, melodic and brutal. The band members seem to be very devoted to the Lord, and that is what I love most about them.
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