Extol is an extreme metal band from Bekkestua, Norway that was formed in 1993. The band is known for playing a variety of different styles of metal which include progressive metal, death metal, black metal and thrash metal.
Antestor is a Norwegian Christian extreme metal band formed in 1990 in Jessheim. Credited for starting the northern European Christian black metal scene, Antestor is the only Christian band to have an album released by Cacophonous Records, which has also released records by bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Sigh, and Cradle of Filth. The band's only release on Cacophonous, The Return of the Black Death, proved influential for the Christian black metal movement, and has sold over 10,000 copies.
Lengsel was a progressive black metal band that formed in 1994 in Norway. They released one album, called Solace, on Endtime Productions in 2000, which was subsequently licensed to Solid State Records for an American release. The second album The Kiss, the Hope was released in 2007. Their name means "longing" in Norwegian; the idea of longing for home is a prominent theme on their debut release.
Mesmerized is an EP by the Norwegian Christian metal band Extol and their second official release. It was released on Endtime Productions and Solid State Records.
Undeceived is the second LP and third studio release by Norwegian Christian metal band Extol. It was released in 2000 on Solid State Records and re-released in 2002 on Century Media; all releases of the album other than the Solid State version switch the two opening tracks, such that "Undeceived" is the first track on the album.
The Blueprint Dives is the fourth studio release by the Norwegian Christian metal band Extol. Recorded at the end of 2004 at Top Room Studios and produced by Børge Finstad and Extol, Blueprint was released on 21 February 2005 on Century Media. The album met with a widely positive reception and received a Spellemannprisen nomination. On this album, Ole Børud and Christer Espevoll left Extol, and the band was joined by the members of the rock band Ganglión, Tor Magne S. Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen.
Synergy is the third studio album by Norwegian Christian extreme metal band Extol. It was released in 2003 on Century Media, but was licensed to Solid State Records.
The Return of the Black Death is the second recorded and first released studio album by the Norwegian unblack metal band Antestor. It was released on September 14, 1998. It is the band's only release on the British Cacophonous Records label. This album's working title was Kongsblod. Antestor recorded another album, Martyrium, prior to The Return of the Black Death, in 1994, and while bootleg versions of the recording circulated, this album did not see official release until 2000.
Drottnar is an extreme metal band from Fredrikstad, Norway. Formed in 1996, the band has released four albums, Spiritual Battle (2000), Welterwerk (2006), Stratum (2012) and Monolith (2019) and an EP titled Anamorphosis (2003). The first album was released on UK label Plankton Records. They are currently signed to Swedish label Endtime Productions.
Arnold Børud is a Norwegian singer, musician and record producer.
Extol is the fifth full-length studio album by the Norwegian Christian progressive death metal band Extol, released in 2013. It was described by music critics as a mixture of death and progressive metal, with some melodic elements. Reviews of the album were very positive, and the album managed to chart on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart.
Ole Arnold Børud is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, producer, and engineer known both for his solo recordings and as a member of the groups Arnold B. Family, Schaliach, Extol, and Fleshkiller. Børud, son of the gospel singer Arnold Børud, began performing music at age five as part of Arnold B. Family, a group which would compete in the Melodi Grand Prix three times. At age twelve, he released a Christian children's music album. He later ventured into hard rock and heavy metal bands, first in the two-man project Schaliach and then in Extol and, briefly, the hardcore punk band Selfmindead. Since the early 2000s, he has also recorded several solo albums in West Coast, pop, funk, and jazz styles: Chi-Rho (2002), Shakin' the Ground (2008), Keep Movin (2011), Someday at Christmas, Stepping Up (2014), Outside the Limit (2019) and Soul Letters (2022). He re-joined Extol in 2012, and in 2016 he co-founded a heavy metal side-project, Fleshkiller. Børud has also performed for Torun Eriksen and Sofian and collaborated with Larvik Stroband and the Oslo Gospel Choir, and has contributed to two hymn compilations, Takk, gode Gud, for alle ting: 20 sanger fra Barnesalmeboka and Søndagsskolen Synger. He has regularly appeared on various Norwegian television shows, including Det store korslaget and Stjernekamp, and in 2017 provided backing choral vocals in Jowst's performance of "Grab the Moment" in the 2017 Eurovision contest.
Schaliach was a Christian metal band formed by Peter Dalbakk and Ole Børud from Hamar, Norway. Dalbakk served as the band's vocalist, while Børud handled all the instrumentation. The band released one studio album, Sonrise, in 1996 through Petroleum Records. Three songs from that recording were then featured on the Rowe Productions compilation album Northern Lights: Norwegian Metal Compilation, which was also released in 1996. The band also contributed the song "Purple Filter" to the compilation album In the Shadow of Death: A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation, released in 2000 through Endtime Productions. Dalbakk was also part of the unblack metal band Vardøger, and Børud had joined the progressive death metal band Extol and also started a career as a solo artist. The two artists would years later, in 2015, team up again to found the progressive death metal project Fleshkiller. The genre performed by the band was described variously as doom metal, death metal, death-doom, gothic metal, black metal, melodic death metal, and progressive metal. Børud's guitar work was strongly influenced by classical music, with one reviewer describing it as a "metal symphony." Its lyrics were explicitly Christian, drawing heavily from the Bible and emphasizing the love of God for all humans. Schaliach has been compared to the output from Extol, Amorphis, Metallica, Solitude Aeturnus, Dream Theater, Threshold, Shadow Gallery, and Teramaze. Most critics were favorable to Sonrise — it was rated highly by HM writer Matt Morrow and by two reviewers from the Christian website The Phantom Tollbooth, and described by the webzine Chronicles of Chaos as "excellent". However, Rock Hard was less favorable and considered Schaliach boring.
Fleshkiller is a death metal band from Norway and Indiana, United States.
David Husvik is a Norwegian drummer who has played in the metal bands Extol, Absurd², Twisted into Form and InSection and Aperture, a jazz and acoustic rock project. Husvik helped to start Pirates N 'Thieves in 2007. He also performed in a side project of Extol called Ganglion.
Christer Espevoll is a Norwegian guitarist who has been active since 1993. He has performed with notable acts such as Extol and Benea Reach. Christer's brother is Peter Espevoll.
Peter Espevoll is a Norwegian vocalist who, in 1993, started the band Extol, with whom he is most associated.
Tor Magne Glidje is a Norwegian guitarist in Extol, Ganglion and Longing, a.k.a. Lengsel, where he is also the lead singer. He was also a part of Benea Reach. He is now playing in the band Mantric.
Vardøger was a Christian extreme metal band from Hamar, Norway. Formed in 1994 under the name Hidden Paradise, the members of the band at the time were all involved in other musical projects and so treated Hidden Paradise as a side project. Several songs were written between 1995 and 1997, almost enough for an entire album, and the band changed its name to Vardøger, but the group disbanded before an album could be released. In 2000, the band contributed the symphonic black metal song "Footprints of Thunder" to the compilation album In the Shadow of Death: A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation.
Sonrise is the debut studio album from the Norwegian Christian metal band Schaliach. It was released in 1996 through Petroleum Records to a mostly positive critical reception. In particular, the guitar work from Ole Børud was praised. In 2005, Momentum Scandinavia re-issued the album with an additional track - "Purple Filter", that originally appeared on a compilation album.
