To Hell with the Devil is the third studio album by the Christian metal band Stryper, released in 1986. It was the first Christian metal album to achieve platinum status, selling over one million copies. It remained the best-selling Christian metal album until P.O.D.'s Satellite in 2001.
Extol are a Christian 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.
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.
Mantric is a Norwegian progressive metal band from Oslo that formed in 2007.
Deliverance is the 1989 debut album by the Christian speed/thrash metal band Deliverance. The original Intense Records pressing is now considered a valuable collectable. It was reissued, minus 2 songs in 1998 on KMG Records as a two-disc set along with the 1990 album Weapons of Our Warfare. It was officially re-released late 2008 with two bonus tracks on Retroactive Records. The album was ranked at No. 44 on Metal Hammer's top 50 thrash metal albums of all-time list. In 2010, HM Magazine listed Deliverance No. 31 on its Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time list stating that "'If You Will' into 'The Call' is almost as good as metal gets " and that "this record would forever change and impact me and the Christian metal music scene as we knew it!"(-Bill Balford). Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it No. 3 on its Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list. About.com writer Dan Marsicano wrote "Metal with a religious concept is not for everybody, and Deliverance doesn’t try to pander to the secular crowd. So, if you don’t mind a little preaching, their music is straight-to-the-gut thrash metal at a time where the genre was getting more expansive with its themes and sound. For giving Christian metal a thrash hero to rally behind, Deliverance gets the nod for this week’s Retro Recommendation."
Burial is the first album by the Norwegian Christian metal band Extol. It was released on Endtime Productions and then Solid State Records the following year. According to Allmusic, Burial was "a breath of fresh air among a genre that relies on satanic gimmicks", and marked a renewal in the Christian metal scene. In 2010, HM magazine ranked it #13 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
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.
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.
Monument Bineothan is the first studio release by Norwegian metalcore/mathcore band Benea Reach. It was released in Europe in July 2006 on Tabu Records. It was released in the U.S. on 20 March 2007 through Candlelight Records. The album was nominated for the 35th annual Spellemannprisen in the Metal category.
Whitecross is the eponymous debut album from the Christian metal band Whitecross, released on September 5, 1987. It reached No. 17 on Billboard's Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart. In 2010, HM Magazine listed Whitecross No. 29 on its Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time list stating that "listen to this album. It'll blow your mind. It's simplistic '80s metal to a fault, but the shredding lead guitar by Rex Carroll in every fill, nook and cranny is primo." Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it No. 4 on its Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
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 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 metal bands Extol, Absurd², Twisted Into Form and InSection and Aperture, a jazz and acoustic rock project. David 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.
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.
