Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
Voivod is a Canadian progressive thrash metal band from Jonquière, Quebec. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger, guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault. The band has had numerous members changes throughout its 41-year career, with Langevin as the only consistent member. Their current line-up includes Langevin, Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (guitar) and Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (bass).
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.
Tourniquet was an American Christian metal band that formed in Los Angeles in 1990. The band was founded by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. Tourniquet primarily performed a mixture of thrash, progressive, and neoclassical metal, and was influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. It earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992). The band released ten studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one EP, and several video releases. Tourniquet has sold more than 300,000 albums. In addition to its use of classical music, the band is known for frequently using medical terminology in its album and song titles and lyrics.
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.
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.
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.
Benea Reach was a Norwegian progressive metal band based in Oslo. The band was nominated for a Spellemannsprisen Award in the metal category, and at one time included noted guitarist Christer Espevoll of progressive metal band Extol.
Solace is the first full-length album by the Norwegian metal band Lengsel. Solace initially was released on Endtime Productions as a digipak edition in 2000. Around this time the vocalist and guitarist was also a bass player for fellow Norwegian band Extol, who had at the time become an immensely popular band on the American label Tooth and Nail Records' imprint Solid State Records. Label owner Brandon Ebel licensed Solace for Solid State, marketing it with stickers on the album cover stating that it includes members of Extol. The album was also licensed for the German label Black Sun Records.
Live in America! is the first live album by Jørn Lande. It was released under his stage name Jorn on September 24, 2007.
Bring Heavy Rock to the Land is the seventh studio album by Jørn Lande's solo project Jorn.
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.
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.
Azusa is a progressive extreme metal supergroup that originated in 2018 as a project between cousins and former Extol members, Christer Espevoll and David Husvik. The two had been demoing material, when then The Dillinger Escape Plan bassist Liam Wilson expressed admiration for Extol. The three added on pop vocalist Eleni Zafiriadou of Sea + Air, and the band recorded their debut album, Heavy Yoke. The band is currently signed with Solid State Records.
