EXTOL have released "Disintegrate," the second single from "Aura Of Decay," their first album since the self-titled record of 2013. It arrives November 6 via Solid State Records, and it reunites the classic lineup — guitarist Christer Espevoll has rejoined.
"Disintegrate" sits on the heavier side of the band's range while keeping the EXTOL cocktail intact: vocal harmonies, melodies that stick, and a brutal mix of elements that by rights should not sit together. The lyric goes somewhere genuinely difficult, dealing with dementia and the surreal path friends and family walk while watching a loved one's cognitive and physical decline.
The record took a long time and, by the band's account, cost something to make — a deeply considered and at times painful labour of love. Tracking spread across three rooms: Hawk Studios, Little Cave Studio and Hrada Creative. Jens Bogren mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studios, and Hugh Syme — the artist behind decades of RUSH sleeves — created the album artwork.
Musically, EXTOL continue charting unknown water while keeping the signature that has defined them since the 1990s. The complex arrangements and unmistakable sonic language remain, and longtime listeners are promised something specific: echoes of the raw, black metal-tinged atmospheres of their seminal "Burial" surface throughout.
The first single, "The One And The Many," appeared last month and took on modern tribalism through the lens of an ancient philosophical problem. Its structures are deliberately erratic, with jarring shifts used to evoke psychological collapse. "We are living in an era where truth feels relative, yet tribal dogmas seem to be strengthening," Espevoll said of it. "We wanted the song to mirror that confusion. It is an invitation to look beneath the surface noise of the internet and reflect on how sanctimonious religious and political practices are fed and kept alive by ideology."
Formed in 1993 in Bekkestua, Norway, EXTOL have spent three decades fusing sonic violence with spiritual and philosophical themes, drawing on technical death metal while reaching for melodic and harmonic ideas the genre rarely bothers with.
"Aura Of Decay" track listing:
- The One And The Many
- Disintegrate
- Sanctum
- Merciless Hunger
- Vile Path
- Phantom Dismay
- Shield And Alibi
- Wrecked Within Walls
- Dimness Of Lingering Gloom
- Beneath The Dirt
- End Of Times
EXTOL is: Peter Espevoll (vocals), Ole Børud (guitars, vocals, bass), David Husvik (drums, vocals), Christer Espevoll (guitars)