aiylyn
Surprising!
What caught me off guard about this album is not the huge change in style; that I knew was coming. What startled me was how GOOD it turned out to be! I bought it expecting a mediocre-to-good record, nothing amazing, but it wasn't too expensive and I like Extol's older work so I picked it up, and was promptly blown away. This is a metalheads, and especially musician's, playground. All the technical goodies are still here: sudden time changes, riffs using odd rhythmic structure and harmonies, tightly planned out screaming. It's just all in a thrash setting rather than a black/death setting. Don't be worried by the picture of them looking like a bunch of indie rockers on the back: this is HEAVY. Every song has sections that made me sit up and say "wow," particularly in the guitar work. If you like metal at all, get this! It's different from Undeceived and turned out to be a startlingly original piece of work, especially for a Norwegian band.