Alright, so a lot of you are gonna give me crap about giving this CD EP a rating of 10, but man I've really listened to this thing a lot trying to find some reason to drop the rating and I just can't find one.
EXTOL fans rise up! Mesmerized gives you more of what you have come to know and love as pure, savage, M-E-T-A-L! The first three tracks on this 6 song EP are completely new songs, but they continue what Burial started so incredibly well, it's almost as if they were recorded the same time as Burial. I'd like to tell you which is my favorite song, but that's just not possible as these three are pretty much equal songs. The one that does stand out for being somewhat different is "Storms of Disillusions" which incorporates some clean vocal singing parts similar to "Reflections of a Broken Soul" off of Burial. The other two tracks, "Enthralled", and "The Prodigal Son" are both incredible metal pieces that any true fan must have in their collection.
The next three tracks are remixes from Burial, and admittedly, these are not for your typical Extol fan. Ole' told me these tracks were NOT remixed by the band. They were done by the guy who runs Endtime Productions. This guy Ole' continues, is a serious underground industrial fan, but of course loves metal as well. So it'd be right up his alley to take a few incredible metal songs and add lots of noise, distortion, and effects until they no longer resemble the original in any fashion at all...and he has.
The tracks remixed here are "Burial (Sanctum Remix)", "Renhetens Elv (Sanctum Remix)", and "Work of Art (Raison D'Etre Remix)" and they are nothing if not noisy industrial songs. Now I like this style of music a lot, however I know tons of people who DON'T so consider that. These tracks are VERY reminiscent of Mental Destruction's Straw album, to give you a guide of the direction these tracks took. I think I should also throw in that at one of the Extol shows I saw Ole' wore a Mental Destruction shirt, and inside the Mesmerized cover he is wearing the same T-Shirt again.
The ONLY downfall this CD has is being as it was released in a Digipak, there are no lyrics...but hey it's EXTOL, That's easy enough to overlook...
Overall I love this CD, however you may only be interested in the first three tracks. No big deal really, Solid State just released this CD with the "Pay No MOre Than $5.99" sticker so really at 6 bucks the first three are WELL worth your money...if you like the remixes all the better. Considering the Endtimes website tells us Extol has finished writing and will start recording the next full length in December, this makes a great "Hold-me-over" as well.
10/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #81Reviewed by David BixlerAfter the tremendous success of Burial, the mighty Extol has released a very interesting EP. This version by Solid State is basically just a repackaging and U.S. release of the European version that has been available since June. What's cool is that Solid State didn't skimp on the packaging or anything, keeping the fancy digipak and great artwork. So, if you don't have the European release, you…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Joe RockstrohWith some bands, you get the feeling that if you had a $10,000 stereo it would sound that much better. With Extol, there's so much in the beats, the riffs, the growls, that you really feel as if you can't get it loud enough. Considering the current glut of sub-par metal and hardcore bands that are filling the Christian market, Extol seem all the more brilliant. While the excellent Burial broke…Bandoppler 1999Reviewed by James FlorenceHoly cow! I just used the term "mind-blowing" in another review for the band Sick of Change. But I have suddenly gained a completely new perspective on that term, now that Norway's Extol has completely redefined its meaning for me. Extol turns all music to mush, as they will turn your brain into mush. Your opinion has now ceased to have any significance. Extol is truly mind-blowing in the truest…Art for the Ears 1999Reviewed by Marco PovervestThis EP must be kind of a snack before they dish up a new album. There are six songs on this disc of which only one is really new, recorded in 1999. This song, Enthralled, shows Extol's at the top of their strength. They play technical deathmetal but in this song they are closer to blackmetal than ever with shrieking vocals and some faster than fast passages. The second song (The Prodigal Son)…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by Arni the CowExtol is a good band. This is a good EP. Extol hasn't changed since Burial, so we still have that technical and experimenting death/black sound to extinguish our hunger until the next release (which is out I may add). What can I say? Extol plays great music. Writes great lyrics. I enjoyed this EP. Until the third song is over, that is. Then there come 3 remixes of songs we heard on Burial. If I…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by CrusaderI was very happy to receive a copy of this cd, being that I'm hugely into Extol. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are one of the heaviest and most innovative death/black metal bands to ever grace the ears of mankind. With the exception of the last 3 tracks, which are not recorded by the band, but are industrial remixes of songs off the Burial cd, this cd is pretty much…Dead Zine 1999Reviewed by FetusAdmittedly, Burial (Extol's first LP) was fairly good in my opinion, but really didn't overwhelm me the first 10 spins. Now, after countless rotations, Burial has rooted itself into nothing less than remarkable. Yes, I highly anticipated this release. It's a bummer this is an EP, but I say that strictly because I NEED more of this! Again, Extol delivers with such abounding complexity (as their…Similar sounding releases
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