Extol announce first album in over a decade, 'Aura of Decay,' and debut single 'The One and the Many'

Announcement and release date

Norwegian extreme metal group Extol have officially confirmed the November 6 release of their sixth full-length album, "Aura of Decay," via Solid State Records. The record is the band's first studio album since their 2013 self-titled release, ending a wait of more than a decade for a new LP. The album was written and tracked across Hawk Studios, Little Cave Studio and Hrada Creative, with mixing and mastering handled by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, and cover art created by Hugh Syme.

Lineup and creative direction

The album reunites the band's classic lineup, with guitarist Christer Espevoll returning to the fold. Band members are credited as Peter Espevoll on vocals, Ole Børud on guitars, vocals and bass, David Husvik on drums and vocals, and Christer Espevoll on guitars. The group described the project as "a deeply considered and, at times, painful labor of love," and noted that echoes of the raw, black metal-tinged atmospheres of their seminal album "Burial" surface throughout the new material.

Lead single and its themes

Alongside the album announcement, Extol unveiled the single "The One and the Many," described as a "labyrinthine sonic journey" built on erratic, unconventional structures and jarring shifts intended to evoke psychological collapse. Lyrically, the song frames the modern ideological landscape through the lens of the ancient philosophical puzzle of the one and the many, exploring modern tribalism and the relativization of postmodernism. Christer Espevoll said the track 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."

Track listing

"Aura of Decay" is set to include eleven tracks: 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, and End of Times. The single is already streaming worldwide.

Background and next milestone

Formed in 1993 in Bekkestua, Norway, Extol are known for fusing technical death metal with melodic, harmonic and philosophically oriented songwriting. Fans can pre-save the lead single ahead of the album's November 6 release via Solid State Records.