Pic courtesy of: Extol "I’m not entirely sure what the new Extol material will sound like exactly, but I have an early impression that’s it’s gonna be more dirty, dynamic and direct than on “Blueprint.” We intend to use alot of time on the sound itself this time, to make a more “live” feel to it if you know what I mean"

CR: Why don’t you tell us a little about the new material that you guys are currently working on? Can we expect any surprise in a future album?
John Robert Mjåland: I’m not entirely sure what the new Extol material will sound like exactly, but I have an early impression that’s it’s gonna be more dirty, dynamic and direct than on “Blueprint.” We intend to use alot of time on the sound itself this time, to make a more “live” feel to it if you know what I mean, and improve from what we did on “Blueprint.” We will carry on in the more or less same direction, but you can expect changes as usual with Extol. For one thing I think the new stuff will be more coherent in style.

CR: Extol was nominated last year for a Norwegian Grammy, congratulations! What does something like that mean to the band and to your fans?
John Robert Mjåland: Thank you, that was kind of cool! In practice it means that there’s been put quite an extra amount of focus on Extol on national level, and that should mean that we’ll be more available for our audience back home in Norway, which is something we’ve wanted to be for a long time now actually.

CR: How was the whole experience of touring with a band like Opeth? What do you think you learned from this recent tour?
John Robert Mjåland: It was a great experience for us, being the opening act for a band like Opeth who practically sell out all their concerts, meaning we had the perfect opportunity to play infront of thousands of openminded metalheads. Touring with Opeth went really smooth, and you suddenly see how important it is with proper organizing and people in your back. Apart from that we had a really wonderful time playing our music and hanging with the Opeth guys and crew who indeed are super tip-top people.

CR: What happened last year in your US tour, you guys fired your manager in the middle of the tour, why? Are you planning a new tour in US?
John Robert Mjåland: It’s a really long story. And it’s a bit tragic too, cause everything that possibly could go wrong on that tour did. Our manager screwed us bigtime, and before we understood what was really going on we were already on the road, facing shows that either weren’t promoted right or didn’t even exist, missing out on money we were promised, a whole bunch of lies and a demotivating overall situation. In the end we decided to pack our bags and head home. By then we had lost too much money, the tour started to dissolve and Americans in general pissed us off, excuse my English. The only positive thing that came out of that tour was in fact the rock solid unity of the band, proving that we would stick together no matter what. And of course all the new friends we made over there, mostly Americans I guess..

CR: You guys have played with Mastodon if I’m not mistaken, what’s your impression about them?
John Robert Mjåland: Yeah right, we toured with Mastodon on their 2006 Spring tour through Europe. Amazing live-band, I was blown away when I saw them the first time on the tour, and watched them play every night thereafter. They are really intense on stage, sound monster-huge and look like masters of the universe or something. Great guys too! Really down to earth and friendly. The coolest tour I’ve been on so far I would say actually.

CR: The first album I ever heard from Extol was Undeceived, great album, I mean the music is amazingly technical, and the songs are quite complex but very “down to earth” how would you describe the music in that particular record? And how far is Extol from the way you write and recorded that album?
John Robert Mjåland: I’d say it’s a blend between death- and black-metal with elements of prog rock. It may sound complex, but still it’s quite attainable for the listener, so I see what you mean. Today I think it’s even easier for people to communicate with Extol, but I wouldn’t say the music is easier or something, it’s more stripped down sort of, less metal in a sense. And now we have two new guitarists in the band, so the process is different naturally. I think we jam out the songs more now than earlier on.

CR: Your latest album The Blueprint Dives comes again with new ideas and new sounds, mainly the vocal side is a bit more “metalcore” than the vocal approach Extol used in lets say Undeceived; what causes in you guys to keep changing, to keep evolving into new sounds?
John Robert Mjåland: First of all it’s a natural drive for us to continually evolve and produce some interesting piece of music, let’s face it, you get a bit bored staying in the exactly same water for too long at a time. Secondly we’ve all developed a somewhat critical viewpoint on music over the years, so that we have a hard time repeating ourselves, at least consciously.

CR: I just saw your video “Pearl” what does the touching people on the back means, what was the idea of the video? Great song by the way!
John Robert Mjåland: It means that what a person does inevitably has an impact on people and their surroundings. It’s like a chain reaction working its way around, interacting and affecting people’s lives, symbolically through the touch of a hand. The idea was developed by our film crew for this particular song.

	Pic courtesy of: Extol "First of all it’s a natural drive for us to continually evolve and produce some interesting piece of music, let’s face it, you get a bit bored staying in the exactly same water for too long at a time"

CR: What would you say is the single most radical or significant change in Extol in The Blueprint Dives?
John Robert Mjåland: The diversity within the song material, ranging from poprock to the far extremities in music.

CR: Do you guys have a steady line-up, because I was reading that you still don’t have a permanent member on bass?
John Robert Mjåland: The line-up is the same now as it was before we recorded our previous album “Blueprint”, so there are no changes coming. I’ve played bass in Extol for 6 years and no plans of quiting right yet.. Another fact that could shed some light on our current line-up, is that all the “new” members in Extol have at some point played together in various other settings, so this constellation of bandmembers is not entirely new either.

CR: If I’m not mistaken you guys have 2 EP’s Mesmerized and Paralysis; Mesmerized served very well to help introduce the sound your next full length album at the moment was going to have, the album was Undeceived, and then Paralysis sort of did the same for Synergy; do you guys plan each EP to “prepare” people for the sound of your next album, or are they just arrange in an order that sounds logical as the band develops?
John Robert Mjåland: An EP is useful for several reasons, and one of them is of course serving as an appetizer for people who want to check out the new material before they buy the entire cd. I can assure you we’ll put a single out before we release the next album.

CR: Can we say that Extol has had three stages of music growth, which can be best understood by listening to three of your crucial albums, like Undeceived, Synergy and The Blueprint Dives? Is the new record going to be another “step ahead” for Extol, or are you guys going to find a way to change one more time?
John Robert Mjåland: Yeah, you could say there are three stages, and the new record will also sound different than the previous one, but I believe the progression will be more gentle than what was the case on “Blueprint.” We hardly want to repeat ourselves, but I think you will find that the musical changes won’t be all that drastic either.

CR: Someone wrote “In Synergy Extol dumped their progressive death metal style and have taken on a progressive/technical thrash sound”; is there some truth in those words?
John Robert Mjåland: There’s some truth to it I guess, cause what we did was somewhat deliberate, we wanted to lean towards a pure thrash-album, and of course that meant the death-metal aspect then would seem absent in Extol.

CR: How would you describe the music made by Extol, I mean if you have to pick a genre, what would it be?
John Robert Mjåland: I really don’t care how we’re labelled, and most of the time we seem to fall between different categories, so it doesn’t really matter. If I would have to make a choice, I’d go for “hardrock with a hard core” or something like that.

CR: Has Extol ever had any problem to get inside the metal community because of its “religious” content; I mean has the other non religious metal acts ever discriminated you guys because of the message in your music?
John Robert Mjåland: To some extent it’s made it harder for us to be accepted as an act within the scene here in Norway in particular. Like for instance, you have the Inferno festival going on, and in my opinion there’s a reason why we haven’t been invited to play there yet. Not that I care to much about it now, but it is something to think about. On the other hand, there aren’t exactly people trying to give us a hard time, it’s more about avoidance when “discrimination” is the case. I don’t see it as a problem though, we seem to be respected for the music we make and we get the same chances like most other band. We may not benefit of having “the right image”, but that’s the price you pay.

	Pic courtesy of: Extol "Things aren’t as exotic as they used to be. Let’s face it, back then the black metal movement was almost a religious experiance for people, a movement carrying anti-religious symbols, directed towards the authorities and the state church, and as a young person it’s easy to fall into a culture that makes you feel different or special"

CR: Norway to many Latin Americans is some sort of black metal Mecca (well at least for me) how is it to be in a country famous for its church burnings, do you think you guys can fight this stereotype, the stereotype that every Norwegian band is antireligious?
John Robert Mjåland: In the ‘90s Norway was without doubt the capital of black metal, it was a trademark, and you could almost get a record deal only your band was from the Norwegian woods. I understand the nostalgic value of this in the music, but some10-15 years later the event of things have changed dramatically. Things aren’t as exotic as they used to be. Let’s face it, back then the black metal movement was almost a religious experiance for people, a movement carrying anti-religious symbols, directed towards the authorities and the state church, and as a young person it’s easy to fall into a culture that makes you feel different or special. Trends change, and situation has changed. We have never made it as a goal to challenge this sterotype, on the contrary.

CR: What would you say is more important for Extol, the music or the message in the music?
John Robert Mjåland: I think the two coincide, music is extremely important for us, but without the words there wouldn’t be an Extol. Maybe instead there would be some other band, some band proclaiming norse mythology at the Inferno festival, who knows.. hehe.

CR: What’s the difference for you between organize religion and God?
John Robert Mjåland: Man is very good at creating “God” in his or hers own image on own premises. Many religions are product of man’s creations. Organized religion takes on many forms, even daily activites such as shopping, music, gambling, sex and power urge can have significant religious value. God is often at the centre of a religious program, but is often made out to be something entirely different than what God really is. I believe God disapproves of organized religion, but still sees people’s hearts for what they are. I understand it when people keep the religious at a distance, but it’s sad that they shut God out entirely as well. The God that I believe in, I find in the Holy Bible, and everything surrounding this can be said to be the Christian faith made religion. God is not these people, but none the less living in them, in people like me.

CR: Well thank you very much for this opportunity, wish you the best, if you will like to add anything else, please do…
John Robert Mjåland: Thanks!