Extol was formed in 1993 by drummer David Husvik and guitarist Christer Espevoll, who had been playing together and wanted to start a band. Peter Espevoll became their vocalist. In 1994, bassist Eystein Holm joined the band just before their first gig. Emil Nikolaisen joined as a second guitarist in 1995.

In 1996, they recorded for Norwegian metal compilation, Northern Lights. Later that year they recorded "Embraced", a short demo. Ole Børud soon replaced Nikolaisen, who wanted to give more attention to his other band, Royal, on guitar. Nikolaisen currently plays guitar and lead vocals for indie rock band Serena Maneesh. They signed with Endtime Productions in 1998, and released Burial, the band's first full album.

The next year, they released the EP, Mesmerized, which featured three industrial remixes of songs from Burial. Eystein was replaced by Tor Magne Glidje on bass. They later recorded Undeceived, which was much darker and more intense. Then Ole left the band, so Tor Glidje switched over to guitar, and John Robert Mjåland joined as bassist. In 2001 another EP, Paralysis was recorded; it was only released in Sweden. This EP featured a cover of "Shadow of Death" by Believer, whom the band considers to be a great influence. After Paralysis, Tor Magne left the band to focus on his other project, Ganglion, and Ole returned to the line-up. After Undeceived was released, Extol was no longer obligated to Endtime, and they signed with Century Media in 2002. Their album Synergy, released in 2003, showed an even greater appreciation of the band Believer. The music on the album is very similar to Believer's style of thrash metal.

In June of 2004, Ole Børud and Christer Espevoll left Extol to "invest their time and energy elsewhere". Taking their place as permanent members in the band are the return of Tor Magne Glidje and Ole Halvard Sveen, both from Ganglion, that merged with Extol when four out of five bandmembers ended up playing in both bands.

In 2005, the band released what could be considered their most diverse album; The Blueprint Dives, or "Blueprint" for short. The album was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy, Spellemannprisen, for best Norwegian metal album in 2005.