Lengsel is a progressive Unblack metal band that formed in 1995 in Norway. They released one album, called Solace, on Endtime Productions in 2000, which was subsequently licensed to Solid State Records for an American release. Their name means "longing" in Norwegian; the idea of longing for home is a prominent theme on their debut release.[1]

Shortly after releasing "Solace", the band members changed the name to "Ganglion", and quickly departed from their black metal roots to a more rock oriented style, alienating many of their old fans in the process but creating a new fan base at the same time.

In 1999, guitarist Tor Glidje joined the band Extol on bass.[1] The following year, Glidje switched over to guitar for Extol at the departure of another member and John Mjåland joined the band on bass. When the guitarist returned, Glidje left Extol, but Mjåland stayed as bassist. In 2004, both of Extol's guitarists left the band and were replaced by Glidje and Ole Sveen, effectively merging both members and music of Ganglion with Extol. Several Ganglion songs, recorded under the Ganglion moniker, were incorporated into the Extol repertoire. Thus, all three members of Lengsel/Ganglion are current members of Extol. The remaining members of Extol also played in Ganglion at one point or another, so the merge was very logical.

In 2006, while Extol was on break, a resurrected Lengsel recorded their second full-length album, entitled The Kiss, The Hope, and released it on the independent German label Whirlwind Records. It features more of a sludge/hardcore feel than the attitude rock of Ganglion, and has very little in common with Solace.
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