I only own Dol Guldur, but I fell in love with Summoning on the first listen. I will definately be purchasing some more of their albums in the near future. The sound is kind of like Abigor meets Dimmu Borgir but without the great production.
TERRORIZER 4/5 (Dol Guldur) - Coming from a band that actually had the cheek to entitle a previous disc 'Minas Morgul', Summoning's third outing belies the Tolkiensesque 'Heidi" -meets-'The Sound Of Music' stereotype that plagues so much of the more, er, fantastical end of Black Metal. And that's because the Austrians are busy exiting the confines of the cliched Black Metal Dungeons. Gott sei Dank.
'Dol Guldur' alernates between Mortiis-meets-In The Nursery key-and-drum machine stompers and a more full-on approach that is all the t\more incredible for its utter Samaelness. Indeed, track two (mumblefuck here has lost the tracklisting), which crescendos and climazes repeatedly over the course of its lengthy passaging, could happily sit next to 'Passage' and possibly even show it ukp. Razor-sharp Blackened guitar, throat-abusing vocals unleashed at the exact right moment each time, keyboard pomposity not a stones's throw away from a Bayreuth Wagner performance, and a killer drum machine kick for an undertow are just some of the things that make 'Dol Guldur' well, cool in its sad Fantasy anti-cool.
With connections to those meisters Abigor, Summoning are most definitely just one very good reason to take Napalm Records mre and more seriously as a label. Because 'Dol Guldur' would bestow any underground label's roster with grace and verve.
Nick Terry
SOD 9/10 (Lugburz) - Sommoning has, in my idiotic opinion, one of the coolest logos ever designed, and you can either figure it out in about two seconds or spend hours trying to decipher its meaning. As for the music on Lugburz, it won't take youo long to realize that this it some serious, over-the-top, chaotic War Metal hellbent on destroying all that is clam and placid in your feeble world. Soul-scorching guitars crest like mammoth waves, only to crash down upon a shore littered with the carnage of some epic encounter as anew battle cry echoes from the cliffs above with a terrifying roar. Prepare to die!
Chronicles Of Chaos 10/10 (Dol Guldur) - I have basically worshipped this band since last year's amazing
_Minas Morgul_, in which Protector and Silenius (who is also in
Abigor) abandoned the raw black metal of their debut and pioneered a
unique, mesmerizing style of epic-ambient,
blackened-medieval-metallic music. These guys weave together sonic
tapestries in which it's impossible to tell where the gripping song
leaves off and the enthralling soundscape begins. As on _Minas
Morgul_, the writings of Tolkien provide the imaginative backdrop to
the music, which is dominated by multiple layers of synthesizers and
hard, mid-paced beats. Beefy and distorted guitar tones also take up
a chunk of the mix, as do expressive and eerie black metal vocals.
Like guitar and voice, the synths are quite organic in tone, usually
approximating the sounds of distant, echoing horns or strings, yet
with an unmistakably unearthly vibe. Carefully layered and
beautifully produced, guitar, synth, and voice are anchored by
programmed percussion that doesn't really sound canned, especially
thanks to the frequent use of beats suggesting tribal ceremonies and
military marches. On songs like the awesome "Khazad Dum", Summoning
build layer upon layer in consecutive steps, so that what begins as a
simple series of notes is embellished, bit by bit, with distinct
series of cool, imaginative tones, until there are five, six, seven
separate layers to the sound, all woven splendidly together. The
music tends to be slow, with no fast parts at all, but the sound is
so textured and rich that listening remains action-packed -
especially if you let your imagination just go with the sonic flow.
Check out the haunting melody line of "Kor", the chilling bells of
"Wyrmvater Glaurung", the stirring "Nightshade Forests", and look for
an eight-minute animated (!) video from the band soon. Highest
recommendation.
Corridor Of Cells 6/10 (Dol Guldur) - A concept album, based around the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Most of the songs are slow and around the 10-minute mark. However, the guitar riffing and vocals are definitely in a black-metal style. Overall, a sort of interesting mixture between BM and doom metal (especially due to the extended usage of all sorts of melancholic keyboards, pianos, etc.). It's not bad, but to be honest most of songs sound rather similar and seem to be based around the same idea (not to mention that most of them are a bit too long). Still, the epic atmosphere that this band manages to create is quite an asset, although in the future it would probably be a good idea to add some more variety to its style. Promising.
Scream 3/6 (Minas Morgul) - Summoning is yet another band that draws inspirations from Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings". Their music is symphonic and quite melodic black metal, with layers of synths. It works for a while, but tends to wander off a bit towards the end.
Scream 3/6 (Dol Guldur) - The third album from synth experts and middle ages fanatics Summoning sees the duo still going for exactly the same. Massive, ten minutes long epic pieces of synthesized black metal. For a while it's really superb, but the songs are way too long to really make an impact. Original, but a little bit too boring!
Scream 4/6 (Nightshade Forests) - Man, is this band creative! How long has it been since the last CD? Six months? Well, this is called an EP, but it still lasts for 35 minutes, so it's value for money. The music is the same, with middle ages music and harsh vocals. It's one of Summonings best to date!
