lukretion Austrian duo Summoning have carved a unique path within black metal, navigating further and further away from it until they created a whole new genre, halfway between score music and metal. On their fifth full-length album, 2001’s Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame, the band were well into their metamorphosis and by then their sound had consolidated into a distinctive and immediately recognisable style. In this sense, Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame may be perceived as “more of the same”, which is to some extent true, albeit there are subtle variations that give the album its own unique identity compared to previous Summoning’s records.

The music revolves around the combination of epic keyboards and tremolo picked guitar riffs, with the former dominating over the latter. The songs are very symphonic with lots of orchestrations, creating a cinematic, film-music vibe that is further accentuated by the use of spoken samples from the radio productions of The Lord of the Rings. These samples, which are one of the innovations on Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame compared to previous albums, are intertwined with classic black metal growls (sung by both band members, Protector and Silenius) and, in the final song “Farewell”, a clean male choir (another novelty). The mood is epic and majestic, a feeling that is reinforced by the incorporation of “marching” style (sampled) drums and percussions. The songs mostly stay in the mid-tempo range and each track is based on a limited number of riffs and motifs, repeated extensively throughout their considerable length. There are suitable shifts in dynamics throughout most songs, as guitars and drums fade out to let the keyboards carry the music for a few bars. This injects some variation into the compositions and creates a satisfying sense of build and release.

Nevertheless, I feel that, for the most part, Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame works best as background music rather than for attentive, active listening. There isn’t an awful lot going on in each song and many of the tracks explore similar melodic ideas and moods. This makes it hard to retain attention throughout the 56 minutes of the record. For the same reason, it is also hard to pick favourites among the album’s 8 tracks, although “In Hollow Halls beneath the Fells” does come across as the most well-accomplished piece here.

Overall, Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame is a bit of an acquired taste. If you are into the score music / black metal hybrid that Summoning have been cooking up throughout their career, you’ll lap this up eagerly. In fact, Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame may as well be one of the best records the band have released up to this point in their career. It is certainly more assured and pleasant than its 1999’s precursor, the grim, guitar-driven Stronghold. As such, Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame may also be a suitable point of entry into Summoning’s discography for those readers who are uninitiated to the black art of the Austrian combo. Either way, this is a quality release that I may not be returning to very often, but, when I do, it will continue to provide listening pleasures, I am sure.

siLLy puPPy And just as the second wave of black metal had exploded in the metal underground, it seemed as if some bands were ready to move on almost from the very beginning. One such band is Austria’s SUMMONING that released their debut “Lugburz” in March of 1995 and by October released their followup MINAS MORGUL without their drummer Trifixion, were reduced to a duo and radically changed their musical direction. While “Lugburz” was an interesting debut, it was well within the mold of the second wave black metal template started by Mayhem and Darkthrone but beginning with MINAS MORGUL which takes its name from the fictional language of Sindarin in the J.R.R. Tolkien universe in fact means Middle-earth, that more generic black metal approach had completely transmogrified into something different.

It was with this sophomore release where Protector and Silenius, now a duo began to merge the dark ambient and dungeon synth atmospheric sounds of their side projects Ice Age and Die Verbannten Kinder Evas with their black metal antecedents as heard on their debut and the early demos prior. The result was one of the earliest significant deviations from the second wave orthodoxy into what would soon be tagged as atmospheric black metal since all that remained from the debut were the Tolkien tinged lyrics and the raspy unintelligible vocals. Oh the unholy horror of it all!

This is what i call their video soundtrack black metal debut and it was no surprise to learn that the album cover for MINAS MORGUL was taken from the 1991 video game “Ishar: Legend Of The Fortress.” And so began the next chapter of the SUMMONING universe where more relaxed epic symphonic marches with repetitive and quite catchy ear worms would become the focus of the hypnotic trance of eleven tracks that utilized the tremolo guitar distortion as a backing instrument and the role of Trifixion reduced to a more obsequious and programmable drum machine while Protector and Silenius shared the role of keyboardists, vocalists and strings.

MINAS MORGUL is a pleasant journey into mystic lands where anthemic and even Medieval folk tinged melodies prance about like chilled out pilgrimages over the mountains and into the valleys below like Hobbits on a mission to fulfill their destiny of ridding the world of the stranglehold of evil once and for all. Each track begins with a slow and repetitive keyboard based riff and then repeats ad nauseam to infinity at times however the subtle changes in the tempo and dynamics slowly fortify the overall soundscape to satisfying crescendoes with the guitar distortion ramping up while Protector delivers his famously frantic shrieks and raspy declarations of all things Middle-earth.

While i am quite fond of the debut album, i can hardly fault SUMMONING for tackling something so utterly unique at the time and ultimately successfully carving out a tiny niche all their own in the burgeoning and expanding black metal market. The template laid out on MINAS MORGUL was indeed an interesting one to explore and while many kvlter-than-thou black metalheads of the day may have run to Lucifer in utter contempt to complain, the overall success of this darkwave ambient dungeon synth mixed with black metal elements is quite addictive actually. Despite the recipe having been created, i don’t find MINAS MORGUL to be nearly as refined to the high quality perfection of the later releases as it’s a tad uneven in quality and the drum machines sound a little canned at times however they do effectively drive the monotonic mood setting steady pace that the duo were going for. An excellent experiment that would only continue to get better and kudos to these guys for making such a huge change.

siLLy puPPy While SUMMONING officially formed all the way back in the early 90s, this current day duo from Austria has been quite sparse in their 21st century releases with only four full-length albums having emerged in the last 18 years which roughly means around five year gaps in between. Lo and behold and at long last a retreat back into the Tolkien lengendarium where Orks run wild and Mordor burns in fury as the Ring of Power remains firmly out of grasp as Hobbits dodge one bout with evil after another. Finally in 2018, SUMMONING which consists only of Selenius and Protector has unleashed their latest installment of their musical accompaniment for all things Lord of the Rings in the form of WITH DOOM WE COME. As with the previous albums beginning with 1995’s “Minas Morgul,” we are treated (or tortured) to another set of epic length jaunts into dark ambient melodic marches that feel as if they are procured by Elves, performed by Dwarves, considered by Hobbits and ultimately embellished with Gandalf’s white wizard ways of crafting the perfect balance between simple melodies that are glistened over with something more precious than Golem’s lost pride and joy.

WITH DOOM WE COME is only the eighth installment in the world of SUMMONING and after years of delays (which remain unnamed), the album finds the first rays of 2018 shining upon it like a new Hobbit movie emerging from the misty fjords of New Zealand. With Middle Earth firmly fixed in gaze, SUMMONING once again delivers the expected epic video game soundtrack romp through a series of eight lengthy tracks that continue the (now) traditional theme of taking a simple (and catchy) piano or synthesized melodic flow that seemingly riffs to eternity but on the march to freedom captures subtle changes in their midst. You are correct to assume that SUMMONING have mustered up yet another album familiar to all, that being heavily atmospheric dominated melodies that crank up the buzzsaw guitar action and raspy corpse paint vocals to conjure up visions of despair and utter dismay as all hope seems extinguished and only carried through by a melodic string that holds it all together.

Whether you love em or hate em, one thing is for sure: SUMMONING has a sound and style like no other. These guys have conjured up one of the most unique elans in a strange world that straddles black metal, dark ambient and video game soundtrack epic grandeur. WITH DOOM WE COME seems to have taken the expected mix of melodic flow in military march with distorted guitar, raspy vocals and orchestrated-the-hell-out-of-it approach to even more extreme pastures. While the basics remain firmly in place, it seems that the production is off-the-hook clear and the use of choirs for background emphatics is even more pronounced and epic in nature. Just as the new release of the video game Zelda takes epic video game experiences to ever more heightened arenas, so too does SUMMONING’s emphasis on these same epic qualities that ride in the same wake. Never before have drum machines, fuzzed out guitar, raspy screaming vocals or synthesized orchestras with choirs sounded so, well…. grand. It’s more of the same but yet the quality is off the charts.

For sure kvlt black metal worshippers, who have been throwing darts at the effigies of Silenius and Protector all these years for betraying the one-dimensional black metal ethos that strangleholds so many, will find nothing on WITH DOOM WE COME to rein in their hatred for anything remotely symphonic and atmospheric in nature. However, to be fair i have never really considered SUMMONING’s form of musical expression a black metal band at all (OK after their first album that is) but rather a dark ambient, darkwave, epic video game soundtrack style of music that just happens to take the raspy vocals and buzzsaw guitar distortion of black metal along for the ride after their black metal origins. Needless to say, if you don’t like what came before, you won’t be SUMMONING any more of these demons but this duo really knows how to craft a lush and exquisitely designed romp through the musical soundscapes of the Tolkien universe and that is something no others have successfully tackled. SUMMONING have latched onto their own brand of hybridized musical expression and why would anyone expect them to explore anything else but?

WITH DOOM WE COME is a welcome respite into a familiar sound with an ever expanding production value in a set repertoire. This is very much a hypnotic type of album that seduces the listener with an irresistible melancholy yet utterly addictive hook and then slowly ratchets up the tension with the swirling sensation of synthesized embellishments that add more and more flavors to the mix. This is one for the audiophiles as the production is super crisp and clear and every detail is drenched in perfection. Yeah, i too am a lover of everything kvlt, demented and evil but that’s not SUMMONING’s game. Their shtick is in the grey zone where black metal, dark ambient and epic soundtrack music meet in the triangulated mysteries of the dark. While this is definitely akin to their previous offerings, i have to admit that i can’t get enough of this stuff and i personally have no problem with a band continuing down a path they forged for themselves. This is a really compelling listen even if it goes down familiar turf. It’s exquisitely performed and that’s more than good enough for me!

siLLy puPPy After the explosion of the second wave of black metal in the 90s, it seemed that everyone was getting in on the act. What started as an aggressive noisy means of expressing disdain for Christianity and espousing hatred in the world turned into a free for all by the mid-90s with ever growing diversification in lyrical content creeping more towards fantasy than fury. SUMMONING was not a Scandinavian act but rather emerged from the icy Alpine terrain of Austria, well Vienna on the edge of the Alps to be more specific, but the point is that black metal had pretty much made its mark on the entire continent of Europe if not the entire world quite yet. SUMMONING like many other bands adopted the Mayhem turned Darkthrone approach of musical expression in order to disguise their true intentions as many a 90s black metal band did in order to launch their own creative outlets into new musical arenas. SUMMONING like many a metal band that began as a “pure” and “unadulterated” black metal band would evolve their sound fairly quickly and usurp unconquered territory in the musical spectrum. LUGBURZ is the debut album by SUMMONING and in all reality is the only “true” black metal album from the band before they would take black metal elements and unapologetically mix them with atmospheric soundtrack symphonies that would allow them to break into the music world on their own terms.

SUMMONING was created by Silenius, Protector (Protector Of All Endless Sleeps formally at Satanic dinner parties) and Trifixion (Of The Horned King) in 1993 and released a few demos that led up to LUGBURZ which is Black Speech (a fictional language created by J.R.R. Tolkien) that really means Barad-dûr which is the Dark Tower on Middle-earth in the Lord Of The Rings novels. The title and subject matter of Tolkien’s fictitious universe began right at the very start and the mood is set right away on the very first medieval folk inspired intro “Grey Heavens” which right off the bat tells the listener that they are in for a melodic ride through the darkened lands, perhaps the only thread of sanity when it seems eminent that the ring of power will utterly usurp control of Middle-earth and all living beings will be enslaved into the clutches of Sauron. As the first “real” track “Beyond Bloodred Horizons” commences with a lo-fi aesthetic that utilizes the expected 90s kvlt sensibilities that incorporate buzzsaw frenetic guitar riffs, liquid bass lines that merge into the guitars and the schizophrenic screams that are sure to raise the dead just in time to suffocate the Orks in full glory. Also unique to this debut album is the use of a real drummer. Trifixion is the only carbon-based lifeform to perform percussion on any SUMMONING album as he would be replaced by a drum machine starting with the followup “Minas Morgul.” Careful listeners will note that this guy provides a unique stamp on this album as well. This isn’t a blastbeat saturated album at all but rather one that carefully crafts its percussive magic in mysterious ways that at many moments offers a nonchalant methodology of keeping rhythm but adds fills and breaks when needed. Of course this is a black metal album and blastbeats are present.

Far from being a generic clone of the initial divaricators of early extreme metal especially of the black metal branch of perpetual expansion, after delving deeper into the compositional sounds that make up LUGBURZ it’s quite easy to differentiate their musical direction to the point where in hindsight to recognize LUGBURZ as a prognosticator of their future sound albeit nobody could have foreseen exactly how far they could have taken it. For me the main difference between SUMMONING and contemporary acts of the day is their use of the folklore musical scales and Tolkien subject matter as well as the sublime use of keyboards to add a more subdued element of melody at this point. True that the guitar, inaudible bass, psychotic vocals and hyperactive drums are firmly placed into the realms of the black metal world however the keyboards create a subdued pacifying effect that don’t dominate at the forefront as was heard in bands like Emperor or Dimmu Borgir. SUMMONING was doing their own thing from the get go. While frantic in overall nature LUGBURZ has moments of tender reflection as with the unexpected piano transition in the middle of “Flight Of The Nazgul” and the dominating keyboard effects that steer the beastly effects of “Dragons Of Time.”

Personally i believe that LUGBURZ is a woefully underrated album in the magnificent discography of SUMMONING. I can actually understand the psychological dichotomy and reactions of the diverse black metal universe in regards to this debut release. First of all i can see that the fans of the later albums tend to be more attracted to those epic video game soundtrack themes that recur in a hypnotic thematic unfolding while the black metal elements dance somewhat in the background which is really a form of black metal “light.” And on the other hand the hardcore kvlter-than-thou types will want to punish SUMMONING for “selling-out” by using a drum machine and creating what they deem “un-kvlt-music.” Personally i am not as judgmental and appreciate both aspects of the band. While SUMMONING would truly continue the lesser emphasized aspects on LUGBURZ and find a pot of gold where no pot had sprouted before, i am truly enthralled by the mesmerizing beauty of LUGBURZ as it’s not the mere generic clone of an album that it’s made out to be.

Just an interesting piece of trivia. Some of the guitar riffs actually sound like video game melodies especially from the 8-bit era (think Super Mario Bros). This subtle effect was not only given steroids for the hypnotic effects of future SUMMONING albums but also inspired fans such as Xexyz whose debut album “Primeval Mountain” album cover not only replicated the black mountain seen on the cover of LUGBURZ but also utilized the same overall franticness in both vocals and musical delivery that only he (Xexyz is essentially the one-man band of Rev) recreated to recreate a version of this album and used chiptune video game sound effects in lieu of the keyboards which i my opinion works quite well. Whether LUGBURZ becomes your favorite SUMMONING album or not (not necessarily mine), it certainly should not be missed as it is an essential piece in the birth of the SUMMONING experience but beyond that i actually LOOOOOVE this album a lot! It is the SUMMONING experience at its most primeval black metal roots and although i truly adore the soundtrack experiences of SUMMONING that follow, i’m very grateful for this album as it is utterly unique in the SUMMONING canon and for that matter the entire black metal world experience.

Primeval Scum Summoning's best and most consistent album since Stronghold

Ah, the new Summoning album. This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it delivered! My 2013 AOTY.

With each listen, I come to love this album more and more. It's definitely a grower. The band presents their trademark dark and rich atmosphere as powerfully as ever, with each song sending you into an epic journey through misty valleys and dark wintry forests.

Flammifer, Caradhas and Earthshine will join songs like "Land of the Dead" and "Long Lost To Where No Pathway Goes" in the elite group of Summoning's best songs. Tracks 6 and 7 are slightly weaker in my opinion, keeping the other six from reaching 5/5 status.

Lots of superb lyrics from the duo once again, performed passionately alongside melodies that will make you weep and guitar chord progressions send shivers down your spine. I also love their use of choirs and brass instruments in this album. They are used frequently, in just about every song in fact, but not overdone or tacky.

If you like any of Summoning's previous work, just do yourself a favor and get this album. .

Highlights: Flammifer, Old Mornings Dawn, Caradhas, Earthshine