Any band can shift gears and put out a worthless album. But Summoning are a good one to bet on, albeit for reasons a bit stronger than art or song titles. These guys are almost unmatched in the world of black metal in terms of songwriting/compositional skill. That said, I'll repeat that anyone can turn into an irrelevant mess - if Morbid Angel did it there are really no boundaries, haha.

I agree. I got tired of (2006) Summoning - Oath Bound pretty fast.

I hate to say it but Oath Bound gets the least amount of play time for me than the rest of their albums. I don't know why because it's a great album, I don't think it's any worse than the others.

Oath Bound is my favourite! Across the Streaming Tide, Might and Glory, and Land of the Dead are all in my top five Summoning songs. I remember being completely fascinated the first time I heard the album when it came out. I really think the production is something amazing, pretty unique. Can't wait to hear what the sound of Old Mornings Dawn will be, where's that damned sample?

No Mirdautas Vras in that list there Razy. That song is nobodies' favorite. Avoid another one of those and OMD will be all good.

Huh, I love Mirdautas Vras! I love how the samples are as much a part of the soundscape as the other instruments. Probably the best use of samples they've ever done. It's a really cool song to listen to with headphones. What don't you like about it?

That it's not metal.

Anyone know where I could find a copy of the Stronghold DLP that just came out and disappeared?

+1!! this album is simply perfect, the atmosphere, the music, the artwork. Amazing piece of art and my favourite Summoning album.

As far as I know Summoning sent the master to Napalm last week so we will have to wait some days befor they prepare the samples.

There's a ton of great music that is not metal. You are only hurting yourself by ignoring it.

Yeah. I sure regret not listening to a song I don't like more than I already listen to it.

After listening to Oath Bound a lot since it came out, I would be happy if they dropped the guitars entirely and mecame a Martial Industrial band a la their Kruzweg Ost project

^
NAWWWWWWWWW

+1

Yeah...Kreuzweg Ost blows. That's the direction their damn film/audio book sample usage is coming from and they need to stop that as soon as possible. Namely, with the release of Old Mornings Dawn.

I’ve not sat down and listened to Oath Bound in quite some time. I remember thinking it was kind of dull…up until Land of the Dead started. It seems to be getting much praise here so, I might have to listen to that one again.

All the other albums I’ve listened to my fair share of and loved every one of them. Not sure I could pick a favorite…maybe Stronghold for “The Glory Disappears” and “The Rotting Horse on the Deadly Ground”. Not only is the musicianship and compositions great on those, but so are the lyrics. I probably put on “Let Mortal Heroes Sing your Fame” second most.

Is Old Mornings Dawn going to be pressed on vinyl? I don’t remember reading anything on that.

they should lose that sloppy drum machine and get a real drummer instead.

Oath Bound is my favorite Summoning record. Its a long album and never a dull moment for me. Of course, as it closes with Land of the Dead it never loses any steam along the way. I'm still trying to get into Lugburz, but besides that I love everything they've put out. Can't wait to hear the new one.

The drumming is part of what makes Summoning so awesome, I don't think it'd work with a real drummer.

Land of the Dead is overrated in my opinion, it is actually the only song in the album I don't really like.

So pissed off right now. I kept wondering where my Oath Bound and LMHSYP L.P's had got to as it had been ages. I went to the Nuclear Blast website to check the order, and it had got stuck in my shopping cart. Sold out everywhere now

Worst suggestion on this thread. 1) it's not sloppy, I mean it's a drum machine so it's in time.

2) the weirdly layered, "You would need five hands to play this" drum machine is such a big part of what makes summoning so eccentric. There's the snare on every 4 counts, but otherwise it isn't rock-based in the slightest, it's all weirdly martial and orchestral or whatever you want to call it.

Can't wait for this album though.. Gave Oath Bound a spin yesterday and while it's hardly earth-shattering (the production blows) there's still a lotta really cool moments on it. Hoping for something similar to Let Mortal Heroes.. though. I like my Summoning bright and cartoony, I guess.

I agree...I'll admit I was put off by the drum programming at first, but now I think it’s essential and unique to the Summoning sound…so much that its almost spawned its own genre as there are bands emerging that are trying to imitate it. I think the programmed drums add to the “epic’ bombastic sound Summoning is trying to achieve with their music.

They didn’t always use programmed drums, but considering their discography, they made the switch for the better I think.



Oath Bound is getting a vinyl repress by Napalm in the future. You are SOL on LMHSYP. My suggestion would be to ask various distros if they can obtain a copy. They usually have pretty good leads. I asked a local distro and they were able to get in copies of each...that's where I was able to get them...cost was more than I'd like to spend but it was definitely worth it.

I agree. I've never really liked that piece. It doesn't really do anything for me, though I love most of the album besides that.

The special drum approach Summoning developed is one of the most distinctive characteristics of their style and a big part of what makes their music unique. Getting rid of it would be retarded. They'd have to rebrand!

@caspian Give Oath Bound a few more spins, for sure. Any favorite tracks? I'd have to say "Across the Streaming Tide" is the best on the disc, though so much fellatio seems to be doled out upon "Land of the Dead."

No copies of the 2 represses were left in any distro that had shopping cart installed. Luckily one of the "email us and we'll tell you if we have copies left" distros had one of each and nightshade forests in stock still. Much relieved!

This 100%, The drums and drum patterns are a huge part of Summoning's overall sound, in one of the rare cases, I think a human drummer would actually take away from their music. Wish to fuck Napalm would hurry up with the samples. Caladan Brood next week should fill the gap nicely until this comes out, these guys are sounding very promising.

The non-metal drumming is a big thing that elevates most of their albums above Stronghold, which featured a bunch of songs with more conventional drumming and was pretty much their worst effort - though not by any means bad. I'm not sure what a real drummer would do to their material, but I've never thought "Huh, this would be better if the drummer was a person and not a computer". The martial-style is more suited for programmed drums.

The more ambient, more soundscape, more atmosphere painting (if you'll allow the term) style of the middle four songs of Oath Bound make it probably the best album of the band. Also the more conventional styling of Land of the Dead makes it probably the least good song on the album. Though once again, still an excellent song.



As you may or may not have noticed, his statement said "judging by the title and artwork", not "judging by their previous works". Also, with Heretic being pretty much worthless, it always makes me wonder why people actually expected anything good out of the I-album. Not a very big leap really.

Wow...first time I've ever encountered anyone labeling Stronghold as Summoning's "worst effort". Quite a shock actually..."to each their own" as they say.

So you prefer the more ambient/repetitive/”movie soundtrack” type songs Summoning puts out…rather than the epic/climax building/layer laden songs? I think Stronghold has the perfect cohesion of both really. Oath Bound seems like its striving more for the former and teeters on the tedious side at times…especially since a lot of the synth lines are just not that catchy. That’s why I suppose “Land of the Dead” is admired so much because the song captures that perfect balance middle-era Summoning is known for…that song just builds and builds and builds and unravels so many different layers. The song’s composition is simply stunning.

The motherfucking tracklisting, people!

1. Evernight
2. Flammifer
3. Old Mornings Dawn
4. The white Tower
5. Caradhras
6. Of pale white Morns and darkened Eves
7. The wandering Fire
8. Earthshine

Classic Summoning amazingness.

Nice, thanks!
CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!

Yeah, it's been a while, but there are a couple of songs where they really mess up with the drum patterns. The intro track, the first proper song and the last song are all great though and I can't say any of the songs there are less than good. But if I would have to nominate the worst one...

I think the repetitive, ambient tracks are more layered than the Land of the Dead-type songs that rely on verse-chorus structure. Once Land of the Dead has climaxed once with its chorus, what does it do? It starts from the bottom again and builds up a second time... To the same old finish that isn't really up to the first one since it's the pretty much the same thing. But what gets me the best with the ambient tracks is the immersion. What I look for in music like Summoning is the immersion of the sound rather than the entertainment.

I agree 100%. For example: My favourite Summoning song is Khazad Dúm (I decided that today), which takes one theme and repeats it for 11 minutes straight! But layering complex structures around it that tell a compelling tale through epic progression. It's like if baroque and romanticism had a savage bastard child. Genius!

Good analysis, MacMoney. It is in that regard which you mention that the often maligned LMHSYF and Lost Tales stand out as excellent. That said, I don't see such a sharp division between "good" art and mere entertainment. The two are joined and must work in tandem, like Summoning.

Mortal Heroes is oft maligned? It's my favourite Summoning album and I thought that was if not a consensus than certainly a popularly held opinion. Most of it's solid as hell.

Also Mac, I'd have to disagree about land of the dead's structure. I'd say it follow a slightly post-rock ish structure in that it builds up 'til it's pretty epic, than builds up again to where it's super epic. By that I basically mean that the second build near the end has the choir vocals over the guitars, which makes it pretty damn powerful.


BTW bros let's not get too excited on the tracklist just yet... Pretty sure anyone could make Summoning tracklists in their sleep. I guess all it does suggest really is that new Summoning will probably sound rather similar to old summoning.

True, but that doesn't change the fact I almost peed myself with excitement. Just really cool to see some Silmarillion references in there. Doesn't look like those Austrian boys plan on changing up the game, which is perfectly fine by me.

Can you guys guess what "The White Tower" refers to? My first guess was Isengard but I actually can't think of it ever being referred to as 'The White Tower'. Here's hoping that Earthshine is a 12+ minute epic to rival Land of the Dead.

The White Tower will be a reference to the Tower of Ecthelion in Minas Tirith, I would guess?

I agree that the intro and A Distant Flame Before the Sun are highlights. I also have a special liking for The Loud Music of the Sky. As for Long Lost and the other ones, most of them are below average Summoning material. Rotten Horse on the Deadly Ground is pretty good, I suppose.

In addition to the tracklisting that Razakel posted are the two bonus tracks "The Darkening of Valinor" and "With Fire and Sword". Both will be on the limited cd version (thankfully) and LP. Interested to hear 'With Fire and Sword' as it is a leftover track from the Oath Bound sessions.

Summoning have kept quality high over the years. It'll be hard to top Dol Guldur but their last album was a triumph, so maybe this one will be as well. They seem to be taking it on with the best possible spirit in mind.

A reference to Valinor, this truly excites me. And finally they will release a limited edition! I expect/pray for a nice digipack or mediabook with extended artwork(come on lazy guys its about time to create a good booklet!!).