Nightshade Forests

Summoning are a strange band. Their music is best described as ambient. Now I know what you're thinking, "Ambient! That's just a synonym for slow, boring, and pointless". But wait...while in most cases I'd wholeheartedly agree with this assessment, Summoning manage to make ambient totally kick ass, and nowhere is this more apparent than on the little EP 'Nightshade forests'.

There are four songs on here, and they all rule. Seriously, I'd call Mirkwood the best song ever written, but the existence of Kortirion Among the Trees makes it a tie. And then you have the other two, and you get the idea.

The production is weird. The guitars reside somewhere in the upper stratosphere and just kinda rain down on everything. The keys and drums are most prominent. It's really simple, the keys make a melody, the drums provide a rhythm, and the guitars provide background noise. Simple, yet it completely owns.

Mirkwood is a strange title. The song evokes an atmosphere completely unlike what I imagine when I read about the same in Tolkien-lit. But it totally kicks ass, so I don't care. Whenever you hear black metal fans talking about 'atmosphere', this is what they mean. The same for Kortirion. I mean, that keyboard melody! It whirls around in your head like opium smoke. Flesh and Blood...it's like the dictionary came to life and started talking about what epic means. Habbanan Beneath the Stars closes with a vibe much similar to Elfstone on Dol Guldur (but of course, shorter).

I don't even know why you're still reading this. Get this, you moron.