Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn (album review)

After being out in the wilderness for 11 years - Summoning are back with a brand new album called "Of Mornings Dawn". Are they back on form after such a lengthy hiatus? 

Austria's Summoning are quite an interesting prospect, when it comes to Black Metal. Those who aren't into Black Metal usually dismiss this side of the Metal spectrum as a blur of noise and screaming, and something that is a bit of a 'Marmite' form of music taste. To those who know their stuff about Black Metal will know that this is clearly not the case. Notably, you have the likes of Dimmu Borgir which are currently wowing 'the kids' with their interesting brand of what I refer to as 'Epic Film Score Black Metal' – as duly noted on the track 'The Serpentine Offering' which some people would dismiss as being completely pompous. Then, you have the likes of bands that sound as if they've been recorded on a worn telephone answering machine such as Darkthrone and Burzum. Basically, it's very much like real ale – people think it's the same thing and somewhat weird, but there's a whole new world of taste going on.

Summoning are a very interesting prospect in the realms of Symphonic Black Metal. Imagine, if you will – something like the Game of Thrones soundtrack played by Sethereal and Amon Amarth through a specially patented Black Metal filter, and a few J.R.R. Tolkein books thrown in for good measure (as their musical output is very much inspired by this).

Strangely, the overall tone and how it sounds is against what what you'd normally expect from Black Metal, as it usually concentrates on the darker side of things and a sense of nihilism, coldness and futility. In this case, it is more upbeat, uplifting, and triumphant– in a style similar to Finntroll but on a more slower, soaring and more majestic tone.

However you look at it, it's pretty much quite unlike what you would expect from most Black Metal bands. “Caradhras” for example, is like a chest beating anthem with a male vocal choir in the background and soaring soundscapes, while “Of Pale White Morns and Darkened Eves” is a sheer sweeping work of brilliance that brings along Sethereal style icy Black Metal vocals; combined with horns, lutes, and military style drumming. It has a distinctly upbeat medieval tone that conjures up images of green majestic lands, knights and castles, dragons and other such medieval film clichés. In writing it sounds ridiculous to explain , but if you love Game of Thrones, Merlin, and Lord of the rings but imagine a Black Metal band making a soundtrack to it then you'd be bang on the nail.

What is particularly worthy of note is that upon repeated listens there is not a single weak track on the album, which rewards the listeners with intricacies that aren't immediately apparent upon the first listen. An absence of approximately 10 years has not been detrimental to the band in their sound, as usually if a band disappears for a while they tend to lose their musical mojo while they've been out in the wilderness doing other things to occupy their time than writing music (such as life getting in the way for one reason or other). For those existing Summoning fans, it's a pleasing return to form that shouldn't disappoint – in fact, I quite prefer the production quality of this particular album (dare I say “Hi-Fi Black Metal”?). But, nevertheless it has a path that musically we have all been down before to seasoned veterans of the scene like myself.

In the Symphonic Black Metal world, or in the world of extreme of Metal as a whole – Summoning and their latest album are up their with the very best. In the stale air of bands belching forth the same thing over and other, they are like a refreshing breeze and trip to an unknown and exciting pasture.

Rating: 10/10