[.ca] Stronghold

epic majesty:
musically, summoning are pure genius and i wish they'd put more effort in their production; the cheap sounding instrumentation really doesnt give their music justice! Still this album is a gem of slow paced, epic metal, with chilling atmospheres. Superb.

Where Hope and Daylight Die:
Silenius and Protector are the most underrated musicians in the black metal scene. Sure, there are a lot of keyboards and little guitars on this album, but it does not disappoint. Many of these songs take me back to the forests of old, elves dancing and singing, and dwarves digging in the mountains. "The Rotting Horse on the Deadly ground" makes me think of the great battle of Minas Tirith, winged Nazgul swooping down and taking men's lives with ease. This album deserves 4 1/2 stars, not four.

Inimitable metal:
What brave music this band makes! Raw grunting vocals, thundering avalanching guitars - combined with symphonic sounds and medieval pacing. No pretence, no marketing, no extensive booklets. The duo calling themselves Summoning makes name with music solely, and deservedly so. It is not symphonic metal - like, for example Nightwish - at all. Mind! It is much closer to death metal than that. Developing further the sound begun on their "Nightshade Forests", they have evolved into something unique. Done away with their drummer, they have increased the role of synthesizer percussion, adding to an already impressive use of the instrument. Their songs are epic and melodic, heavy and overwhelming. Their lyrics are - as with all their released music thus far - inspired from poems by famed English author J.R.R. Tolkien. Vocal samples from radioplays and audiobooks of Tolkien's works also pass by. Blended and seamed together it moulds into Summoning. Impressive. Hardly any music disappoints on this disc. Pay special notice to "Where Hope And Daylight Die" - featuring a fabulous uncredited soprano - and "A Distant Flame Before The Sun." The former is one of their most outstanding songs so far. Not principally a death metal fanatic at all, this band excites me no end. And this is the album they're going to be remembered for. It gets four stars Bram Janssen The Netherlands

I don't know what you're talking about...:
This is my first Summoning album and I must clarify to others how this music really sounds. It is true that Summoning can capture an atmosphere. Their's is the best I have heard in a very long time. They are evotive and magestically sad, quite beautiful for a dismal golden afternoon. However, they try to sustain this aura through constant repetition. Keyboard rhythms are played in almost a constant loop throughout each song, making this wonderful atmosphere almost unlistenable in its sheer boredom. To add on to that is the repetitive guitars and drums. The drum machine is not utilized and it sounds like their playing the same beat for each song. I know that is is customary for gutiars in black metal to be quite repetitive, but the rhythms are so untalented at times that they sound like the immature 1234 tempos of teenage pop punk. Guitars and drums are what make black metal's foundation, and Summoning has made their's quite weak. If you want an atmosphere repeated over and over in metal, then this should satisfy you. But this kind of music is its best when creatively composed and Stronghold is far to simple to purely convey this art.

CAN this be described?!:
NOBODY can classify this work of beauty! First of all, you might be wondering how long 9 songs is - 9 isn't a lot. Well, including the intro, it clocks in at 64:27 - that's incredibly long for 8 songs minus a 3 minute intro. Each track is extremely slow and what you would never expect for black metal. What is there really to say about such a CD? Well, one of the songs is completely opera and in ALL of the songs, when the growler growls, it isn't as loud as it is in other black metal bands. Overall, this is the softest black metal band I can think of out of everything I've ever heard. This includes Samael, Rotting Christ, And Oceans, Dragon Lord, Cradle of Filth, and many others. So how good exactly is this? To be honest with you, the first time I listened to Stronghold, I was expecting a medieval power metal sound, and the grunts surprised me so much that I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. If you want to get into black metal, this is one of many softer bands to do so with - perhaps the very first black metal band I would recommend, followed by Samael who is just plain unbelievable with their keys. That's another thing... Summoning isn't a huge fan of keys, but you won't be blown away with a blasting bass sound as with 90% of the death metal out there. I don't really know what else to say, just that this is unlike anything I've ever heard before.

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