SUMMONING, my fav band <33
3 Likes
I have to be in the right mood to enjoy them but even so I still think their song Land of the Dead is one of my favorite songs of all time
1 Like
Summoning’s absolutely the shit. I consider Lugburz to below the rest, and Minas Morgul is not quite as good as what where to come either, but every single album from Dol Guldur and up until now has been more or less perfect. They’re ridiculously consistent, and despite always having done their own thing they’ve have different era where they have been going for different sounds as well without losing any of their identity. Best drum programming ever as well. Unique, creative and very different. They’re the type of band that would not have been the same with real drums.
I’m just gonna throw out a few recs while we’re on the subject of Summoning:
Kinstrife & Blood
Released one album, On Paths Long Forgotten…, and it’s a complete Summoning worship album, but unlike most worships/original tribute albums this is pretty much as good as Summoning. It sounds like an album that could’ve been released by Summoing between Dol Guldur and Strondhold.
Emyn Muil
Started off with an album that showcased loads and loads of promise, but it felt somewhat unfulfilled and unfocused. But Emyn Muil hit the jackpot with his second album, Elenion Ancalima, and continued that on his third album Afar Angathfark. This is basically Summoning with a more medieval vibe to it. Top notch!
Caladan Brood
Probably the best known of the Summoning clones, but not my favourite. I love the album, but I do think Kinstrife & Blood is on a whole other level than these guys, as they actually match Summoning in quality. These guys do not, but the album is still fantastic. A more popy and sugarcoated Summoning. Way more easy-listening and less challenging, but great nonetheless.
Untamed Land
Untamed Land is sadly the most unknown of the clones, but one of the most unique ones. Untamed Land is what you would’ve got if Summoning were inspired by spaghetti westerns and the soundtracks of Ennio Morricone instead of Tolkien. And that is not a joke at all. This is epic/atmospheric black metal with spaghetti western influences, and it’s absolutely brilliant, different and unique, despite its clear Summoning influences. A must hear for sure, just because it’s so different and unique. And obviously it’s quite god damned amazing.
Horror/exploitation inspired thrash/crossover with a few surf rock elements.
I haven’t listened to Cradle of Filth in 10+ years, but I have found some old CDs of them while looking through my stuff, and wondered what they’re up to these days. This escalated into me listening to their entire discography, and coming to the conclusion that they’re awesome. The lyrics particularly stand out, and there’s excellent musicianship in there and I personally really like Dani’s vocal style. Turns out it wasn’t just me being an edgy teen/twentysomething being drawn to dark&edgy stuff, but they’re actually good.
1 Like
Did you listen to their super early death metal demos as well? They sounded pretty different from their other stuff. Anyway since music is so subjective I don’t really know how to define good music but I definitely think they’re talented and I enjoy their music. His high pitched shrieks seem similar to Aliene Maφriage/Insanity Injection which is pretty rare especially in western music.
They’ve been a bit up and down, but everything up until 1998 is just insanely good, with incredibly well-written songs and lyrics that’s nothing short of outstanding. Superbly crafted albums and EPs.
The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, V Empire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein, Dusk and Her Embrace and Cruelty and the Beast are all top notch. Cruelty is a bit lackluster on the production side of things, but it’s so well-written and put together than I can easily look past that.
From the Cradle to Enslave is mediocre. Pretty meh tbh.
Midian and Damnation and a Day are pretty good too, especially Midian. Damnation and a Day are about 20-25 minutes too long, but when it’s good it’s really good.
Nymphetamine is mediocre. Som bangers, but it’s mediocre.
Thornography is by far their worst album. It’s just awful. A 2/10 album if you ask me.
They went back to decent-to-good with Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa and The Manticore and Other Horrors, but again they’re too long and a tad too unfocused.
However, in 2014 they re-released the classic demo Total Fucking Darkness and got rid of guitarists Paul Allender and James McIlroy, and that just seems to have pumped some new energy into the band because Hammer of the Witches is EASILY the band’s best release since Midian, maybe even Cruelty and the Beast. It’s a phenomenal album, and it sound a lot more like their 90’s stuff too, without repeating themselves. But it’s more rooted in black metal again, and it’s done the band loads and loads of good. Around this time they also started receiving praise for their live performances, after having been ridiculed as a live band for 15-18 years.
The following year we finally got the original Dusk and Her Embrace, called Dusk and Her Embrace - The Original Sin, and it’s again absolutely phenomenal. It actually sounds like the perfect album to connect The Principle of Evil Made Flesh and Dusk and Her Embrace together. It’s not as raw and simple as The Principle…, but it’s also not as theatrical and gothic as Dusk… Despite being the original recording of Dusk…, it actually sounds like a completely new album. Incredible stuff.
Cryptoriana - The Seductiveness of Decay is a step down from Hammer of the Witches, but still a very good album.
And 2019 saw the re-release of Cruelty and the Beast: Re-Mistressed, which really improves on the original. The original is phenomenal, but it’s not a hidden fact that it lacks a proper production. Especially the drums sounds awful. It’s not perfect, but it’s improved and it sounds pretty damn good. And a lot of the elements that was kinda fucked up in the original really get the chance to shine here.
Overall a fantastic band, and I’ll never understand the hate they get. Yeah, they’ve released some proper embarrassing stuff, but they’ve also released some of the best black metal ever.
I started with Principle, and for me that was already a bit too undeveloped compared to their later stuff (especially the vocals), so I didn’t go further back in time. Back then I got to know them with Midian and Dani’s style was already developed there. Might check out their earlier demos at some point though, but they’re unlikely to really grab me.
And speaking about Cradle of Filth, her is a new track they released today:
Good track. Elements of it sounds like it could’ve been liften from Midian.
1 Like
Nu-metal should count. What the fuck is going on?
Ah yeah, the good old Fred Durst 
I used to stan Limp Bizkit massively as a teen in the 00s. Long before I moved onto power/speed metal. Although from all the nu-metal acts I’m still an avid Drowning Pool and Disturbed fan, NGL i feel like reconnecting with my 15 yo self by rediscovering Limp Bizkit, early Linkin Park etc.
Kinda debatable if nu-metal is or isn’t an actual metal subgenre, but it’s safe to say that for a lot of people born between 1982ish and 1995ish, nu-metal was a gateway to heavy metal in general, me including.
This is dropping on friday, just a bit over a week after legendary Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba passed away. The track is based around the cult movie Wolf Guy, starring none other than Sonny Chiba, and can absolutely be seen as both a tribute to this truly weird and bizarre masterpiece, as well as a tribute to the man himself. Be sure to check it out as soon as it drops.
Been going back to bmths suicide season lately. Granted, I loved it when it was released but I think I appreciate it even more today. It’s absolutely amazing.
2 Likes
Ghetto Ghouls is out with a brand new track, and this time they pay homage to the recently deceased legend Sonny Chiba and his classic Wolf Guy.
Discovered this album recently, love pretty much everything about it — this RYM reviewer sums it up very well: “Vocals made by apes crossed with instruments wielded by aliens. Splicing Brutal, Technical, and Melodic strains of Death Metal, plus assorted ephemera, Afterbirth suggests an Atheist Voivod fighting off Suffocation in the vacuum of deep space.”
Also found the “new” Defeated Sanity pretty enjoyable.
A few of my favorites I remember from when I was growing up:
1 Like
Here’s a band I’ve been shilling for a while. Honestly, one of the only bands that fills the ‘sounds close enough to VK’ spot for me.
Man, this is something I’ve been waiting for for such a long time. Avsolutized… is a part of the Japanese black metal collective AAAA collective, which consists of four bands (Arkha Sva, Avsolutized…, Anguis Dei, Ahpdegma) fronted by vocalist Ur Èmdr Œrvn, and other members in the collective includes Juno Bloodlust, Hakuja, Manierisme and Kanashimi.
Avsolutized… is their own tribute to the Swedish mid-to-late 90’s black metal scene, wearing the influence from bands like Setherial and Thy Primordial on their sleeve. This is their first release since 2008’s masterpiece Den svarta våndans genealogi, and I really can’t wait for this to be released.
And speaking of the AAAA collective, Angus Dei released their debut album earlier this year and it’s truly magnificent. It’s a throwback to old school symphonic black metal where riffing was still both important and an actual thing. It’s dark, majestic and melancholic, and quite often sorrowful, yet it manages to be pretty grim and at times really brutal. Such a powerful album. Anorexia Nervosa meets Obtained Enslavement, with hints of old Emperor and Limbonic Art.
Ur Èmdr Œrvn’s vocals have always been an acquired taste, but for me he ranks among the greats as far as extreme metal goes. He truly adds another dimension to every single band he is just by the way he uses his vocals.
I hope it’s not too long until we get something new from Arkha Sva and Ahpdegma as well. Ahpdegma’s such a weird and unique, but great project, and Arkha Sva have released one of the best black metal albums of the 2000’s, so that speaks for itself.
2 Likes
I’m just listening to the new Ex Deo album and it’s surprisingly good! Their previous album kinda came and went without much fanfare for me, but this time I feel like they managed to nail a good balance with fusing the symphonic elements into their brand of ‘epic’ death metal.
After this I have the latest Carnifex and Attila (for shits and giggles) albums lined up.
I’ve been obsessed with Jinjer lately.
3 Likes