Artist: Summoning
Title: “Oath Bound”
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 4/25/2006
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Rating: 4/5
Summoning are a very interesting Experimental/Atmospheric Black Metal band led by Protector (Richard Lederer) and Silenius (Michael Gregor). They form the nucleus of the group that plays mainly songs about the mythical worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The pair is so adept at crafting music about this realm that they even are able to deliver a number that has been written in the native Black Speech of Mordor. Simply looking at the cover, which takes you off to places far away, you tend to wonder what the adventures inside would be like. This is sweeping and epic music and despite its genre classification it really takes a number of other styles into consideration. The use of the term “Metal” in stuff like this is somewhat deceiving, for while it is heavy at times, this is not Metal in the conventional sense at all. You don’t have ripping guitar riffs and double bass drumming, but instead you do have the similar Black growls that are associated with bands like Dimmu Borgir and Immortal. The symphonic stuff is showing to be very Progressive and Melodic deep inside and with the track “Land Of The Dead” (which is the bands longest number to date) you see these elements very much. “Mirdautas Vras” (the song in Orc) is pretty wild and it made me wish that I had a lyric sheet to know more about the song. Further research into it had me finding it referencing battles and victory for “as the Nazgul fly, it is a good day to kill”.
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Artist: Die Verbannten Kinder Evas
Title: “Dusk And Void Became Alive”
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 1/16/2007
Genre: Darkwave/Atmospheric/Melancholy Gothic
Rating: 4/5
And so, after an extended period we are finally able to enjoy “Dusk And Void Became Alive”, as it has been a full seven years since the group last released “In Darkness Let Me Dwell”. The return of Die Verbannten Kinder Evas or “The Banished Children Of Eve” (as it is translated) comes with some changes this time around. The side project of Summoning’s Richard Lederer still brings forth the rich and dramatic Darkwave, but singer Tania Borsky has gone on to pursue other interests after growing complacent in the group. In her place, we find the magnificent talents of Christina Kroustali from Greece. She possesses a beautifully romantic voice and her melodic tones captivate the listener and are at times very haunting. Composer Richard Lederer brings you into a world of sullen melancholy and heartfelt despair on the release which they describe as their darkest album in their catalog. Musically this is a very dynamic piece but its use of these feels is not in the typical fashion that one would expect. Each song is very classically rooted and epic in nature but the entire album follows a steady and slow tempo, which might not appeal to those seeking intensity of another kind. The structure as it is presented here allows Kroustali the means to deliver songs that are truly haunting and sad yet at the same time very atmospheric and Gothic. Richard also sings on occasion but no longer does any high voices as he had done on their older material. As the album plays, you can almost feel yourself looking over some solemn lake or field on a brisk day as you think upon the heavier topics in life.
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