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Napalm Records, June 2000 Summoning is a side band of members of the Austrian band Abigor and the former Pazuzu. They usually play epic atmospheric black metal based on J.R.R Tolkiens Lord of the Rings novels, but Stronghold strays away from using Tolkiens world as a lyrical formula. The entire cd is written, composed, and produced by Protector and Silenius, who share the guitar, keyboard, and drum programming duty. Their talent is obvious, as they play all 3 quite competently. As in the other Summoning albums Silenius handles the vocals splendidly. Female vocal credits go to Protector's girlfriend Tania Borsky who sings on the beautiful track "Where hope and daylight die" Stronghold is based strongly around the keyboards, which creates a very atmospheric, epic, almost folky sound. It's definetly a fantasy based album, and the keyboards bring that out quite nicely. Also of note is the way the drums are programed. The only way I can think of to describe them is "war drums". They sound like they are being played in front of a huge marching army going into battle. The guitars on the album are low in the mix as usual for a Summoning album, but they add to the overall full sound of the band. The guitar melodies are subtle, but fit well with the more dominating keyboard melodies. Silenius's vocals are evil sounding as ever, and sometimes clash with the folky sound of the music, but overall fit quite nicely. They are also slightly digitized which adds another intresting twist to the songs. When I'm listening to Summoning, I can't help but picture huge Tolkien-esque armies marching through frozen wastelands and upland forests (Cheesy I know, but it's true). This album is beautiful, majestic, and epic and I recommend it to anybody who likes any kind of melodic metal.
Summoning - Stronghold 9/10
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