Summoning - Minas Morgul (1995)Release ID: 1420
Monumentally epic, atmospheric black metal that will transport you to lands far away.
On paper, Summoning sounds like a shite idea. An atmospheric black metal entity based around Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy (at least initially), complete with computerised drums and an abundance of keyboard noodling. Surely that won't please the hordes of black metal fans out there! But not only is Summoning not shite, they're one of the very best things metal has to offer. Their music is filled to the brim with such epic grandeur and they've never failed to sound utterly convincing, not to mention entirely unique in their 15 years of existence. That being said, Minas Morgul is not the band’s debut album (Lugburz was released earlier the same year) nor is it their best. But it is their first to venture into these fantasy themed, symphonic based realms, and therefore the beginning of a grand journey. One that, like Tolkien's work, I'm happy to revisit often.
There's no denying that the Summoning sound hadn't completely matured when they created Minas Morgul. The drums are a bit too computerised sounding and some of the keyboard work comes across as a bit fluffy, but the songwriting is nothing short of brilliant. All tracks are very heavily based around keyboard atmospherics, with the guitars really a supporting instrument a lot of the time. Somehow, that works tremendously well! Silenius and Protector share keyboard and vocals as usual while also handling bass and guitar duties respectively. The shrieking vocals are probably the biggest link to black metal to be honest, but there are enough tremolo picked riffs to plant this firmly into the genre, despite the presence of many "untrue" features. It must be said that Summoning took a brave risk in a time when black metal has only just emerged from the underground and hadn't ventured too far from its roots.
I adore this album and have done so since I first heard it nearly 15 years ago. It transports me to a world so far removed from my own the way a great book or movie would do and makes for a wonderful change after submitting (willingly) myself to numerous more intense and challenging extreme metal albums. Tracks such as Lugburz, The Passing of the Grey Company, Ungolianth, Dagor Bragollach and The Legend of the Master-Ring are right up there with the most moving the band have ever produced. Minas Morgul is a case where I superficially feel like I shouldn't give this album close to full marks. I'm sure there are numerous elite black metal fans out there that would call it blasphemy to do so, particularly when there are darker, more complex and far more brutal albums to be experienced. But there are so very few that accomplish a goal so completely, for which Summoning deserve uncompromising praise.
Dungeons and Towers O'er Yonder Hills
As someone who tends to enjoy the kind of dark and epic theatrics that Metal can bring, Summoning was a massive discovery for me in terms of Atmospheric Black Metal. Fantasy and Tolkien inspired themes are normally left to the Power and Heavy Metal folks, and while early second-wave Atmospheric Black Metal had the lo-fi, cold, and dreary aura down to a science I never really felt immersed with it. The feelings of frozen dread are all too apparent in Blut Aus Nord's Ultima Thulee and Burzum's Hvis lyset tar oss, but Minas Morgul completes this early trilogy of Black Metal by offering a corny but insanely epic journey through an immersive world with its clever and masterful use of Dungeon Synth.
I wanted to center my discussion about Minas Morgul around the Dungeon Synth in general, since that is what makes it so unique compared to the other early Atmospheric Black Metal titans. Synthesizers aren't new in the world of Black Metal, especially with Burzum using them heavily in Hvis lyset tar oss, but none were quite as epic and fantastical sounding as the ones Summoning employ here. It's immediately apparent they'll be a huge part of the album with the opening track "Soul Wandering" being a sort of demonic waltz before the signature Black Metal tremolo comes in during "Lugburz". The synthesizer sounds they use are normally akin to triumphant trumpets or a harpsichord and really help to sell the fantasy world they attempt to build, as corny as they may sound on their own. The opening of "The Passing of the Grey Compan" really showcases how these cheesy Dungeon Synth melodies can work together with the echoing and ragged vocals along with the tremolo chord progression of the guitar, since the song slowly adds in each element one by one before building into the second main melody. Summoning follow this same formula of really blending the Dungeon Synth elements into the composition as a whole, with each transition from synth instrumentals to the full Black Metal experience being smooth as silk.
If all the Dungeon Synth elements weren't enough, Summoning ups the ante with a strange drum performance that may sound a little too mechanical for its own good, which would be correct since it's computerized. While this is normally blasphemy, Summoning are able to make the poignant and slightly too crashy drums sound perfectly fine thanks to the help of the rest of the synths in the background. Minas Morgul is an album that is the culmination of all of its parts, since each part on their own is admittedly cheesy or mundane. While it isn't as aggressive or bleak as the rest of the early Atmospheric Black Metal offerings, it helped to begin the trend of more epic and slightly more accessible Black Metal. The album does drag on using the same formulas for a bit too long during tracks like "Marching Homewards", but the album as a whole just has that grandiose and epic feel that I personally adore. While Summoning will release more mature albums than Minas Morgul, this will be a personal favorite of mine to show how Dungeon Synth can really elevate the Atmospheric Black Metal experience. It goes past just using synthesizers to create an unsettling or chilling atmosphere, with Summoning using them to create an immersive fantasy experience that can be hit or miss for some, but for me it was a massive hit.
