Review by Rexorcist for Summoning - Dol Guldur (1997)

I'm at the point to where I could make a top 200 of great black metal albums, and as expected, many of the albums I first checked out seem to lose their originality overtime.  Summoning is one of the best examples of this.  Now, Summoning made a name for themselves by continuing the synth appeal of Emperor but with a more mystifying and ambient presence.  What with Minas Morgul working out well for them with less of the symphonics, this next album was step forward for them.  While other symphonic metal bands were screaming their asses off like Cradle of Filth, Dol Guldur cemented the fantasy epic style of slow and beautiful black metal that defined many bands to come.  Part of this style is the much more blatant usage of dungeon synth interludes, intros, backdrops, etc., and for a little while that set them apart.  My beef with this album, however, is that there doesn't seem to be any reason for every song to sound the same.  In other words, Summoning discovered who they want to be on the third album, and kept that sound going, but didn't bother doing anything else.  68 minutes of being good at only one thing is a little much, and in a few instances the metal and synths don't pair well, such as with Khazad Dum.  Thankfully, the instrumentation works, the vocals are great and the mood is certain and proud.