Review by Ben for Summoning - Minas Morgul (1995)

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.