Summoning was founded in Vienna in 1993 by Silenius (Michael Gregor) and Protector (Richard Lederer). With the albums Minas Morgul (1995), Dol Guldur (1996) and Nightshade Forests (1997) Summoning delivered epic, melodic black metal. A new episode began with their album Stronghold (1999), which is the beginning of a more `popular` (in other words, `easy` listening), bombastic, dramaturgic and medieval style. Since their lyrics are highly inspired by Tolkien`s books, their style is often referred to as `Tolkien-metal`. I rather prefer to call it `fantasy-ambient`; in general Summoning produces spherical sounds with aid of guitars and other electronic sounds, samples and spoken words from fantasy novels (in the future they`d like to use other fantasy authors or their own material).

The album Oath Bound is based on stories written in Tolkien`s Silmarillion. It took them five years since their last cd to release this new album. This long time span was due to Protector`s business with his band Die Verbannten Kinder Evas and Silenius` personal misfortune (his father died from cancer, lost his girlfriend and his job). This new release may mark the beginning of a new fruitful period of Summoning; their next mini-cd is planned for 2007. At first glance (when one listens superficially) Oath Bound may sound boring or repetitive and not very innovating compared to the album Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame (2001). This is probably caused by the fact that, except for the first (Bauglir), every song is quite long (more than eight minutes), the melodies may sound easy and the drums rhythms are simple.

All these aspects of this release also contribute to its characteristic sound, typical for Summoning.

When one listens in more detail, while chilling on a couch, drinking some whisky, dreaming of old beautiful forests and heroic battles, this new release DOES sound original and different compared to their previous work. Especially the sound of the guitar is shrillier and more prominent. In the song `Might and Glory` the guitars, samples of ravens and screams create a dark and rough atmosphere, which is in contrast to the soft sweet melodies of the keyboard. The darkest and best song is `Mirdautas Vras` (first song in Orkish!). The brutal screams of Silenius remind me of their first black metal albums. March-styled rhythms and battle horns alternate with more industrial, mechanical sounds of steam and steal reaching us from the depths of Mordor. In general the album has a layered magical sound, but the melody of the songs is like relaxed babbling water, which may loose its magic when heard too often.

This album gives me a relaxed, warm feeling and makes me strong to fight against the solitude of the chilly, hard and insensitive world. Summoning is a band with great musical feeling. When they work on more original, or maybe less overwhelming melodies, they can live on forever producing an even better sound.

Thanks to Esther for writing this review!