History
Early years (1993–1995)
Silenius (Michael Gregor), Protector (Richard Lederer), and Trifixion (Alexander Trondl) formed Summoning in 1993. Before Summoning, Protector played drums in thrash/death metal band Marlignom [3] and studied drums in music school for four years. At the age of 16, Silenius was in doom metal band Shadow Vale and studied piano for a few years in music school. He also played in the band Cromm with Pazuzu (Ray Wells). Trifixion was a member of Pervertum.
Summoning recorded two demos (Upon the Viking's Stallion and Anno Mortiri Domini), a split with Austrian band Pazuzu (The Urilia Text), and a five-track promo tape for Lugburz. Nearly all the demo songs were unreleased or recomposed for future albums.
The demos sold well in a record shop in Vienna called "Why not". Silenius contacted Thomas Tannenberger, leading to the foundation of Abigor. Silenius did vocals for all Abigor releases (except the demos) as a permanent member until 1999. The first Abigor album was recorded for Napalm Records, which led Silenius to get a deal with Napalm for Summoning's debut Lugburz album in 1995. At that time, the members of Summoning were Silenius (vocals, keyboards, bass), Protector (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Trifixion (drums). Pazuzu did additional vocals and wrote some of the lyrics. It was Trifixion's last release with Summoning. Lugburz was traditional black metal, vastly different from the band's future releases.
Active years (1995–2003)
The band continued as a duo after the departure of Trifixion, releasing Minas Morgul in 1995. This was the band's first release with an atmospheric style, using guitar purely as a background instrument and synth almost as a lead, using re-recorded early songs. Dol Guldur , released in 1997, continued this style, influenced by Protector's dark wave project Ice Ages. It credits J. R. R. Tolkien for the lyrics. Later in 1997, the Nightshade Forests EP was released. Following this, the band ceased work for nearly two years, including their other music projects. In 1999, Summoning returned with Stronghold , which focused more on guitar work to create melodic lines rather than keyboards and synthesizers.
In 2001, the follow-up Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame album was released. This release combined the old and new style of Summoning, with polyphonic keyboard lines, while the guitars bore a similarity to the style featured on Stronghold. [4] This time, the band used more spoken-word samples, and clear vocal choirs on the song "Farewell". The lyrics were based on Tolkien's Middle-earth, especially The Hobbit , but they also took inspiration from Michael Moorcock's fantasy writings. In 2003, they released the Lost Tales EP, which consisted of leftovers from the Dol Guldur sessions.
Oath Bound and inactivity (2006–2011)
Oath Bound was released in 2006, consisting of new material based on The Silmarillion . The five-year gap between Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame and Oath Bound was due to struggles in the band members' personal lives, and lack of ideas. [5] Oath Bound featured a "relaxed arpeggio style" guitar sound. The band also had higher-quality equipment and were able to create greater choir vocals than before. [6] A four-song mini CD was suggested for release in 2007, containing at least one song that did not make it onto Oath Bound, but this idea was abandoned and Protector instead began work on music for a full-length release while waiting for Silenius to finish recording the next Kreuzweg Ost album.
Following the release of Oath Bound, Summoning entered a period of inactivity. Silenius experienced a creative block and lacked inspiration for new music for Summoning. He also suffered a heart attack. In an interview for IsolationGrind, he is quoted as saying: "a heart-infarct knocked me out for another half a year, but somehow all this brought me to a point where I got hungry again and since then I concentrated again on making riffs. Everything started in small steps. but after a while I knew in which direction the music was going and the more I knew this, the easier it was to compose and the result is what you hear now." [2]
Old Mornings Dawn (2012–2017)
In February 2012, the band announced on their website they were writing new songs, and hoped to have most of the songs complete by the end of the year. In December 2012, it was announced that all guitars and Protector's vocal parts for the album were complete and the album was titled Old Mornings Dawn . [7] The album was released in June 2013 via Napalm Records and lyrically focused on nature and J.R.R. Tolkien's Valinor.
In 2015, the band confirmed they were working on a new album, and were focused on rewriting some of the leftover material from Old Mornings Dawn. [8]
On 15 December 2016, a compilation tribute album titled In Mordor Where The Shadows Are - Homage to Summoning was released by Wolfspell Records. The album featured covers of 21 Summoning songs by artists such as Caladan Brood and Emyn Muil. [9] [10]
With Doom We Come (2018)
On 12 August 2017, Summoning posted an update on their official Facebook page saying that, despite troubles, setbacks and disputes, the band's then-new album would be released in January 2018 by Napalm Records. [11] The band posted a teaser of the new music, although they did not disclose the name of the album. [12]
On 1 October 2017, Summoning posted an update on their Facebook page announcing the title of the album as With Doom We Come . [13] The album was released on 5 January 2018.
Musical style and influences
The band's debut album Lugburz was a traditional black metal album, with a raw, lo-fi production style. [14] On their following album Minas Morgul the band's sound changed significantly, and has been characterised as "a departure from straight black metal in favor of bold atmospheric experimentation which retains a definite blackened feel." [15] The band's sound has remained relatively consistent since then. It was frequently described as "epic", "hypnotic", and "atmospheric", and makes extensive use of keyboards, choir vocals, clean singing, synthesized instruments, and programmed drums. [16] Though the drums are programmed, they are played using a keyboard rather than with a drum machine. [17] Their sound has been described as "a particularly widescreen version of progressive black metal, a style that more recently has been infused with an almost medieval strain of twiddly folk music of the lutes 'n' flutes variety." [18] The band's music is deeply influenced by the literature of J. R. R. Tolkien, particularly The Lord of the Rings . Most of the band's lyrics are derived from Tolkien's own works. [19] Silenius claimed to be influenced by dark wave and ritualistic music as well as fantasy literature. [15]
The band stated that they consider themselves to be composers rather than musicians and do not practice together before recording. [20] Guitarist Protector does not own a guitar and, until at least 2013, has used a different borrowed guitar for every recording since Dol Guldur. [20]
Protector (Richard Lederer) is also a member of Die Verbannten Kinder Evas , a dark wave project, and Ice Ages , a kind of melodic EBM.
Silenius (Michael Gregor) is the creator and sole member of Kreuzweg Ost. He is also an active member of Amestigon, a pagan black metal band, as well as Shadow Vale and Mirkwood, both of which are darkwave ambient projects. He served as the vocalist for black metal band Abigor between 1994 and 1999.
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