Summoning – With Doom We Come (Napalm)
Tuesday, 9th January 2018
Summoning may never equal the dual greatness of Stronghold and Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame, but, they’ve finally come up with an album that can hang in the form of With Doom We Come. Yes, this is to discount both Oath Bound (2006) and Old Mornings Dawn (2013), two efforts that felt uninspired and lacking in the “epic” department. Summoning simply can’t write run-of-the-mill songs and expect results given their setup. With Doom We Come, however, provides the all-terrain epic metal climbs that are to be expected from the Protector and Silenius duo.
Same formula and soundscape as before: Drum machine plods and toms carve out a rickety landscape for the band’s conquests. Summoning remains rather consistent in their approach; With Doom We Come employs virtually the same tactics as the aforementioned Stronghold and Mortal Heroes. Unlike Oath Bound and Old Mornings Dawn, there are the necessary and glorious epic black metal stacks, like the willowy “Carcharoth” and atmospheric pile-on that is “Mirklands.” The vocal interplay between Protector and Silenius remains on point, with the two men trading Tolkien rasps and sub-black metal barbs at will.
This thing is long and ponderous (as it should be), clocking in over an hour, thus, giving off a cinematic quality that cannot be denied nor avoided. This time out, there’s a certain pep in Summoning’s step, whistle in the spirit…you get the drift, as Protector and Silenius have carved out an indelible batch of mighty jaunts that test the body, heart, and mind, rollicking through the Old World, onward to the next conquest, whenever (and wherever) that may be.
