Summoning

Old Mornings Dawn (Napalm Records)
by Scott Hefflon

Summoning are an institution, like the Lord of the Rings books and movies themselves. You essentially know what you’re going to get (huge action sequences and thoughtful inter-personal relationships explored, battle scene bloodshed and “this is the time to fight!” rabble-rousing, among countess other tried-and-true blockbuster criteria), and Summoning delivers. After a six year hiatus, Old Mornings Dawn displays a refreshed and optimistic outlook, filled with stein-swaying singalongs and lots of working-class “whoas” from deep in the caves. Still goofy at first (or, uh, by nature and you just get used to it), the folk metal keyboards (tin whistle here, campfire storytelling accompaniment there) atop epic distorted chords and synthetic-sounding drums ebb and flow, like any good song/scene, building to epic heights, and plummeting to sparse, thoughtful moments. The distant, echoey vocal roar is the one constant (punctuated by Gandalfian spoken bits, probably not in English, but why would they be?), and while there’s thankfully no power metal, frilly-shirted tinkerbells skipping about and falsetto warbling all Helloween about following signs searching for keys and such, there’re also no real vocal dynamics like the latest Finntroll and Korpiklaani releases.
(www.napalmrecords.com)