Summoning – Old Mornings Dawn (2013)

Finally, after seven years of waiting, Summoning returns with their seventh full-length record “Old Mornings Dawn”. This legendary two-person operation has been a major inspiration for tons of one or two-man projects that crate Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal music. Being huge fans of the band, we had been waiting for this release for quite a while, but we are a bit disappointed since the band’s sound now feels very outdated by current musical standards.

Since the opener “Evernight”, the band delivers their signature atmospheric brilliance and trademark harsh screams. However, the music feels like it was made using a computer from 10 years ago. Today’s standards have bands using software that can produce high-quality orchestrations in a matter of a few clicks and Summoning still sounds like a MIDI band. This is quite disappointing for us since their creativity is excellent, but seems like technology has surpassed their music making skills.

Taking it for what it is, the band delivers eight tracks of their signature sound. Creating lush atmospheric landscapes only comparable to bands like Enid and Bal-Sagoth. Their riffs are quite solid and the ideas are good, but the drums now sound extremely fake in comparison to modern bands that use programmed drums. The band’s knack for catchy and simple melodies is still there, and tracks like “Flammifer”, “Caradhras”, and “Of Pale White Morn” are perfect examples of this, too bad that they all sound very outdated and even simplistic.

Summoning is excellent at creating haunting atmospheric soundscapes and they clearly show more quality ideas in “Old Morning Dawn” than 70% of similar bands. It is quite a shame that music technology has moved forward so much over the years and now efforts like this sound very simplistic and fake. Had this album been released 6 years ago, it would have been epic and amazing, now it is just a ton of good ideas and catchy melodies stuck in a ‘retro’ package.

Label: Napalm Records

Release: June 5th, 2013

Genre: Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal

Country: Austria