In Hallow Halls ... is definitely in my top 3 Summoning songs, but I don't really get the songs after that one, LMHSYF is probably the one Summoning record that remains a mystery to me.

Written by PocketMetal on 11.04.2014 at 22:07

In Hallow Halls ... is definitely in my top 3 Summoning songs, but I don't really get the songs after that one, LMHSYF is probably the one Summoning record that remains a mystery to me.

Haha, that's weird. I kind of have that in case of Oath Bound. I feel like I'm supposed to love it, but for some reason I like it less than most other albums. However, as the 8.5 score indicates, I still think it's great. But that high score is mainly due to my three favourite tracks that are on it. A few of the tracks are really hard for me to distinguish from each other, unlike what's the case with any other album (except for Lugburz as well though). I would tell you to spin LMHSYF again, but I really liked it the first time I heard it and it only kept getting better. And now, after many spins I still love it.

Written by PocketMetal on 11.04.2014 at 22:07

In Hallow Halls ... is definitely in my top 3 Summoning songs, but I don't really get the songs after that one, LMHSYF is probably the one Summoning record that remains a mystery to me.

But come on, how can you not like this:

I'd have the same two first ones

Written by Karlabos on 11.04.2014 at 22:31

I'd have the same two first ones

Nice. Haven't you heard the others or are those just ranked differently? Maybe I should add links to the full albums (Youtube) to this list. Good idea or not?

Written by Erik M. on 11.04.2014 at 22:33

Written by Karlabos on 11.04.2014 at 22:31

I'd have the same two first ones

Nice. Haven't you heard the others or are those just ranked differently? Maybe I should add links to the full albums (Youtube) to this list. Good idea or not?

Among the others I just heard Oath Bound and Minas Morgul. Either way I think I'd put Minas Morgul over Oath Bound, so still kind on the same order =P
I guess if you can find links to the albums then it wouldn't hurt to add.

Written by Karlabos on 11.04.2014 at 23:08

Among the others I just heard Oath Bound and Minas Morgul. Either way I think I'd put Minas Morgul over Oath Bound, so still kind on the same order =P
I guess if you can find links to the albums then it wouldn't hurt to add.

Well, then it seems your order is exactly the same as mine, so far.

It sucks that adding clickable Youtube links in the list itself isn't possible, so I'll think about how I'm going to add them (if I do).

We already have a Best of Summoning list.

Written by Guest on 12.04.2014 at 00:09

We already have a Best of Summoning list.

I know, but when that one is a pretty serious list, my own Summoning list is a joke list. I figured that was rather obvious.

Written by Erik M. on 12.04.2014 at 00:11


I know, but when that one is a pretty serious list, my own Summoning list is a joke list. I figured that was rather obvious.

did you deliberately get this sentence mixed up?

Written by Guest on 12.04.2014 at 00:27

did you deliberately get this sentence mixed up?

Yes. Damn me that it wasn't obvious enough.

Written by Erik M. on 12.04.2014 at 00:28


Yes. Damn me that it wasn't obvious enough.

I'm not quite sure you've mastered the art of sarcasm in your comments yet then

Good list and descriptions. I'm not sure what my list would be like. Summoning have always had a few songs that blow me away or just bore me (out of repetition) on every album pretty much. The songs you listed as your favourites were a lot of mine too.

Written by Dark Cornatus on 12.04.2014 at 01:35

Good list and descriptions. I'm not sure what my list would be like. Summoning have always had a few songs that blow me away or just bore me (out of repetition) on every album pretty much. The songs you listed as your favourites were a lot of mine too.

Thanks! I'm pretty satisfied with the descriptions as well. It's actually the first time I wrote these kind of mini-reviews (maybe calling them that is being generous though). The reason is that most people aren't familiar with Summoning's whole discography (lots of MS'ers just know Old Mornings Dawn I think) so they might help a little. Anyway, they're definitely a band that has a rather repetitive sound in their songs. This is mostly the case on Oath Bound, Dol Guldur and Old Mornings Dawn. The other albums have quite a bit more variety I'd say.

These kind of lists are often not popular at all. In Summoning's case it's even worse, because of two reasons: 1. there are not many real Summoning fans on MS, as in: barely anyone has listened to all their albums, 2. their discography is so consistent that there's no general consensus of how the albums "should be" ranked (like is also true in Opeth's case, but that band is of course much more popular). Doesn't really matter either way to me. I just felt like creating this list for a long time already, but I waited until I know each album well enough to do so. All of them I've at least listened to 10+ times (except for Lugburz) and most probably 20+.

Haven't you described each album enough?
Let Mortals... is such a good album though and agree with you that its their most epic and atmospheric.

Written by CyberSymphony on 12.04.2014 at 22:32

Haven't you described each album enough?
Let Mortals... is such a good album though and agree with you that its their most epic and atmospheric.

Do you mean that I often talk about Summoning in general or that my descriptions/mini-reviews are too long?

What would your ranking look like?

Good list but I am not so good as judge I need re listen alöl albums from a to z... but good band

Written by Erik M. on 13.04.2014 at 19:40

Written by CyberSymphony on 12.04.2014 at 22:32

Haven't you described each album enough?
Let Mortals... is such a good album though and agree with you that its their most epic and atmospheric.

Do you mean that I often talk about Summoning in general or that my descriptions/mini-reviews are too long?

What would your ranking look like?

Probably Stronghold is would be top, as I've listened to it most, then Oath Bound, then... tie between Old Mornings Yawn and Let Mortals..., last would also be Lugburz for me too.

Written by Erik M. on 12.04.2014 at 13:07

Written by Dark Cornatus on 12.04.2014 at 01:35

Good list and descriptions. I'm not sure what my list would be like. Summoning have always had a few songs that blow me away or just bore me (out of repetition) on every album pretty much. The songs you listed as your favourites were a lot of mine too.

Thanks! I'm pretty satisfied with the descriptions as well. It's actually the first time I wrote these kind of mini-reviews (maybe calling them that is being generous though). The reason is that most people aren't familiar with Summoning's whole discography (lots of MS'ers just know Old Mornings Dawn I think) so they might help a little. Anyway, they're definitely a band that has a rather repetitive sound in their songs. This is mostly the case on Oath Bound, Dol Guldur and Old Mornings Dawn. The other albums have quite a bit more variety I'd say.

These kind of lists are often not popular at all. In Summoning's case it's even worse, because of two reasons: 1. there are not many real Summoning fans on MS, as in: barely anyone has listened to all their albums, 2. their discography is so consistent that there's no general consensus of how the albums "should be" ranked (like is also true in Opeth's case, but that band is of course much more popular). Doesn't really matter either way to me. I just felt like creating this list for a long time already, but I waited until I know each album well enough to do so. All of them I've at least listened to 10+ times (except for Lugburz) and most probably 20+.

You're right there I'm afraid, the only summoning album I heard was Old Mornings Dawn and I loved it. Your list helped motivate me and I'm going to check out the rest of their discography now, starting with Let Mortal..

Written by Bad English on 14.04.2014 at 21:52

Good list but I am not so good as judge I need re listen alöl albums from a to z... but good band

Well, every album is just one click away here, as I linked them all. So go ahead and re-listen to them if you feel like it.

Written by CyberSymphony on 14.04.2014 at 22:30

Probably Stronghold is would be top, as I've listened to it most, then Oath Bound, then... tie between Old Mornings Yawn and Let Mortals..., last would also be Lugburz for me too.

Oath Bound just rose to #4, but I won't say I'll never change that again in the future, because #4-6 are very close to each other in terms of how much I like them. So the top 3 here will definitely stay the same, as will Lugburz at #7. You say "Old Mornings Yawn" yet you seem to love it. Having Stronghold at #1 is something I can definitely see, because it used to be my favourite as well. It arguably has the most variety out of all their albums.

Written by donmuath on 15.04.2014 at 14:15

You're right there I'm afraid, the only summoning album I heard was Old Mornings Dawn and I loved it. Your list helped motivate me and I'm going to check out the rest of their discography now, starting with Let Mortal..

Yeah, it seemed lots of MS users only checked out Old Mornings Dawn and not any/most of their other albums. Really strange if you ask me, because when I like one album from a band a lot, I'd want to check out their other stuff as well. So I'm glad you decided to do just that.

LMHSYF however isn't their most accessible album, so it might take you a few spins to appreciate it... and when you do, you'll love it (probably). It has quite a bit more variety than OMD I'd say though. Oh, and thanks for the +1.

Written by Erik M. on 15.04.2014 at 20:45

Written by donmuath on 15.04.2014 at 14:15

You're right there I'm afraid, the only summoning album I heard was Old Mornings Dawn and I loved it. Your list helped motivate me and I'm going to check out the rest of their discography now, starting with Let Mortal..

Yeah, it seemed lots of MS users only checked out Old Mornings Dawn and not any/most of their other albums. Really strange if you ask me, because when I like one album from a band a lot, I'd want to check out their other stuff as well. So I'm glad you decided to do just that.

LMHSYF however isn't their most accessible album, so it might take you a few spins to appreciate it... and when you do, you'll love it (probably). It has quite a bit more variety than OMD I'd say though. Oh, and thanks for the +1.

Just finished listening to it, not the easiest album to digest but am intrigued, seems like the perfect soundtrack for my Baldur's Gate rerun

Written by donmuath on 15.04.2014 at 21:48

Just finished listening to it, not the easiest album to digest but am intrigued, seems like the perfect soundtrack for my Baldur's Gate rerun

Yep, totally agreed there. It took me quite a few spins before I considered it to be a masterpiece. But even after many spins it's still brilliant. Farewell still blows me away every time I listen to it. The majestic clean vocals (and lyrics) just make it sound epic as fuck.

Don't give up on it.

In the darkness..bind them..

Written by moonflash on 18.04.2014 at 16:32

In the darkness..bind them..

Haha, that part is especially epic, am I right?

Written by Erik M. on 18.04.2014 at 16:39

Written by moonflash on 18.04.2014 at 16:32

In the darkness..bind them..

Haha, that part is especially epic, am I right?

Best part on that album in my opinion. It's just so hauntingly mesmerising, brilliant song as well.

Written by moonflash on 18.04.2014 at 16:48

Best part on that album in my opinion. It's just so hauntingly mesmerising, brilliant song as well.

Well, it's the best song on the album after Farewell, for me. The whole album is brilliant of course.

How would you rank the albums?

Quote:

Written by Erik M. on 18.04.2014 at 17:15

Well, it's the best song on the album after Farewell, for me. The whole album is brilliant of course.

How would you rank the albums?

Ah yes, Farewell is another awesome one. Well, I wouldn't be a good judge of ranking their discography, as I only discovered them last year and am still unfamiliar with their earlier work. From what I've heard, LMHSYF is the best one without question, followed by Stronghold and OMD: It is quite close between those two, but I consider Stronghold to be a tad bit more epic going by the overall feel of the album. Both phenomenal records of course. Oath bound comes in default 4th place, quite good but inferior to the others, Land of the Dead is quite an outstanding ending to an album though. And those are all the albums I've listened to by Summoning as of yet, will give you an update once I try out the others which will presumably be quite soon as I've really liked everything they've put out upto this point.

P.S. I also liked Emyn Muil's album from last year. Quite a decent Summoning clone, try it out here if you haven't already
http://tinyurl.com/kno8ynv

Written by moonflash on 18.04.2014 at 18:07

Ah yes, Farewell is another awesome one. Well, I wouldn't be a good judge of ranking their discography, as I only discovered them last year and am still unfamiliar with their earlier work. From what I've heard, LMHSYF is the best one without question, followed by Stronghold and OMD: It is quite close between those two, but I consider Stronghold to be a tad bit more epic going by the overall feel of the album. Both phenomenal records of course. Oath bound comes in default 4th place, quite good but inferior to the others, Land of the Dead is quite an outstanding ending to an album though. And those are all the albums I've listened to by Summoning as of yet, will give you an update once I try out the others which will presumably be quite soon as I've really liked everything they've put out upto this point.

P.S. I also liked Emyn Muil's album last year. Quite a decent Summoning clone, try it out here if you haven't already
http://tinyurl.com/kno8ynv

Funny you say this, because for me it's also hard to choose between Stronghold and OMD. While the top 3 is absolutely set for me (9.5/10 or higher), I might decide to switch Stronghold and OMD. While I love OMD, I can't deny it has quite a bit less variety in it than Stronghold. That's the main reason I'd say. Right now Oath Bound is still behind Minas Morgul though, but not by much. While the former is more consistent, has a better production and has one of my favourite Summoning tracks (Across the Streaming Tide), I can't help but feeling a few songs (#5-7) don't have much of a personality to them. Minas Morgul is really a fantastic album once you have grasped it. The main reason many people dislike it (or like it less than most other Summoning albums) is because it's not very accessible and hard to get into. Some truly great melodies going on on that album (check out Morthond for example).

Good to hear you're going to check out their other stuff as well, which is one of the things I was hoping to accomplish with this list (as most people here on MS only have heard OMD, or so it seems). Oh, and I've listened to that Emyn Muil album. I wasn't amazed by it by any means, but I definitely liked it.