Band:	Summoner
Album:	Winter Solstice
Style:	Black metal, Gothic metal
Release date:	2003

01. Following Your Insight
02. Winter Solstice
03. Gaia Flowered Mantle
04. The Epoch Of Stillness
05. In Dreamy Lullabies
06. My Epitaph
07. Renewed
08. Forever Fellows

This is quiet a good surprise from Italy, country where we're used to receive Power Metal, Power Metal and more Power Metal. Now I have received a very well presented Cd, with a gorgeous cover art and top-notch internal layout, the band is Summoner, and in case you're really slow, they're from Italy.

The formula of Summoner is not the newest thing around, but the way they mix it and perform it is truly something, we could say that Summoner plays Melodic Death Metal with some female vocals and a strong wall of keyboards.
Let's go step by step, shall we? First the musical direction, the style is Melodic Death Metal but with mellow parts, where the female vocals and the keyboards intertwine to give a great atmosphere to the music.

Female vocalist, Nadia does a super job, since her voice is really mellow, but not operatic nor aggressive, is a sad thing that after this record, the female vocalist was replaced. Male vocalist is also really good, not too brutal to be undecipherable, and not to clean to be raspy, is also a shame that after this album he left the band.

At least the keyboardist is still in for their next album since the keys are an important element in Summoner music, each song has a lot of keyboard support and I must say that it does wonders for each song, the little solo in "My Dreamy Lullabies" or the atmospherically support at "My Epitaph" .

From the first song "Following Your Insight" I felt in love with the band and the beautiful voice of Nadia, songs like "Winter Solstice" and "Renewed" are proofs that this band is not fooling around, they know how to mix the aggressive parts of the growls with the mellow ones of the female vocals, and each part has different moods, giving each song a somewhat dual spirit.

Summoner is a great surprise, and Winter Solstice is an outstanding effort from this Italian combo, my only fear is that if they're going to repeat the this success in their next album, taking in count that both vocalists have been replaced, well, that's a question that only time will tell, until then, I'll be on the watch out.