Summoning is (the best,excellent)

Land of the dead is FANTASTIC

Beleriand AND Northward IS very nice

Good album. Bauglir is their best intro imo, Mirdautas Vras just totally makes you fear the Nazgûls, and Land Of The Dead is an epic closing track.

Every time I listen to Land Of The Dead I feel like I want to die go there where there is no voice, no sound of a beating heart.... I love Summoning. The Streaming Tide made me cry because its music is absolutely brilliant. I have never heard such a beautiful song in my life. After all these years, I find it even more beautiful every time I listen to it.

What's new with this band? Everything they release is simply amazing, so this album is nothing different.

Shame the rest of the album isn't as good as Across The Streaming Tide and Land Of The Dead.

To symphonic less metal, same time how we can hate this, its amsterpece,

Likely my favourite along with Minas, Stronghold has its moments (Long Lost To No Pathway Goes/ Where Hope And Daylight Die/ Loud Music From The Sky/ A Distant Flame Before The Sun), and an actual breath of refreshment after the all too similar to painful shit of Let Your Mortals Sing Your Flame (shame when that centerfold portrait is definitely their best). Oath Bound does differently in a way compared to other Summoning's that goes underappreciated and is closer to Lost Tales, ironic in name also. Not many seem to commend on the strength of this album being for the most part its ritualistic ceremonial haze directed by a flipside different ratio choice of base instruments but lap up the former record despite it sounding the most repetitive in choice of sounds.

This is the least guitar derived (perhaps even metal) album by instrument definition. The tribal percussion, choral vocals, keyboards and synths/ horns not only do their lasting impression for droning out a melodic soundscaping echo chamber but also craft as an alternative to guitars so when the actual guitars arrive they leave a special remark that's subtle, by making them appear floatingly random which is the catch. This use of increasing layer echo chamber drone/ cavernous sound slow layer adding as the formula possibly helped death metal as a pre-emptive preview in framing how to help structure sound but it's a staple method that I commend them for making in a genre that's all about the very meaningful intentional, atmosphere. Look at Elysian Blaze or worse, Midnight Odyssey for example..

Very strong first half. Mirdautas Vras is distinctive for Summoning standards and gets pretty XXL when the marches progress. Creature roar sound effects are underrated imo. I wish Beleriand kept those lower tones more prevalent... they need darker ambient.

EDIT: This is coming from someone without much Middle Earth connections as I still need to read them.

A beautifully constructed, atmospheric masterpiece. It's One of my favourite Summoning albums along with Stronghold. It's just simply stunning. I find each song memorable, and surprisingly catchy despite their length. The music portrays such a vivid image in my mind, of the landscapes and atmosphere of middle earth, and the creatures that dwell there, the Mountain in the mist cover art is also picturesque and stunning.

It's impossible with albums like this to pick my favourite tracks, because the album as a whole is very special to me. but I must say the beautiful melodies to "Northward", "Might and Glory", and "Land Of the Dead" were orgasmic, and I love the unique Nazgul roars, and ancient tongue lyrics to "Mirautas Vras", "Beleriand" is also a beautiful track with a great atmosphere, and "Across the Streaming Tide" is also a great atmosoheric song.

Great atmosphere indeed! Highlights for me are: the drumming on Across the Streaming Tide and the epic choirs mixed with melancholy flutes playing at the end of Land of the Dead.
The whole album is a very enjoyable journey through the mysterious wilds of Middle-Earth

I'm rereading The Lord of the Rings and I just saw that part of the chorus for "Across the Streaming Tide" is directly from the poem about Nimrodel in the Lothlorien chapter in Fellowship of the Ring:

Quote:
A wind by night in Northern lands
Arose, and loud it cried,
And drove the ship from elven-strands
Across the streaming tide.

Written by F3ynman on 11.11.2021 at 12:38

Great atmosphere indeed! Highlights for me are: the drumming on Across the Streaming Tide and the epic choirs mixed with melancholy flutes playing at the end of Land of the Dead.
The whole album is a very enjoyable journey through the mysterious wilds of Middle-Earth

My favourite Summoning album, the atmosphere is unbelievable, you can really imagine yourself in Middle-Earth.

Same as previous one, I only like the last track. Otherwise I find the vocals annoying, same as in 1997 and 2001 albums.