Band:	Summoning
Album:	Oath Bound
Style:	Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	March 31, 2006
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Bauglir
02. Across The Streaming Tide
03. Mirdautas Vras
04. Might And Glory
05. Beleriand
06. Northward
07. Menegroth
08. Land Of The Dead

I suppose that many people were waiting for the comeback of Summoning with a new album, so here it is, "Oath Bound" is their 8th offering to the world, reviving Tolkien's dark world through their own musical perspective with their exceptional epic/lyrical interpreting manner. I have to admit that the first listen didn't impress me so much, i found the album a bit tiring and monotonous, but no, it was just a first bad impression because from the second listen and on (i can assure you i listened to this album a lot in order to form my final opinion) the dark clouds started fading away and i saw the real face of 2006's Summoning.

Silenius and Protector did once again their miracle and managed to release a fabulous work that won't betray those who always loved their unique atmosphere and have been enchanted by their bombastic and at the same time atmospheric tunes throughout the years. Everything you've been craving to find in Summoning's music is present, the lyrical and epic feeling, the imposing and marching atmosphere, the strange bitterness and melancholy that appears from time to time and the darknening aesthetic that surrounds your existence! "Bauglir" opens "Oath Bound", a good instrumental opener, and then the journey through majestic landscapes and barren darklands takes its toll. Every composition following has a lot to offer to the listener, a variety of emotions, yet keeping a common aesthetic that holds tight the passage from the one song to the other in order to let the album flow in a good way.

Something really positive has to be the fact that every single instrument partaking in "Oath Bound" plays an equal atmosphere-evoking role because the outcome wouldn't be the same if something was missing, everything blends beautifully together in the final mix and thus what you get is a sound vision of Tolkien's ominous world. The vocal lines vary a lot in this album, we have ecstatic screams that never fail to escalate the emotional charge of the songs, sounding intense and powerful or more desolate at times. Also, polyphonic chanting passages from both Protector and Silenius appear on "Might And Glory" and "Land Of The Dead", whereas the rhythmic battlecries of the Orcs and the Uruk-Hai are vivid and powerful, lending groove to songs like "Mirdautas Vras" and "Might And Glory". The guitar work is either lurking a little bit behind the keyboards or comes to the forth in a loud way, evoking an obscure sense of melody in the overall epic atmosphere; well-conceived and well-expressed ideas overrun the whole album and summon bitterness in the air along with the keyboard melodies/syphonic passages. The keyboard work is just fabulous, it has an intense epic tone, creating powerful surrounding medieval atmospheres, presenting a more melancholic and wailing face at times, offering variety in terms of emotional aesthetic. As for the drumming, it's bombastic, really powerful and ground-shaking, lending a marching sense to the overwhelming epic feeling that is always vivid, pacing in an unerring way with the compositions and completing this Summoning chapter!

Well, i adored this album, i don't see any reason why someone being a Summoning fan wouldn't enjoy it since their own distinctive atmosphere is present and, apart from that, it's inspired and well-expressed, something really worth-waiting since their previous full-length release "Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame" (2001). Songs like "Menegroth", "Across The Streaming Tide", "Land Of The Dead" and "Might And Glory" will strike you down, at least i wish, like they did to me. Take your chance with "Oath Bound" and walk "across the streaming tide" to reach the "land of the dead"...