Summoning - With Doom We Come review
| Band: | Summoning |
| Album: | With Doom We Come |
| Style: | Atmospheric black metal |
| Release date: | January 05, 2018 |
| A review by: | RaduP |
01. Tar-Calion
02. Silvertine
03. Carcharoth
04. Herumor
05. Barrow-downs
06. Night Fell Behind
07. Mirklands
08. With Doom I Come
09. As Echoes From The World Of Old [special edition bonus]
10. And Wonder Walks The Forest Eaves [special edition bonus]
Summoning claim to come with doom, but it's still synthy atmospheric black metal, not doom metal. While that would be an interesting turn of events, you cannot blame Summoning for sticking to the formula. You could, however, blame them for the godawful production on this album.
So let's get this out of the way. This is the worst sounding Summoning album, except maybe their debut, but at least that has the excuse of being released in 1995 and being much more kvlt. This has nothing to do with how the songs are written or performed, but even though Summoning have had worse recording, they didn't have such awful mixing and mastering. That is With Doom We Come's major crime. Also some of the transitions from track to track are pretty off-putting. Take the production away and you have a pretty decent album.
Summoning have been getting some competition ever since they released their last record, Old Mornings Dawn 5 years prior. One needs only to look on some of the names on the 2016 tribute album In Mordor Where The Shadows Are like Caladan Brood, Emyn Muil and Eldamar. While Summoning get all the glory for creating this sound, here on With Doom We Come they fall just slightly short of expectations. When the production issues aren't as prominent, Summoning deliver some interesting sounds, like the spoken word on "Tar-Calion" or the outro of "Mirklands", or even the entirety of "Silvertine", which is to me the album's highlight. Sometimes you may get lost in the trance and almost feel like striding along an army on scorched earth, just almost. The album's closer and almost title track, is however, overcrowded by muddied choirs and flutes that tarnish any potential bombastic epicness.
This is not a bad album. The songs are well-written, the vocals are great, and the mastering isn't always off-putting. Summoning earned all their glory and have nothing left to prove, but given their old material and new material from their clones, it really could be much better.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 5 |
 | Written on 13.01.2018 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out. |
Comments
Comments: 27
Visited by: 296 users
| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Yeah, ultimately a "good but not great" kind of band. I regret giving the last album a 9 in my review, looking back 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028  |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 13.01.2018 at 19:17 Summoning have some damn great albums, but their last two were pretty underwhelming. And at this point in their career they have no excuse not to afford good mastering
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208  |
Have only listened to a couple of okyish tracks so far but it's the same old Summoning. As you said it's not a bad formula but why get several albums while they all sound the same ? Listened to Minas Morgul again today and while I like it esp track 3 and 8, this is the kind of ambient music I will listen to here and there but that will leak out of my memory as soon as the CD is out of my system.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028 |
Written by s_t_s on 13.01.2018 at 19:34 Summoning is atmo black of course the main point of the music is ambiance, but don't tell me Long Lost To Where No Pathway Goes or Land Of The Dead aren't earworms
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62014  |
Not their worst album, but not best. Production and mix are better as some of 90,s work. Imo its not bm, not even symhonic bm, mixture between symphonic nusik and bm. World would be poorer if summoning would not exist, but if this would be real band whit five persons it would be better.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
After 2nd attempt, I wouldn't insist on "letdown of the decade", but it is still weak. I don't like it, they know to do much better...
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208 |
Written by RaduP on 13.01.2018 at 19:42 Had to check these titles out on YT to identify them  This tells all imo about Summoning music : good but so forgettable as well, at least this is my opinion and see no offence, I enjoy this music but only for short sessions.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7348  |
I get the feeling of being tortured by the same uninteresting riff on repeat, the musical equivalent of the Chinese water torture. In the first couple of songs the riff is identical, hence 20 minutes of the same stuff. Summoning always based their songs on one main idea and built everything around it. In Stronghold for example, the ideas were interesting and this is why this album is engaging and hypnotic. Inspiration is clearly lacking here and the whole thing is a fucking borefest. The only song that is sort of worth listening to is "With Doom I Come". Best soundtrack for people who suffer from insomnia.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028 |
Written by nikarg on 14.01.2018 at 14:30 Everyone seems to be praising that song, when I actually like it among the least. I liked Mirklands and Silvertine the most, although I doubt I'll be coming back to them anytime soon.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9156  |
There generic Summoning sound, only this time with awful production. It's a chore to make it through this.
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| Dark Cornatus Powerslave Elite Posts: 4330  |
This review was pretty much how i felt after listening to the album back in December. I've tried numerous times to get into it. With Doom I Come and Silvertine only tracks worthy of mention. The rest are generic, especially Mirklands. It the production was stronger, it would have REALLY helped. Not sure how they even released it this poor.
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| MMizfall Posts: 29  |
Sometime it happens, sometimes even good bands like Summoning and Opeth can make few less than stellar albums. I still enjoyed this one
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
Written by MMizfall on 15.01.2018 at 05:16 Opeth has made crap albums, Watershed was the last decent album in their discography. Summoning has been on a downward spiral, which can be construed since LMHSYF, which was weaker than Stronghold, Oath Bound weaker than LMHSYF and so on. Even with a good production this album wouldn't have amounted to anything better as the songwriting is also weak, with no real highlights.
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| MMizfall Posts: 29 |
Qathbound and LMHSF while not among my favorites are just different albums, they don't sound like the band put a mediocre effort, and Old Mornings Dawn is easily one of their peaks. This album however feels like it lacks inspiration.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028 |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 15.01.2018 at 11:22 Both Pale Communion and Heritage are better than Watershed. Sorceress however is their weakest album to date. Also I don't think Oath Bound is weaker than LMHSYF.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by RaduP on 15.01.2018 at 15:59 I can't call generic, Rush ripped off prog rock albums as better than an innovative prog metal album, honestly. Instead of them continuing their own path, they chose to rip off a former prog rock giant, which for me is like going from playing Mussorgsky to covering a rock version of Jingle Bells. Oath Bound is close in quality with LMHSYF, but unlike the later, it has more filler material.
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| RaduP CertifiedHipster Staff Posts: 9028 |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 15.01.2018 at 19:23 How is Watershed innovative and Pale Communion a Rush ripoff. PC is a ripoff but not really of Rush, yet it's still less generic than Watershed.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by RaduP on 15.01.2018 at 20:11 Innovative in the sense that it was their trademark sound, the one they developed and refined along the way from the 90s up to it. The last 3 albums are clearly a throwback to 70s prog rock. Nothing against prog rock itself, I like some 70s prog rock, although much of it is generic and pretentious, but Opeth play it by the book, almost copying what others did decades ago. As I hate the 60s blues revival, that got prolonged until the mid 70s, a bunch of white musicians overusing the blues scale until it was bled dry, I do not like modern bands going back to a sound that has become stale and dry for decades already. I listened to PC, Sorceress and Heritage, but little variation can be found between them. Not to mention how big the challenge was to not fall asleep from boredom.
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| Litvin Posts: 364  |
Written by RaduP on 19.01.2018 at 23:40 Are you joking? Title "With doom we come" does not mean to say they starting to play doom metal.
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| Karlabos Posts: 5736  |
Written by Litvin on 19.01.2018 at 23:41 Guess...
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7348 |
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| NorkkturnHH Posts: 5  |
I enjoy this album a lot. The repetitve riffs are what made Summoning sounds like... Summoning. It is also IMO the basic structure of any atmospheric black metal ( to have repetitive riffs) . It is synthy, melancholic and epic. My favourites are Tar-Calion, Charcaroth and Mirklands.
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| Dungeon Shaker Posts: 63  |
I gobbled up the With Doom I Come ep, which garnered a slew of genuine excitement. Perhaps it inflated my hopes, as the actual album was met with disappointment. Enjoyable, yet unremarkable save for Silvertine and the title track.
---- www.thunderousvoices.com
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| Cobalto Posts: 71  |
Totally agree with the review. "With doom we come" has a lot of potencial and keeps the typical Summoning elements. unfortunatelly the production and mixing is terrible, even for Summoning standards. this reminds of old demos raw sound, very bad. "With doom we come" could be a tremendous album but in the end it´s just plain average. some good moments however: Tar-Calion Night Fell Behind
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669 |
Just found out there are two bonus tracks (have the original CD, but w/o them). Those are pretty good, 'As Echoes From The World Of Old' might even be the best on the album (same as 'With Fire And Sword', a bonus from previous one).
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep
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| DarkWingedSoul Posts: 1383  |
mix or no mix it still has the summoning vibe and atmosphere, hope wasnt their last album though.
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| AndyMetalFreak A Nice Guy Contributor Posts: 5308  |
It might be far from their best work but even then I still find it a pretty good album. "Silvertine" has always been the stand-out song for me off this album.
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