When you hear the term Black Metal, your mind visualizes a few folks jamming in a dungeon and recording it in a very shitty quality and releasing it. The material, however awesome it is, sounds very poor and we wonder how brilliant it would've sounded if it the recording was good.
Summoning is one black metal project who give a lot of importance to the recording quality. The two guys Silenius and Protector, know their art well and put it out in the best possible manner. Oathbound is epic, both in terms of the lengths of the tracks, their quality and of course, due to the theme they depict in their albums, The Lord of the Rings.
I was wondering out loud one day on Twitter whether there are any atmospheric bands which are great to listen to while reading LoTR and Summoning was the response from one of my friends out there. And the track he directed me to was Mirdautas Vras, a track with lyrics in the dark language of Mordor. Now how cool is that?!
The standout track from the album is the 10 minute epic that is Land of the Dead. It teleports you to the Path of the Dead and back.
The atmosphere has already been talked about, but requires mention. While listening to the album, you'll feel like you are in the middle of middle-earth with tales and lores of the great deeds of the Men being sung to you.
The intro track Bauglir sounds more of a Celtic folks tune, but sets up the album nicely. From there on, the journey through Middle Earth goes on, all the way to Mordor.
Must listen for LoTR fans. Must listen for the rest of you too!
No flaws could be identified, if at all there are any.
I'll give it 10/10
