Summoning was formed sometime in 1993 by Silenius (Michael Gregor), Protector (Richard Lederer) and Trifixion (Alexander Trondl). Before creating Summoning, Protector was playing drums in a thrash/death metal band called Marlignom and had embarked on a four-year study of drums in music school. Silenius was in a doom metal band Shadow Vale (at 16 years old) and had a few years in music school studying piano. Before Summoning, Silenius was making music, together with Pazuzu (Ray Wells) in a band Cromm. Trifixion played in the band Pervertum.
Summoning recorded two demos (Upon the Viking's Stallion and Anno Mortiri Domini), as well as a split with the Austrian band Pazuzu (The Urilia Text) and a five-track promo tape for Lugburz. Nearly all songs from the demos were never released after or took place on CDs in a very different version.
The demos sold quite well in a record shop in Vienna called "Why not". Some time later Silenius got in contact with T.T. (Thomas Tannenberger), eventually leading to the birth of Abigor. Silenius ended up doing all vocals for Abigor releases (except the demos) as a permanent member until 1999. The first Abigor album was recorded for the young Napalm Records label, which led to Silenius managing to get a deal from Napalm for Summoning's debut Lugburz in 1995. At that time the members of Summoning were: Silenius – vocals, keyboards, bass; Protector – vocals, keyboards, guitar; Trifixion – drums (his last release with the band); Pazuzu lent some additional vocals and wrote some of the lyrics. Lugburz was more traditional black metal and very different from the band's later releases that would follow.
The band continued as a duo after the departure of Trifixion, releasing Minas Morgul in 1995. This was the band's first release in their new style, an epic and atmospheric style utilizing guitar purely as a background instrument and synth almost as a lead, using re-recorded early songs. Dol Guldur, in 1996, continued this style and saw an influence from Protector's darkwave project Ice Ages. It also credits J.R.R. Tolkien for lyrics. In 1997, the Nightshade Forests EP was released, and has since been included on the recent Dol Guldur pressings. After this, the band ceased all work for nearly two years, and also stopped work with many of their other music projects. But in 1999, Summoning returned with Stronghold which, while still in the classic Summoning style, focused more on guitar work to create melodic lines rather than keyboards and synthesizers than in previous releases.
In the year 2001 the follow-up Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame was released. This release was a kind of combination between the old and new style of Summoning, with the keyboard lines being more epic and polyphonic while the guitars bore a similarity with the more complex and rock-esque guitar-style from Stronghold. This time the band used more spoken-word samples to bring a more dramatic style to the songs and for the first time the band works with clear vocal choirs on the song "Farewell". The lyrical concept again was totally based on Tolkien's Middle-earth, but for the first time it was combined with some inspiration from Michael Moorcock's fantasy writings. In 2003, they released the Lost Tales EP, which consisted of leftovers from the Dol Guldur sessions.
2006 saw the release of Oath Bound, which consisted of all new material. The long break between Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame and Oath Bound was due to struggles in the band members' personal lives, along with lack of ideas. Oath Bound featured a "relaxed arpeggio style" guitar sound, which gave a more epic feeling to the sound of the album. The band also had higher-quality equipment available to them for the recording of the album and were able to create greater choir vocals than they had done before. A 4-song mini CD was suggested for release in 2007 containing at least one song which didn't make it onto Oath Bound due to size issues, however, this idea was abandoned and Protector instead began work on music for a full-length release while waiting for Silenius to finish recording the next Kreuzweg Ost album.
Following the release of Oath Bound, Summoning entered a period of inactivity. Silenius experienced a creative block and lacked inspiration for creating new music for Summoning. He also suffered a heart-attack which "knocked me out for another half a year, but somehow all this brought me to a point where I got hungry again and since then I concentrated again on making riffs. Everything started in small steps. but after a while I knew in which direction the music was going and the more I knew this, the easier it was to compose and the result is what you hear now."
In February 2012, the band announced on their website that they were in the process of writing new songs, and were hoping to have most of the songs complete by the end of the year. In December 2012 it was announced that all the guitars and Protector's vocal parts for the new album were complete and that the upcoming album would be entitled Old Mornings Dawn. Old Mornings Dawn was released in June 2013 on Napalm Records and lyrically focuses mostly on nature themes, as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's Valinor.
In 2015 the band confirmed that they had already begun working on creating a new album, and were focused on rewriting some of the leftover material from Old Mornings Dawn.
On December 15, 2016 a compilation tribute album titled 'In Mordor Where The Shadows Are - Homage to Summoning' was released by Wolfspell Records. The album features covers of 21 different Summoning songs by artists such as Caladan Brood and Emyn Muil.
On August 12, 2017, Summoning posted an update on their official Facebook page noting that despite troubles, setbacks and disputes, the band's new album will be released in January 2018 through Napalm Records. The band posted a teaser of the new music, although they did not disclose the name of the forthcoming album.
On October 1, 2017, Summoning posted an update on their Facebook page announcing the title of the album as With Doom We Come. The album was subsequently released on January 5, 2018.
The band's debut album Lugburz was a traditional black metal album, with a raw, lo-fi production style. On their following album Minas Morgul the band's sound changed significantly, and has been characterised as "a departure from straight black metal in favor of bold atmospheric experimentation which retains a definite blackened feel." The band's sound has remained relatively consistent since then. The band's sound is frequently described as 'epic, 'hypnotic', and 'atmospheric', and makes extensive use of keyboards, choir vocals, clean singing, synthesized instruments, and programmed drums. Though the drums are programmed, they are played using a keyboard rather than with a drum machine. Their sound has been described as "a particularly widescreen version of progressive black metal, a style that more recently has been infused with an almost medieval strain of twiddly folk music of the lutes 'n' flutes variety." The band's music is deeply influenced by the literature of J. R. R. Tolkien, particularly The Lord of the Rings. Most of the band's lyrics are derived from Tolkien's own works. Silenius has claimed to be influenced by dark wave and ritualistic music as well as fantasy literature.
The band has said that they consider themselves to be composers rather than musicians and do not practice together before recording. Guitarist Protector does not own a guitar and has used a different borrowed guitar for every recording since Dol Guldur.
Northward
Summoning Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And storms are in the sky
Our path across the nordland
Goes higher and more high
To left the sea we came from
To right the white hills with no tree
The wind is growing colder
We drag with stiffening fingers
Our swords and up the hill
The path is steep and tangled
But leads to battles still
(Refrain)
Farewell now, mountain, vale, and plain
Farewell now, wind and frost and rain
And mist and cloud and heaven's air
Ye star and moon so blinding fair
Farewell now blade and bloom and grass
That see the changing season pass
Farewell sweet earth and northern sky
Forever blessed but here we die
Dor firn i guinar
The lyrics of Summoning's song "Northward" opens with a visual description of the harsh and cold environment that the travelers are passing through. The wind is heavy, and the stormy sky suggests that the journey is not going to be an easy one. The travelers are moving towards the Nordland, and their path takes them higher and higher. The sea is on their left, and on their right, they see white hills without any trees, and the wind is getting colder, making them shiver. They continue walking up the hill, dragging their swords with stiffening fingers, facing the tough path, but they're prepared for the battles that await them.
The refrain in the lyrics says goodbye and farewell to various natural elements- mountains, vale, plain, wind, frost, rain, mist, cloud, the star, the moon, the blade, bloom, and grass, earth, and northern sky. The line "Forever blessed but here we die" could be interpreted as a tribute to the beauty and purity of nature, and how it is worth dying for.
Line by Line Meaning
The wind is cold and heavy
The strong wind brings a chill that is felt deeply by our group
And storms are in the sky
The stormy clouds loom over us, signifying that harsh weather may come at any moment
Our path across the nordland
We are journeying across the northern lands
Goes higher and more high
Our path becomes more and more difficult as it ascends upward
To left the sea we came from
The sea lies to our left as we travel, reminding us of where we have come from
To right the white hills with no tree
On our right is a barren landscape of white hills with no trees
The wind is growing colder
The wind is becoming even colder, causing us to shiver
And shivering are we
Our bodies shake with cold as we journey
We drag with stiffening fingers
Our fingers are becoming stiff and numb from the cold
Our swords and up the hill
Despite the physical challenge, we continue uphill while gripping our swords
The path is steep and tangled
The way forward is difficult, with steep inclines and obstacles blocking our path
But leads to battles still
Despite these challenges, we are moving forward towards the possibility of battle
Farewell now, mountain, vale, and plain
As we continue on, we say goodbye to the natural features that have been a part of our journey
Farewell now, wind and frost and rain
We acknowledge and say goodbye to the harsh elements we have faced on our journey
And mist and cloud and heaven's air
We also bid farewell to the atmospheric forces that have surrounded us
Ye star and moon so blinding fair
We say goodbye to the beauty of the night sky, which has been both guiding and blinding
Farewell now blade and bloom and grass
We acknowledge and part with the natural life that thrives in this land
That see the changing season pass
These plants have seen many seasons come and go, and now we say goodbye as well
Farewell sweet earth and northern sky
We take a moment to appreciate and say goodbye to the beauty of the northern land and sky
Forever blessed but here we die
Despite the beauty and blessings of this land, our journey may result in our deaths
Dor firn i guinar
This is a phrase in the fictional language of Middle-earth, meaning 'The North has called them'
Contributed by Hannah I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@WitnessTrueSorcery
The same nonsense happened to me pretty recenently when I made short video on my channel just simply expressing my gratitude and wishing everyone a happy new year, and of course I also used the intro song from Summoning's "Stronghold" album (Rhûn). Immediately after I uploaded it, I received the same lousy excuse like the one they are sending to you.
Thing is, copyright claims are no longer valid and the algorithm of YouTube or whoever is censoring our content here is completely off the rails. Makes zero fockin' sense!!
I can see your video by the way. It's very well made and edited. At least my country of origin is not in the list of "inappropriate" and censored content. Don't give up! Don't let some crappy censorship and lame internet algorithm silence you. There are always other ways!
This is the one I made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptbn-ivah0c
(you probably won't be even able to watch it)
and after that I had to make a second one:
(without any music from Summoning)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD6jULmDMhY
@sonofavestalgodlord
Unfortunately, this is probably the last Summoning video I've made. The reason is nowadays complete insanity with copyright claims. There's no reason to make these videos when half a world can't see them. So just because I used Summoning song, this video is blocked in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States. Didn't know it is such a forbidden thing to use Summoning song, at least it was not the case with my former videos. People from these countries now probably can't watch my other videos too. I don't see anything wrong with some good free promotion (it can earn you more money!), but looks like it has become some form of big offense lately. Shame, because my only wish is to promote this wonderful band FOR FREE with some of my own work...
EDIT: You know what's the funniest thing? Youtube inserted below in description a list of copyright owners (I bet Silenius and Protector doesn't know about half of them) and a link to buy Summoning music from Google Play! So, how will any possible customer from these countries buy it through Youtube, when they cannot hear a second of their music here (except maybe one or two videos in the Napalm Records channel)? It looks to me like shooting yourself in the leg ! Bravo wise men!
@WitnessTrueSorcery
The same nonsense happened to me pretty recenently when I made short video on my channel just simply expressing my gratitude and wishing everyone a happy new year, and of course I also used the intro song from Summoning's "Stronghold" album (Rhûn). Immediately after I uploaded it, I received the same lousy excuse like the one they are sending to you.
Thing is, copyright claims are no longer valid and the algorithm of YouTube or whoever is censoring our content here is completely off the rails. Makes zero fockin' sense!!
I can see your video by the way. It's very well made and edited. At least my country of origin is not in the list of "inappropriate" and censored content. Don't give up! Don't let some crappy censorship and lame internet algorithm silence you. There are always other ways!
This is the one I made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptbn-ivah0c
(you probably won't be even able to watch it)
and after that I had to make a second one:
(without any music from Summoning)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD6jULmDMhY
@sonofavestalgodlord
@Witness True Sorcery My country of origin is also not on that copyright list, so I can see your video. Nice job btw. keep up the good work! Some company called "The Orchard Music" is behind all of this. "Distribution Done Right" says their moniker. My ass done right! This is a total shutdown of distribution. What's the point in preventing somebody's music to be heard around the globe? It is just completely off the rails, as you said. Back in the day, you were not allowed to use monetisation in your videos with copyrighted music, which was understandable. But this!? Just complete insanity, if you ask me, and a straight up way for stopping artists from spreading their music to a wider audience. But, as you said, there are always some other ways to reach certain audience, so I will probably make more videos. Every empire crumbles, so too will theirs!
@johannlingmarr8406
Hi Bro! Russia is seen this! Excellent work!
@sortsindvantro
I am watching from Denmark!
@sonofavestalgodlord
@sortsindvantro looks like some rules changed as of late. good news! thanks!
@BoBo69999
Amazing video! For the love of Summoning !!!!
@alafosca5724
For the love of Summoning!!
@farhadsurd
another masterpiece❤👍
@chemikadze
Lyrics turn atmosphere to 11, what a masterpiece