Origin : Austria
Genre : Atmospheric Black Metal
Release : 1997 (EP)
Album downloads only available to members
Album Info / Review
**Album Review: Summoning – *Nightshade Forests***
On the cassette sleeves that covey gothic woods and light‑absurd mist, Summoning’s new record, *Nightshade Forests*, carries itself as if it were crafted by the wind itself, but with the bolt‑sharp rigour of a metal beast that refuses to be contained. The pair—Dadou the bassist and Tempest the guitarist—have for years been their own saints of atmospheric black‑metal, and this latest outing feels like the next chapter in their personal saga of ethereal doom.
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### Sound & Atmosphere
The core of the album is the interplay of haunting clean synth mooring themselves around a roaring, downtuned riff machine. The introductory track, *Ghostwood Aeration*, begins with a low‑hummed pad that simulates wind through trees, soon swept away by a slow, plodding blast beat that stretches the suspense out like a stretched Victorian amber light. The ambience never leaves the listener: ambient drones are threaded in with thick, singular crash cymbals, giving each song a cathedral sweep punctuated by the hiss of distant storm.
The folk metal influences are unmistakable; reverb‑laden acoustic guitars echo the pits of ancient forests, broken away by the dark, jazzed riff pattern. In places like *Vesper Vault*, an eerie, almost lullaby‑like left‑hand picking hand develops, while the right hand unleashes dissonant, towering chords that ring like a funeral march’s tolling bells. For a moment, you’re suddenly standing under an overcast sky, the actual black‑metal an audible metaphor for the stillness of a midnight clearing.
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### Riffs & Composition
Summoning have become masters at turning riffs into painting strokes. *Wraithbark* is a textbook example: the opening verse is a simple yet bleaker riff in C# minor (c- and duplicates), but as it goes into the pre‑chorus, the guitarist slides into a rapid pentatonic influence, leaving space for a heavy, chanting chorus that swells with harmonized guitar layers.
The melodic hooks are the bones of this album—high, tease-metal choruses syndicate with a number of synthesizer spirals. The denser parts, such as *Kindred Darkness*, are built from a cascading hammer of non‑diatonic chromaticism; the chorus in particular feels like a macro dance—sweeping.
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### Production Quality
The production on *Nightshade Forests* is a further testament to the pair’s expertise. The mix balances the nuance of ambient synth layers with the punch of their drums and bass. The drums are clear, but the click feels like the thud of a forest footfall; Tom Pikkule could snap his fingers and you can hear his hiss. The guitars are preserved in their natural distortion—both an authentic, “late‑night demo” feel and a riff‑overwhelming quality that avoids sonic clutter.
In transitional swathes, the producer purposely leaves gaps, allowing the riffs to breathe. The master has a restrained dynamic range that presents an organized texture—no “metal-pulling” or shift in key—an excellent test of engineering perseverance.
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### Overall Impression
While the band stays distance of doom metal by trunking heavy underlay pulses, *Nightshade Forests* keeps the architectural measured, unhinged, and the structure open. The conceptual mood immerses you with a sense of haunting melancholy, and that metaphoric darkness is hisft collated with careful production and close structures. Fans of summoner mythology, ancient runes and distant winds will find a repeated clarity coped with a rich audio tapestry that makes each track feel a forerunner of a thousand flights of *lesser‑than-centaur* ambiance.
The album’s creative vision remains its unique hallmark. This record pushes the fans singing echo alive, immersed in nocturnal fey. Summoning delivers all the _folkloric_ themes of the night: an immersive environment, a convincing musical framework to carry over a sprawling opera of black-metal exponent. It isn’t a gamble, but an elegant addition for everyone seeking the timeless darkness that can still strike new frequencies. In a genre that’s flooding, the self‑crafted masterpiece comes to stand out from loud, ancient, and well‑exposed dust.
