I am a big fan of Summoning and I couldn't contain my excitment when i heard the news in the fall that Napalm was going to release a Summoning EP comrpised of songs from the Dol Goldur sessions, since Dol Goldur and Nightshade forests are my two favourite Summoning releases, I figured that more great music was to come my way.
Lost Tales is comprised of two songs, Arcenstone and Saruman. Both songs on the surface seem more in the vein of Let Mortal Heroes Sing your Fame as both are filled with samples from the BBC productions of the Hobbit and LOTR (both of which are exception btw). The keyboard lines are typical Summoning.
However this EP is left lacking in many ways: firstly and most notably is the complete lack of any vocals, instead the keyboards and the samples do the talking, literally. We all know the suberb and emotional vocals that Silenus and Protector are capable of.
Secondly is the absence of any guitars. I know that guitars are used more as background in Summoning compositions but they should at least be here. After listening to this EP it sounds like these two songs were hastily assembled and organized, perhaps because Napalm was figuring it could cash in more on the current Tolkein craze than it could selling albums with topeless women on the cover. I have a hard time believing these are from the Dol Goldur sessions as they lack the special feel that makes it one of my all time favourite albums.
In the end this ends up sounding more like an electronica album than a Summoning release. We can only hope that they don't continue in this direction. Arcenstone is a good song in itself and actually quite dramatic, Saruman is less interesting and the EP suffers from an overabundance of repetitive samples, no guitars and poor compostion.
Rating: 7.5/10
this is one of my first attempts at reviewing an album so any comments/constructive criticism would be appreciated
Lost Tales is comprised of two songs, Arcenstone and Saruman. Both songs on the surface seem more in the vein of Let Mortal Heroes Sing your Fame as both are filled with samples from the BBC productions of the Hobbit and LOTR (both of which are exception btw). The keyboard lines are typical Summoning.
However this EP is left lacking in many ways: firstly and most notably is the complete lack of any vocals, instead the keyboards and the samples do the talking, literally. We all know the suberb and emotional vocals that Silenus and Protector are capable of.
Secondly is the absence of any guitars. I know that guitars are used more as background in Summoning compositions but they should at least be here. After listening to this EP it sounds like these two songs were hastily assembled and organized, perhaps because Napalm was figuring it could cash in more on the current Tolkein craze than it could selling albums with topeless women on the cover. I have a hard time believing these are from the Dol Goldur sessions as they lack the special feel that makes it one of my all time favourite albums.
In the end this ends up sounding more like an electronica album than a Summoning release. We can only hope that they don't continue in this direction. Arcenstone is a good song in itself and actually quite dramatic, Saruman is less interesting and the EP suffers from an overabundance of repetitive samples, no guitars and poor compostion.
Rating: 7.5/10
this is one of my first attempts at reviewing an album so any comments/constructive criticism would be appreciated
