NO THOUGHTS FROM THE SKY - 2001
Bakal Zine - http://bakalzine.cjb.net/
No Thoughts from the Sky CD/Blackened Moon:
A very familiar band, I read a lot of good shits about this band. After releasing several materials, I don't know exactly if this is their third full length or fourth, anyway I'll do an interview with this brutal horde so we may have further information. This is my debut encounter with their creation and I [suspected] they deliver a neckbreaking chaos. They are brutal indeed, their unholy crafts laid between Death and Black with dark ambiance and a powerful drum beats. Vocals diverse from mesmerizing, clear passages and mostly dominated by blackened thrash approach. A killer material to be treasured with and a truly hellbanging onslaught with tons of heavy/memorable tunes of thunder. Being part of the scene for long period of time this maniacs has established their name and their own label, too. This is the fourth release of Blackened Moon Production and I have encountered CORPSE VOMIT in the same label which is brutal as well. You need no second thought from the sky to grab SUMMON's material and Blackened Moon release.Beyond Zine - http://www.beyondwebzine.com
No Thoughts from the Sky CD/Blackened Moon:
It’s funny but initially I thought I was listening to the CD at the wrong speed, but since you’re all very observant, you’ll have me know that the thing with speeds only works with vinyls… Well done, but what’s that strange sensation that preoccupies me when listening to "No Thoughts from the Sky" then? Without arguing, Summon plays in a very special way: they’re ultra fast throughout this entire album, even during breaks, which implies that these Americans were probably able to pile up a fine heap of technical skills before getting to this stage (after more than ten years of experience, this is feasible, so we’re not too surprised). Despite this particularity, it’s the sound that really deserves the first prize for bizarreness. Several auditions are indeed required to get used to it. Nevertheless, I don’t think this unusual trait our four brutes display is an inconvenient, quite contrarily! It may well be their mark of originality and I therefore don’t have the right to blame them for it. Imagine a mixture of Beherit and Internal Bleeding in fast forward...Interesting.Godless Zine
No Thoughts from the Sky (2001) CD/Blackened Moon:
The lines are blurred, leaden brutality mixed with lightning speed. Death metal merges with black metal. Forged into a lethal weapon by Summon on this, their latest cd. Each aspect of this unholy foursome completes this task with fluent annihilation. The drums slither from brutal double bass to hyperblast like an oily serpent. The guitars rage in unison, entwined within and without the rhythms, the evilness of the aura created rising like a massive hooded cobra over the roiling coils below. The vocals are an entity unto itself, masturbating each riff, each blast of the drumkit, spewing a black hydra, screaming, moaning, howling, exulting, gutterally tortured sounds that defy any concept of hope, condemning any future sanity and idea of self into the spiralling abyss of Summon's creation, never to return.Krepuskulum Zine - http://www.geocities.com/krepuskulum/
No Thoughts from the Sky (CD - Blackened Moon Prods - USA):
Grind death black metal without boundaries to mind destruction. The sound production isn't good, but the purulent killer instinct of this speed grind act will be destroy and fuck the flesh of all brutality lovers. The climates are very underground and the sensations are pure hate, pain, anguish, void & hallucination...The best tracks in my opinion: "Black Winds Abyss" (good experimental mid-tempos!), "Perverse Serenity" (gorextremity!) & "Raging Toward Burning Flames" (the end complete!). Prepare yourself for mutilation! (EF)Music Extreme - http://www.musicextreme.com/
No Thoughts from the Sky (Blackened Moon Prods., 2001):
Total death!!!!! Directly from Michigan we have Summon, a band dedicated to the power, speed and brutality of death/black metal. The drummer is really technical and knows how to do the famous blast beats while attaining some originality in his rhythmic patterns (listen for example to "Beyond the Away" with the breaks and changes.) He is also a double bass maniac. One thing that I would say is that the band has really good guitar riffs and I think that they have to emphasize the more rhythmic parts in order to get a more effective result (like the parts in the beginning of "Perverse Serenity." Or the beginning of "Unto Which I Fall.") This band uses also some odd-timing in parts of their tracks. Favorite tracks: "Unto Which I Fall," "Raging Toward Burning Flames" (in the vein of old Morbid Angel).Sickened Zine - http://www.geocities.com/sickenedzine/
No Thoughts from the Sky CD(Blackened Moon Productions) 2001
Once on Baphomet Records for their last release, "Baptized By Fire," and now on their own label called Blackened Moon Productions, Summon blisters all that is holy with their newest chaotic blaspheme of songs. "No Thoughts From the Sky," in my opinion, crushes "Baptized..." The production on this disc is much better than the Baphomet release. Everything is pretty clear and not muddy or over-distorted. "No Thoughts..." was recorded, mixed and produced at Wormhole Productions in Grand Rapids, MI by themselves and Kenny Roberts in April 2001. They had just gotten their cds to sell just a couple days before I bought my copy on 8/3/01. Screams from hell on behalf of the origional duo of bassist/vokillist Chas (know as Necromodeous to the masses) and guitarist/vokillist Sean (known as Xaphan to the masses), more blazing guitar work from Ryan O'Neil and one of the most insane drummers I've heard, Josh Moore. This little fucker can blast with the best of them. This BM band has the US sound, mixing up the tempos quite a bit and the fact that they use way more than just 2 chords through their songs makes is the reason I like this musically insane band. Favorites are "Beneath the Cryptic Tombs," "No Thoughts from the Sky," and "The Surrounding Darkness (Total Fucking War.)"
Review Done By: Eric(SickenedZine)Silent Realm Zine - http://www.tomhet.net
No Thoughts from the Sky CD
CD released by BLACKENED MOON Productions in spring. Album length is only 24 minutes, but there are even 10 tracks! Aggressive, fast death/thrash metal! First and final track made a good impression on me!Tartanean Desire - http://www.tartareandesire.f2s.com/
No Thoughts from the Sky - Blackened Moon, 2001 6/10
The American band Summon should not be mistaken for the Austrian one named Summoning. They are both playing black metal of one kind or another, but Summon are much more raw and primitive. This is not necessarily a bad thing as most of you probably know and there are still a great number of interesting metal riffs to be found on this new album from them. The highlight of it is by far the great "Black Winds Abyss," a crushing masterpiece that should please most fans of black or death metal. I mentioned a few lines above that Summon is a black metal band, but this is not entirely true because their music are also very close to death metal. These guys are friends with their instruments and well capable of creating good extreme music. However, I am not very impressed by the vocals and the production is not the best possible. I don't know if it was a deliberate choice, but it doesn't sound very good at times. A better production would bring Summon a step closer to the throne of darkness because there are a fair amount of potential to be found on this album although it is a little short - only half an hour of music over ten tracks.
Vincent EldeforsVampire Magazine - http://www.vampire-magazine.com
No Thoughts from the Sky - Blackened Moon, 2001
Jesus fuckin' Christ! I kinda liked their previous effort 'Baptized by Fire' (2000), but the production on that album wasn't too good. That problem is practically solved on 'No thoughts from the sky'! Not that Summon has a class A sound now, but at least everything is in balance. This makes their structured chaos a lot better to listen to. For those who don't know yet: Summon plays a super killer extreme kind of black/death metal. Their drummer is one of the best and fastest I have ever heard. Faster than Flo from Cryptopsy and tighter than the guy from Devourment. The song material is overwhelming and can only make me yearn for more. That is actually the main (and only big) problem with this release: it's far too short. O.k., albums like this shouldn't last for hours and hours, but 23 minutes? More next time please. Check out the artwork, pretty weird. Reminds me a little of Blood Storm's 'Pestilence from the Dragonstar.' All in all, food for the brutaloholic.
BAPTIZED BY FIRE - 2000
Darkwave Webzine - http://www.multimania.com/darkwave
Baptized By Fire (Baphomet Records, 41 mins 44 secs, 10 tracks, black-metal):
Four years after their debut album, Dark Descent Of Fallen Souls, Summon from USA signed a new deal with Killjoy's label, Baphomet Records. The new effort Baptized By Fire is always in the same vein than the first release. This new CD is maybe more technical, heavier, but also more brutal than the previous CD. Near Absu for the vocals, this new release is good, but not perfect; we feel some imperfections about the sound and faults about the drums. For the rest, it is a good album and a good [comeback] for the band. (7.5/10)Tartarean Desire - http://www.tartareandesire.net
Baptized By Fire Baphomet Records 2000
Summon is a rather old American metal band that was originally formed in 1991. In my opinion this album is the best one they have composed so far and it has all the elements necessary to make black/death metal interesting - nice guitar rhythms, an evil groove, a nice scary intro and melodic growling vocals. While not really breaking new ground and creating something unique Summon knows how to reawaken the dark music of the past and show us the power of it once again which I give them credit for. However, the music does sometimes have tendencies towards monotony which is a trap that extreme metal bands can easily fall into if they are not extremely careful. Summon luckily manages to balance their music on the right side which results in about fourty minutes of intense, harsh riffing that should please most fans of technical extreme metal. The album was released by Baphomet Records in America and The Plague in Europe, now residing under Hammerheart Records. Extreme metal has always been very strong in the US but Summon shows us that there is more than just brutality to be found over there. Good work.Violated Rot - http://www.violatedrot.com
Baptized By Fire Baphomet Records
Now this is a name from the past for me. I used to write to these guys back in the demo days for them when I did my own paper zine back in '94/'95. It's really good to see them successful with this Baphomet Records release. They are one of my favorite US black metal bands, and have been since I heard their demos. The music of Summon is pure blasting, crushing, brutal in parts black metal. In fact the music can sometimes sound a bit like death metal, which is something that I like about them. So I guess in Summon's case, there is true evil in the state of Michigan! If you want original music for a change of pace in the black metal scene, then Summon is the way to go.
10 Impalements
Review by Aaron Mendiola
DARK DESCENT OF FALLEN SOULS - 1996
Music Extreme - http://www.musicextreme.com
Dark Descent of Fallen Souls Blackened Moon Productions
This is Summon´s second album. After their debut that we have just reviewed they reached new depths of unholiness with this "Dark Descent of Fallen Souls." This album is a great step forward comparing to the previous one. It has better sound and better ideas in the riffs and the tracks. In fact I think that this is the recording where Summon found their own identity mixing their black metal with some death metal and thrash elements that make the music more interesting. As always Xaphan and Necromodeus are screaming at the top of his lungs adding a barbarish and evil edge to Summon´s music. A black metal classic. Favorite tracks: "Under the Midnight Shadows," "Eve of Anticreation" and "Beyond the Gates of Storm."
by Federico MarongiuTartarean Desire - http://www.tartareandesire.net/
Dark Descent of Fallen Souls Blackened Moon Productions
Summon is an American band that was formed as early as 1991. After the usual line-up problems and a temporary split of the band they set down to record a demo in 1995 and this their first full-length album in 1996 which they released on their own. Something I really like about this band is that they are not walking the same path as many other American black metal bands who often sound like boring copies of the old Norwegian bands. Instead Summon have incorporated nice clean melodic death metal influences in their sound which makes them sound like a mix of Darkthrone and old Celtic Frost. Unfortunately the song compositions are often a little bit too simple in their nature and the production is in need of some, though not much, additional work. This is however the first album from this Michigan based band and I think they have done some pretty good work even though they have indeed improved since their early days. It's hard to choose between love and hate as it comes to the vocals of this band, all I can say is that they are powerful and really make a lasting impression (sounds like a lipstick commercial doesn't it...?). A decent first effort but there is more to come from this American band. There is a raw, primal force in this recording that I really like.
6.5/10
by Vincent Eldefors
FIRE TURNS EVERYTHING...BLACK - 1995
Music Extreme - http://www.musicextreme.com
Fire Turns Everything...Black Self-financed
As many of you may know this is Summon´s first album. Summon is a great black metal band whose latest two albums I have reviewed in past months. And here I have in my hands the first ones. They are classics of the black metal style. This band starts with an intro before getting into their full speed full of hate black metal with really raw guitars. When compared to their other albums this is the one that has the least good sound (despite being all the instruments really clear in the mix). The best thing for me are the guitar riffs which are killer and have a lot of power and desire to crush the listener. This album is a black metal classic along with their nextone. A great band full of darkness. Favorite tracks: "Enter Into Eternal Oath", "Tales of Immortality" and "Eve of AntiCreation."
by Federico MarongiuTartarean Desire - http://www.tartareandesire.net/
Fire Turns Everything...Black Self-financed
Summon is one of the most interesting American underground bands to rise during the 1990's and even though this is the first demo material from the band that was originally released in 1995 it shows all the qualities of the band - a raw and aggressive sound, powerful growling and roaring vocals and nice melodies. The only thing that makes it less enjoyable is that the same riffs are repeated a little too often which will probably make a few listeners shake their heads. After having listened to all of their releases throughout the years I have to say that this demo contains some of their finest material, much thanks to the primal raw atmosphere that reigns all songs. I'm glad that Summon haven't followed the same path as many other American black metal acts but kept the melodies, the power and the brutality of death metal as a main influence in their music. This is perhaps not world class material and it is a little short to make a real opinion on but it is nonetheless very enjoyable if you're a fan of death or black metal, especially in the more melodic vein.
6.5/10
by Vincent Eldefors
