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Dol Guldur

Austria Country of Origin: Austria

Dol Guldur
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Type: Full-Length
Release Date: 1996
Genre: Atmospheric, Black
1. Angbands Schmieden
2. Nightshade Forests
3. Elfstone
4. Khazad Dum
5. Kor
6. Wyrmvater Glaurung
7. Unto a Long Glory…
8. Over Old Hills

Review by Luka on August 26, 2001.

There is absolutely nothing better to listen to while reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s books than the soundtrack epics of Summoning. These songs will invoke the cold and distant feelings of a world far away from our own. Close your eyes and “Dol Guldur” will take you there for an hour. The lyrics are all based on old Tolkien legends and the very album name is that of a city in Middle-Earth.

Abigor’s Silenius is the mastermind behind this band. However, the rasping vocals are the only relevance to black metal. Silenius shows genuine creativity and dedication to his work and the result is a timeless euphony like no other. I’ll take this over the generic sound of Abigor any day. I am a personal fan of soundtrack music so I loved this album, even though it has a few weak tracks. If you’re looking for heavy metal of any type, you’re in the wrong place. The vast array of sounds and instruments fused here create a sound more emotional and complex than any distorted guitar could.

With most tracks clocking over ten minutes, it may be hard for some listeners to get into. It seems repetitive to those with short attention spans but it is actually quite progressive, even though the songs do have the fault of all being written by the same formula, more or less. The track-list itself is not completely functional either. While the first song is short and catchy and the second one really shows what their sound is like, they are little more than adequate songs compared to the rest. The middle of the burger is, indeed, the best part, as ‘Elfstone’, ‘Khazad Düm’, and ‘Kör’ really grace us with the most beautiful melodies and most creative arrangements.

All songs of “Dol Guldur”, weak or good, in the end achieve the primary goal: they create an atmosphere of music as grand and magnificent as the atmosphere of writing created by Tolkien in his books. The beginning to ‘Khazad Düm’ is the most glorious display of progressive music I have ever heard and ‘Kör’ is a timeless epic. The album is still, however, plagued by the all famous fault of having weak tracks.

Bottom Line: Amazing soundtrack music that creates feeling and atmosphere like no other. If you want something different and hard to get into, this is the one!

Rating: 8 out of 10

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