Review by JD on June 24, 2009.

Coming across as this really interesting musical bridge between Hard Rock, Classic Rock, some Progressive elements that all are beefed up with straight ahead party time metal... Toronto, Canada’s Ape stands as this rather set aside oddity on the music landscape. This quirky yet talented band seems to really set themselves up in the roll of different.

Seriously they come across as this odd cross-bred sort of animal that has parts of System Of A Down, April Wine and Nickleback sandwiched with metallized versions of The Tragically Hip and the classic Rush thrown in there for good measures. They take it all of their influences, put it in a blender and what comes out is originality with listenability.

One listen to the brilliantly penned ‘Messin’ Around With Love’ seems like it could possibly be a radio hit on any modern rock station anywhere while ‘Beyond The Depths Of Reality’ is a melodic metallic styled romp that is so hard to ignore because the melody sticks in your head and refuses to leave. With so many musical weapons in their arsenal... it is hard to dismiss this remarkable band.

Some rather bad production decisions in some places takes away a little from the bands performance, but the album is one that I found to be interesting every time I played it. Ape seems to be shooting on all cylinders as they make their own way through the mass changes of musical ideas. They are clearly some of the strongest musicians and are also as equally strong as songwriters as well. It just seems to pay off to being different... in the rock scene in Canada, they are..

Ape’s "Survival Of The Fittest" album seems to grow on you like a fine wine or a really well brewed beer. I have to say that I do want them to explore a little bit more on their heavier (metal) side of the band. A tad bit more than what they do... but as it stands now I won’t complain very much with what this is either. It is good... but it could be a touch better.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by JD on June 24, 2009.

Coming across as this really interesting musical bridge between Hard Rock, Classic Rock, some Progressive elements that all are beefed up with straight ahead party time metal... Toronto, Canada’s Ape stands as this rather set aside oddity on the music landscape. This quirky yet talented band seems to really set themselves up in the roll of different.

Seriously they come across as this odd cross-bred sort of animal that has parts of System Of A Down, April Wine and Nickleback sandwiched with metallized versions of The Tragically Hip and the classic Rush thrown in there for good measures. They take it all of their influences, put it in a blender and what comes out is originality with listenability.

One listen to the brilliantly penned ‘Messin’ Around With Love’ seems like it could possibly be a radio hit on any modern rock station anywhere while ‘Beyond The Depths Of Reality’ is a melodic metallic styled romp that is so hard to ignore because the melody sticks in your head and refuses to leave. With so many musical weapons in their arsenal... it is hard to dismiss this remarkable band.

Some rather bad production decisions in some places takes away a little from the bands performance, but the album is one that I found to be interesting every time I played it. Ape seems to be shooting on all cylinders as they make their own way through the mass changes of musical ideas. They are clearly some of the strongest musicians and are also as equally strong as songwriters as well. It just seems to pay off to being different... in the rock scene in Canada, they are..

Ape’s "Survival Of The Fittest" album seems to grow on you like a fine wine or a really well brewed beer. I have to say that I do want them to explore a little bit more on their heavier (metal) side of the band. A tad bit more than what they do... but as it stands now I won’t complain very much with what this is either. It is good... but it could be a touch better.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Allan on April 30, 2003.

There’s little to be found about Summon, one of the US’ lesser-known black metal bands. Combining thrash and even a bit of death metal with their black metal, Summon’s latest album “And The Blood Runs Black” is quite a delve into the past. For what they are, Summon demonstrate the old school fairly well, but “And The Blood Runs Black” is still a hair short of being good.

What you’ve got here is basically run of the mill death/black/thrash metal. Not the modern kind, but old school. It’s fairly decent. A slick production courtesy of James Murphy beefs things up quite a bit. But from what I’ve heard of Summon, “And The Blood Runs Black” is simply the same album again, with that better production. And I suppose that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Summon know what they’re good at, and they stick to it. Yet I always tend to find the original 80’s and early 90’s bands to be superior, which tends to be the general consensus.

A few moments stick out here and there, such as the intro, or the really cool whispers on ‘Blackwinds Abyss,’ but other than that I’m pretty much left cold by this thing. Very little emotion, and the atmosphere isn’t truly there either. Summon are just kind of generic.

You know if this is your type of thing. Some people eat, sleep, and breathe the old school. Summon might be for you, but I think most of us would rather go listen to Slayer than drop a few bucks on something inferior.

Bottom Line: Old school black/death/thrash. A decent album, but just not something that everybody will be interested in, nor is it something that will be remembered in a few years.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 7
Originality: 4
Overall: 5

Rating: 5.6 out of 10