Summoning - Oath Bound (2006)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Summoning - Nightshade Forests (1997)

Another virtually flawless album from this Austrian duo. As any writeup about Summoning will tell you, their lyrics deal exclusively with J.R. Tolkien's universe. Musically, you can expect epic, keyboard-heavy, slow-paced, quasi-Medieval, atmospheric black metal that could, without the context of aesthetics and lyrical trappings, easily be mistaken for blackened viking metal. Oath Bound just might be my favorite Summoning album, and contains at least one undeniable masterpiece of their distinctive style in the majestic, album-closing "Land of the Dead".

Track listing:
1. Bauglir
2. Across the Streaming Tide
3. Mirdautas Vras
4. Might and Glory
5. Beleriand
6. Northward
7. Menegroth
8. Land of the Dead

Upon the plain, there rushed forth and high
Shadows at dead end of night and mirrored in the sky