Portuguese band Summon promise us “unrivalled barbarism, wickedness and ferocity” with this EP. This is the third work from the Portuguese death-black metal band, following another EP in 2017, and an album “Parazv Il Zillitv” in 2018.
Deep echoing sounds, screams and a growly guitar signal a visit to the depths. It sounds as if it’s coming from a chasm. The ghostly growls are superimposed on a maelstrom of violence. Prepare to be torn limb from limb. Helios I is the theme for a violent death. Underground barely covers it. The atmosphere is dense. The sound is deliberately obscure. Every begrudging twist and turn exudes chambers of horror and nastiness. We are left hanging in the air at the end of part II, leaving us with the final nine and a half minutes from Summon’s deathly torture chamber. The sound is all around us, and part III goes on its deathly way. Then mid-way through an alienating guitar piece takes us into cold and swampy lands with echoes and rumblings and breathings and pain. The atmosphere is terrifying but intriguing and creative. Wave-like sounds beat a path and there is an obscure spoken voice suggesting human presence but in a world with no mercy. Helios part III is a darkly atmospheric piece and depicts a hostile place with endless dangers in the shadows and the swampy chasm.
I enjoyed this. There’s not an iota of compromise with this band. The whole 20 minute thing is devoted to ghastliness. There’s no crispness of sound because this isn’t their world. Their world is deep in the underworld. Summon invite us in to join them in this unwelcoming and forbidding place. Impressive.
(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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