AGELESS SUMMONING “Corrupting The Entempled Plane”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The new tradition of recent death metal bands aping the original innovators continues with Britain’s AGELESS SUMMONING. Just as FROZEN SOUL has picked BOLT THROWER to emulate, these guys have decided to make MORBID ANGEL their guiding light. However, they seem to be looking to MORBID’s “middle” albums for inspiration...the ones with Steve Tucker as lead singer.
Much like FROZEN SOUL does with BOLT THROWER, AGELESS SUMMONING does a pretty good job of playing up to the standards of the original band. The songs here tend to be slower...crawling along at a stealthy, tank-like pace. The vocals are also Tucker-ish and the lead guitar is constantly active, with plenty of intense soloing coming at you at all times. Are Greg Cowell and Rory Strachan up to the level of Trey Azag-Thoth? I wouldn’t say so, but they don’t miss by much.
The cuts here range from adequate to excellent, with “Among The Worms” almost matching “Where The Slime Live” for sickening mid-paced trudge while “Toward The Fractal Absolute” motors along at a high rate of speed, making it refreshingly different. On the last track “Salvation In Ash”, the axemen engage in some prolonged cosmic shredding to delight guitar fans.
If you really miss the sound of the “F-G-H” albums of MORBID ANGEL, give AGELESS SUMMONING a try.