EP Review: The Summoning

Doom rock, metal or whatever you want to call it has been a fascination of mine since hearing it on a Guitar Hero game a while ago as a young lad. There was something about that wall of sound guitar and bass sludge sound that was almost hypnotic.

Demons of Noon was born as an epiphany in the Karangahake Gorge and forged under St Kevin’s Arcade. The band sees Fortress Europe bass player Jonathan Burgess teaming up with Homebrew guitarist Abraham Kunin, Toad vocalist Scott Satherley and Luger Boa drummer Joseph McElhinney to tune their guitars down and make a welcome return to their heavy roots.

On their debut EP, Demons Of Noon certainly took me back to feeling that again. This is heavy, slow rock that just completely owned my speakers, creating a wall of sound so huge that I had to crank it up to 11 at 9am in the morning to help put away any left of sleepiness induced by this lockdown of 2020.

The opening track Sodden, with its ritualistic vocals about half way through, is just awesome. Perfectly mixed to let that bass and guitar become one with the pounding drums, a good dose of this will cure most ailments (this statement is not yet approved by the FDA).

And then like a birthday surprise, the second track, Mike, speeds it up in a way that I was not expecting. It is a riff heavy track that takes the Doom elements and gives it a new perspective. All the while, during the verse the vocals are speaking in a way that reminds me of The Butthole Surfers. Oh yeah? Comfortable? Here is that slow doom again. Really enjoyed this track.

Finally, The Tsar is an epic 6 minute track that finishes the EP.

An absolutely stellar EP from a band I had not heard of until now. I will certainly be adding them to my Spotify playlists and following them.

Give it a listen, I reckon you will definitely get into this!