Heavy metal has always embraced fantasy, and whether you dig Tolkien or not, it's impossible to deny the appeal of a band like Summoning. The Austrian duo's influence can be felt across the dark musical spectrum, from symphonic black metal and video game soundtracks to the spookily programmed world of dungeon synth. Summoning's music is heavily symphonic, heavily melodic, and heavily atmospheric, centered on glorious sagas and gloomy stories from Tolkien and other more obscure fantasy authors. The end result is undoubtedly mystical, grandiose, and elaborate—but is also endearingly earnest, and that's a big part of why they've enjoyed such sustained success and loyalty from their fans for so many decades. Despite its baroque character, there's not a whiff of pretension or self-importance here; yeah, Summoning is nerdy as hell, but if they don't have a problem with that, why should you?

Not only are Summoning quite busy and unabashedly nerdy, they're also quietly, resolutely political—though neither member felt the need to make mention of that until 2014, after a certain group of Youtubers began using their music to soundtrack Nazi propaganda videos. As it turns out, the two programmers behind Summoning are as anti-fascist and anti-Nazi as they come, and have been ever since their early days playing anarchist squats around Europe. As Protector wrote in a statement on the band's then-website (which has since fallen into disuse), "I never wanted to associate Summoning with any kind of political topics as our music is not connected to reality at all, but as National Socialism-supporting bands are constantly spreading their political thoughts, I think the time has come to finally stand up and show people that Nazism is not the only ideology of the current metal scene."

Formed in Vienna, Austria in 1993 at the height of black metal's infamous Second Wave, Summoning separated themselves from the corpsepaint-smeared pack by embracing a very specific aesthetic based on Tolkien-inspired fantasy instead of Satanic horror. While their earliest material hewed more closely to a traditional black metal template, the soaring, bombastic albums they're best remembered for are firmly ensconced within the verdant realm of Middle Earth. Founding duo Silenius (vocals, keyboards, bass) and Protector (vocals, guitars, keyboards, drum programming) have remained the heart of the long-running project since 1995, when founding drummer Trifixion and backing vocalist Pazuzu exited the band, and have steered it through the release of epic after epic, from 1995's classic Minas Morgul to their stellar new album, 2018's With Doom We Come. They're both involved in other musical projects, as well, with Silenius (a former member of Abigor) contributing to Amestigon and Kreuzweg Ost and Protector moonlighting in Ice Ages and Brachialilluminator.

With Doom We Come is your 8th album since 1993, and really is classic Summoning. You hit upon a unique, engaging formula from the very start, and have stuck with it faithfully for decades. Have you ever been tempted to mess with the formula, and get weird? Silenius : Not really. Maybe we would get weird if we had to release a Summoning album every second year, but with all this long time in between, it is still an exciting process to build up new musical paintings from Middle Earth. And, coming to the formula: yes, it is the same formula over all those decades, but we always try to make small changes within our sound, or put new details within the songs, so that the Summoning output still breathes the spirit of Tolkien and develops in small doses.

Noisey: It's been 5 years since we last heard from Summoning, and before that, there was a 7-year gap between full-lengths. What's keeping you so busy in between visits to the studio? I know you're both involved in other projects, and I've got the feeling you're also perfectionists when it comes to Summoning... Silenius : Yes, we are both involved in other projects, and yes, we are kind of perfectionists when it comes to Summoning, but none of this is the reason for this long break between the releases. Most of all, there are personal reasons. Before [2013 album] Old Mornings Dawn was released, I was totally fed up with this black metal sound; later I was hit by a heart attack, that threw me back for another year; or, I was simply lazy, or had no inspiration at all. All this caused so much time in between our releases, and this time it was nearly the same. In the beginning, very quickly the songs where composed, but then we had to find sounds for the instruments, and the quarrels began because I was never satisfied. This was a very long and frustrating situation that nearly broke the band; in the end, everything turned out fine again, but it took some years to achieve this.

He then goes on to illustrate exactly why he believes fascism and Nazis are so incompatible with metal, and with black metal in particular (adding in the odd winky-face emoji here and there for good measure). It's a great read, especially coming as it does from a black metal musician who's been around since the genre's early days. Protector also voices his support for free speech, which he reaffirms during our conversation below while voicing the opinion that, in order to enact true change, the people must raise their voices together. (If I knew anything about Tolkien, I'd try to make some kind of Lord of the Rings reference here, but since I don't, I just want to note that I think it's really fucking cool to see a beloved, long-running European black metal band like Summoning spit on Nazis and voice their support for Black Lives Matter).

What goes into the creation of a Summoning album? Your love for Tolkien is well-documented, and something that fans have come to expect; after all these years, how do you keep unearthing fresh lyrical ideas and stories from his texts?

Silenius: When we compose a song, we never have any lyrics at hand; in the beginning is always the song, not the lyrical concept. This time it was a bit different, because most of the songs have been built up and created out of the ashes out of the Old Mornings Dawn sessions. From this, several riffs, song structures, and even some unfinished songs had been left, [and] all of this we threw on a heap and built up new songs by composing new melodies, rearranging the old ones, making new structures. That is why the composing process was not as long as usual, because it is always easier to build up something when you already have the first piece of a puzzle, than to start from zero. When the songs are finished, then I try to collect the lyrics, because then I already see what kind of mood one song has and on which scene or story it reminds me in connection with the Middle Earth concept. It is the unbelievable richness—not only of the stories, but of the details—that make the stories alive. All the history of this world, the languages and the races, all this together makes the Middle Earth concept unique and admirable, and for a very long time, Tolkien was the only one who could achieve this with no one around that could match him.

I should also mention that we do not use just poems from Tolkien himself, but also from different, often unknown writers, which we bring into a Middle Earth surrounding. In the latest case, [the songs] "Mirklands," "Herumor," and "Silvertine" are such examples.

I'm a Tolkien novice at best, but I have seen a number of interesting political analyses of his work, many of which pointed out his social conservatism and reactionary edge. As big Tolkien fans and scholars, how do you interpret the political landscape of Middle Earth?

Silenius: Yes, Tolkien was a very conservative and religious man. He fought in World War I, and the industrialization of his home region influenced a lot his way of thinking; together with a lot of other things, this formed his character and way of thinking, and of course this found a way into his books in one form or another. Tolkien himself always got angry when people tried to make allegories of his saga and try to make everyday life interpretations. On the other hand, it was clear that the Middle Earth concept is an alternate Earth conception—all this doesn't happen on a fantasy planet. It's simply a kind of fantasy creation story, and as he was totally into languages and in love with old European mythology, all this was put together and made the essence of what later became The Lord of the Rings, or The Silmarillion.