Album Review
Glamour of the Kill - The SummoningGlamour of the Kill – The Summoning

Contender for my number 1 album of 2011, and its only January! That’s just how much I’m in love with the debut studio album from York based metalcore band Glamour of the Kill, “The Summoning”; it takes their very well received EP’s and grows into a world dominating brand of metal. This is their debut full length CD, the previous release (self titled 6 track EP) was in 2008. 3 years on they have gifted us with 12 tracks of beautiful melodic and brutally heavy GOTK style goodness.

There is a definite change between this album and previous work as this record is definitely heavier than previous work and they have managed to find the perfect balance between their heavy and melodic sound to make each song have something for every type of fan.

I heard “Worlds End” when it was released on their MySpace page a long time ago, that really got me excited for the album because of how heavy it is as well as the catchy choruses, its exactly what I like; music you can go absolutely insane for yet still sing along it makes for very eventful shows.

Other tracks to follow suit to this are “Feeling alive” that when it erupts and fully kicks in makes you want to jump up and bang your head until it detaches from your shoulders. Singer Davey Richmond’s vocals are on the high pitched side but he has a great range on him and his singing voice is extremely infectious and versatile; this best reflected on the opening track “If She Only Knew” where the range between high and low vocals and catchy chorus lines really show his voice off well.

“Supremacy” was released on the GOTK official website for free previous to the album’s release. This song mixed in nicely with “Worlds End” to give a nice outlook into what the rest of the album was going to sound like; “Supremacy” has probably the most infectious chorus out of the 12 tracks and shows off the really heavy side of Glamour of the Kill.

The only ballad on the album is the 6th track on the album “Malevolent Reign” which is 1 minute 54 seconds long halfway through the album as an interlude the way I view it, but it’s a beautiful song because Davey has the perfect voice for that type of song. In addition to this the first half of the title track “The Summoning” is a ballad but around half way through the electric guitars and the drums kick in and it then fits the same style of the rest of the songs, it’s quite a drastic change within one song yet effective as its staying true to what they do.

A few of the songs towards the end are less heavy and focus more on the melodic edge of the music. “Here, Behind These Walls”, “Army of the Dead” and “Through the Eyes of the Broken” are all the most melodic songs on the album have some of the best hooks and catchiest riffs; all 3 songs are definitely lung destroyers from a sing along point of view.

The bonus track from iTunes "All I Have To Give" is definitely worth looking into, it’s a brilliant song to top the album off really up tempo and heavy tune that matches the style of the rest of the album and the breakdown at the end is fantastic to smack your head off the walls to.

Glamour of the Kill have started off on with the most promising debut album that taking on tour can only be one giant party! I’ve got my ticket; maybe after you listen to the album you’ll have yours too. See you in the pit at Birmingham!

5/5

Review by James Webb
 Band Members
Glamour Of The Kill - Band
Davey Richmond
Chris Gomerson
Mike Kingswood
Ben Thomson
 Track Listing
1. If Only She Knew
2. World's End
3. Feeling Alive
4. Dying From The Inside
5. Lost Souls
6. Malevolent Reign
7. Supremacy
8. Here, Behind These Walls
9. Through The Eyes Of The Broken
10. Army Of The Dead
11. The Summoning
12. All I Have To Give (iTunes Bonus Track)
 Band Related Links
Glamour Of The Kill Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?