Emyn Muil - Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga
Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga is the latest release by Saverio Giove, who is the sole member of Emyn Muil and also the sole member of two other projects (Valtyr and Ymir). Each of his bands is different, with Valtyr being Viking Metal, and Ymir more straight-forward Black Metal. This particular project is Saverio doing Epic Tolkien-influenced Black Metal in the vein of Summoning. While many have tried and failed to match the power and majesty that is the music of Summoning, Saverio’s Emyn Muil makes a valiant effort that mostly succeeds. The first thing that really hinders this LP from greatness is the obvious musical influence. This sounds like a Summoning tribute band. There’s very little that Saverio does here that is different or original. I will give him credit for being able to pull that off because few bands can successfully cover Summoning. The second problem is the sound. It’s not nearly as powerful as it needs to be, particularly where the guitars are concerned, which are far too treble-heavy, making them sound too thin. A richer, deeper tone would have given them more power, warmth and it would have also added a darker edge to the music. They’re buried beneath the keyboards. The drums also need to have a deeper bass tone. Part of the problem may have been because Saverio used a drum machine instead of live drums. Summoning uses a drum machine, too, but they’ve figured out how to maximize it for what they want. There are tracks on this record where the drums sound like those old plastic Ludwig drums that New Wave bands used to use in the ’80s. The tone isn’t deep, and the artificial sound doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the music. Guitar and drum tones are production issues that can be corrected fairly easily, so I don’t deduct much for it unless it’s so bad that a semi-brain dead chimpanzee could have done better. The lack of originality really hurts things far more. When I listen to this album, all I can think of is Summoning, because that’s what it sounds like. For a band that wants to be like Summoning, this is as good as you’re going to get. Of course, if I wanted to listen to Summoning, I have plenty of their music already. Old Mornings Dawn goes everywhere that Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga goes and beyond. What Saverio Giove and Emyn Muil really need is that “special something” that makes this band unique as opposed to a clone. Given a choice between the real thing and a copy, I’ll always choose the real thing, particularly if it gives me more of what I want than the clone. Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga is a good start, though. Hopefully the next Emyn Muil release will be the one that breaks the mold and takes me on a new adventure. This one isn’t bad, but I’ve been to this dungeon so many times that I’m considered one of the monsters.
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