SUMMONING THE LICH return this summer with the latest installment in their fantasy universe of technical death metal. The St. Louis, Missouri band’s forthcoming second album, Under the Reviled Throne, is set for release via Prosthetic Records on July 26. Following the events of their established world of Arrias on their debut album, United In Chaos, Under the Reviled Throne sees the next chapter of the Lich come to life through tales of isolationist kingdoms, malevolent mages, witch queens and cannibalistic armies hellbent on destruction.
After three years of extensive US touring and shows with the likes of Allageon, Gorod and Inferi among others, as well as headline stints, SUMMONING THE LICH set about bringing Under the Reviled Throne to life. Intended as a death metal equivalent of sorts to The Empire Strikes Back in scope, the group set their sights on raising the stakes in both story and songwriting.
Recorded throughout 2023 at Sicktones Studio with Jack Daniels, SUMMONING THE LICH took the considered approach of eschewing superfluous technicality in favor of a leaner and more streamlined focus on song structure. Each of the tracks on Under the Reviled Throne were written with the purpose of guiding the listener through the eponymous Lich’s descent into misanthropy and tyranny, without sacrificing their idiosyncratic sound.
This balancing act of dexterity and structure is exemplified best on cuts like Return to the Soil and lead single, My Horrors Unending. The latter of which succinctly merges SUMMONING THE LICH’s inclination for extremity and stop and start dynamics with rhythmic pummelling and memorable hooks.
With Arrias under existential threat, Under the Reviled Throne is a dazzlingly ambitious tale of hope and resistance in the form of its protagonist Taane (introduced on previously released album track, The Forest Feasts). Elsewhere, The Carrion Fleet’s narrative of the city of Bastell succumbing to flames at the hands of the Lich’s army ushers in the ominously brooding latter half of the album.
Bolstered by Daniels’ mixing and John Douglas’ mastering work, returning from their prior collaboration for United In Chaos’ production, Under the Reviled Throne captures the promise of the band's storytelling and musicianship that was so evident on their debut. Upping the stakes to dizzying heights, SUMMONING THE LICH offers plenty in the way of light among the shadowy figures that lurk within the Lich’s universe of malevolent chaos. All is not lost.