This is my first contribution to this site.  My name is John and I’ve been a progressive metal and death metal head for over 15 years now.  Concept albums are some of my favorite and Summoning the LIch now has two of them.  Lich is easily my most played band as far as plays per track over the last calendar year.  They have this album and one more(Under the Reviled Throne) that just came out on July 26, 2024.  The lyrics are top tier so I thought a nice breakdown of the story would be a cool way to show my appreciation for them, especially since they are the artist of the month on this site for this month!  

This is a concept album set in a fantasy world where a Lich is growing in power and taking over a kingdom.  It came out on February 26, 2021 but I just found it last year.  Every member of this band shines across their music.  The death metal that they play is both melodic and technical at times, to me it sounds like they have a massive influence from The Black Dahlia Murder and even did a joint cover with a few other bands of the song “A Shrine to Madness” with the vocalist David Bruno.  Bruno is one of my favorite vocalists going right now by far!

The Nightmare Begins(the first track) starts out with the Lich introducing himself and looking for a greater power to take his revenge.  His revenge being on all of man kind!  He sacrifices his body and the approaching army who is trying to stop him, as a result he is made immortal.

Cult of the Ophidian is about a mage who is trying to see the future, but he is being watched.  He sees his village being burned to the ground and everyone is dying.  No one would listen, so he goes to the elder.  He is too late and the Cult has already spread its darkness and he is killed to late the plan take shape.

The Gatekeeper is about a King who is trying to guard his land from the Algaliarect.  They stand zero chance but still are forced to try.  They are crushed with no magic to use themselves.  With this the Lich now controls the Sea!

Demon of the Snow  is about a town or village who is forced to sacrifice members of its community to this Demon.  They do this for protection not only to appease the Demon but also to keep them safe from the outside as well.  As they were enjoying the feast for the Demon they were surrounded by all of the people that they sacrificed.  They couldnt fight back out of love, so they were all slain!  The Lich conquered this Fortress with deception after defending themselves for centuries.

Predatory Reflections is about an arrogant person that was very vain.  They met a gypsy who saw this and questioned them about this.  She then makes shim look at a mirror that makes himself hate his own appearance.  She leaves him with the message that worshiping yourself will lead to your end!

Acid Reign is one the songs that instantly caught my ear when I started listening to Lich.  This song is about the Lich conquering more land and Kings being arrogant enough to try and take on his power.  The punishment for the people in this land is death if they refuse, so they are forced to fight.  The Lich burns a path to hell for the army.  The Lich then cracks open a mountain to hell and the army and their land is all covered in acid reign and ash.

United in Chaos starts out so ominous and dark musically to match acid reign and its story that is really sets the tone for this one.  It talks about the Lich King bringing some of the darkest villains that ever existed together to help him conquer everything else that he can see.  The more Chaos the more power they will all thrive on.  Everyone that stands before them will fall!  Evie the temptress leaves to start with her first evil deed.

Descend is one my of favorite tracks on this whole fantastic fantasy themed album.  The song is about a mage who is imprisoned by a bunch of thieves.  But the mage slowly begins to kill members of this town and the people slowly realize too late. He summons the deathless one as he is being tortured.  But his revenge works as all of the towns people are dragged down to hell.

Hymns of the Wicked Witches of the West is about a witch who is seeking revenge after some normal towns folk kidnapped then killed her son in a public execution.  The witch will not stop until she has her revenge and bathes in the blood of their children.   The children start disappearing one by one, returning as evidence from the Witches of revenge.  Even after a surrender was asked for, the Grand Witch still came to the village to kill every single person in the village so they would all know her pain.

Death Crystal deals with a man whole was shunned from his village and looking for revenge on the lords that sent him packing.  A mage discovers him and grants him the power to get his revenge killing everyone in the town he was from and even the lords that exiled him.  Then just as he gets his total revenge the crystal that gave him his new power turned him into a giant monster and he now controlled.

Temple of Bone in the first verse at least talks about the how all people are evil in some way, then pivots to how this being has the power to delegate people and hoard them all in a temple.  The chorus talks about how meaningless life truly is and that this being is giving these humans a better place.  The second verse says that all man needs to be turned to dust and the Lich will be all powerful and alone on the earth.  The Lich eventually realizes that this was a mistake and that he is going to die alone and bored!

Lure of the Necromancer is one hell of a way to end an album!  Starting with one low and brutal scream really grabs an ear.  The scene is set with a man mourning his loves death by himself after everyone had left her funeral.  A person appears claiming that she can bring back his love but only needs to feed her when she returns from the dead that she claims to have power over.  The Necromancer is tricking this man into doing as he is told but only with the convincing from the.  There is a warning that foreshadows the ending to this story.   The Necromancer sets up the ritual to bring back his love but it quickly goes awry as a toxic odor fills the air and his bride’s eyes are blank and staring through him.  Then the groom is pinned down with spells and his love tears away at his entrails as he remained alive.

 This is where the story ends for now… Summoning the Lich’s next album continues these stories though so don’t fret! Will the Lich continue his conquest or will he be destroyed?!