Long-running, Texas-based atmospheric Blackened Doomed quartet KRIGSGRAV is set to release their eighth full-length "Stormcaller" September 19 via Willowtip Records. They released the following statement about “Stormcaller.” "When we started writing the songs that would make up “Stormcaller,” our intention was to create the most complete KRIGSGRAV’s album that took something from every era of the band, while still pushing our sound forward. A culmination of the blackest hues, doomiest of dirges, and most soaring of lead guitars. We think we achieved that, but we also wrote the best album of our career thus far. We trust that when you hear it, you'll agree."

The album has eight songs, and “Huntress of the Fire Moon” is first. It has a weighted and powerful sound, driven by thick, overgrown riffs, and deadly harsh vocals. You get equal doses of Black and Doom Metal, as well as atmospheric passages, and a helping of solemn melodies. The title track is even more rousing and aggressive, and the bite of the vocals seeps deep into your flesh. As the song continues, the despondent elements grow even deeper, and more weighted on you back. “Twilight Fell” features thick, meaty bass notes and intricate drumming. Doomy elements threated to take over the song like a substantial layer of morning fog, but the aggression burns hot and melts them away.

“None Shall Remember Your Name” lingers in the muddy swamp for several bars, rolling around until it is covered in it. The clean vocals are unexpected but appear at just the right time, to really let that song title sink in and mean something. “Bay of the Barghest” uses three different types of vocals…gutturals, screams, and even cleans to create a multi-pronged attack. The lead guitar breaks are excellent as well, and the entire song has a hasty, beguiling feeling to it, as if the band is drawing you into the sickness. The closing tones are gut-wrenching. “The Tonic of Wilderness” is naked aggression mixed with intricate guitar work and storm clouds threaten to burst overhead. The depressive element really come through strong.

“Ghosts” allows more melody into the fiery plains of aggression. They are subtle and work well with the intricacies of the guitars. Doom and Black Metal wrestle here to the death, with neither side claiming victory. “Womb:Death:Dawn” closes the album. As if the depression couldn’t possibly get any worse…this slow mover buries the nails in your coffin. It lumbers forward with purpose, blackening the night skies so that dawn does not come. This album is a masterwork in merging the agonizing crawl of doom metal with the shrieking despair of black metal, forging a sound that is as powerful as it is ominous. Not for the faint of heart, it demands patience, attention, and emotional surrender. But for those willing to walk its desolate path, it offers something rare: not just music, but an experience of dread, power, and sublime desolation.