Krigsgrav – Stormcaller
Release Date: 19th September 2025
Label: Willowtip Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Doom, Death-Doom, Melodic Death Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal.
FFO: Vanum, Kvaen, Fires in the Distance, Drudkh, Agalloch, Wolves in the Throne Room, Insomnium.
Review By: Rick Farley
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, blackened doom quartet Krigsgrav are set to release their eighth full length album and label debut for Willowtip Records Stormcaller September 19th, 2025.
“When we started writing the songs that would make up Stormcaller, our intention was to create the most complete Krigsgrav 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’ve achieved that, but we also wrote the best album of our career thus far. We trust that when you hear it, you’ll agree.”
As a new fan to this band, I became aware of them in 2021 with the release of their then sixth album, The Sundering. So, I can’t necessarily speak to as whether or not Stormcaller is the best of their discography, but I can absolutely tell you it’s worth your time, but with a few gripes.
On the surface, Stormcaller is a balanced mix of atmospheric black metal and melodic death/doom. It has the upbeat style of Scandinavian style melodies but with a sense of doomy elements presented in an atmospheric black metal shell. It’s not a sound that clobbers you over the head with progressiveness or anything, but it surely melds the genres enough that it sticks out a bit more from the pack. The emphasis is on the black metal, but the album gloriously shimmers its flourishes from the melo-death side a fair amount as well. The bands influences are far from hidden, giving the record a sense of familiarity yet still has a consistency to it that gives the band their own identity. Truth be told, however, I’m not in love with the production. The record seems a tad loud with the focus on trebly guitars, it can be a bit harsh on the ears at times. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of beefy low end, but the guitars carry a noisy tone that makes it difficult to distinguish some of the faster riffs. Obviously, this is a normal trait of black metal, but with the focus also on its gloominess, triumphant melodies, and lush atmosphere, the guitar tone could be far less jagged and still carry the same effect. Vocally the mix between screechy and growling works incredibly well within the structure and is mixed well, but there are some clean vocal parts that are relatively monotone, that are just not as successful in my opinion. I can see where people will dig them, but they don’t add anything for me. Honestly, this feels like a record that’s going to come done to personal tastes in quality of sound and length fatigue because of those these elements. To give you a better distinction of sound, however, would be musically the record is packed with nasty black metal and melancholic moodiness, kind of a rawer blend of early In Flames, the melancholy folksiness of Insomnium and the black metal ferocity of a band like Kvaen.
I definitely enjoyed Stormcaller, It’s a solid release by a band that’s been around for a while, so it’s professionally written and executed. Many of you will assuredly dig this quite a lot, especially longtime fans. I have no doubt that it will be received well within the metal world, Just me personally, the record could benefit from editing and tonal qualities. Either way, Krigsgrav have crafted an album worth checking out for yourself.
(3.5 / 5)
