Band – Krigsgrav
Album – Fires in the Fall
Country of Origin – USA
Genre – Black/Death/Doom
Release Date – June 23, 2023
Label – Wise Blood Records
Author – Hayduke X
Too many times when bands try to mix together multiple extreme subgenres, the results are an underwhelming mish mash of the typical tropes of each. On Fires in the Fall, Texas trio Krigsgrav not only avoid this trap, but give a clinic on how it should be done. By this time, releasing their seventh full length album, the band certainly has the experience to do so.
In the case of Fires in the Fall, the genre line should maybe read something like ‘Black/Death Doom,’ as the album really comes across as a mix of atmospheric death doom and feral black metal. The trio have concocted a rich, fiery atmosphere which holds all manner of imagined evil in the shadows and contours of the riffs. Primarily paced and weighted like death doom, the black metal influence is the malevolent presence lurking in every hollow.
Krigsgrav is anchored by the pulsating drumming of D. Sikora, who also handles clean vocals and most of the bass. C. Daniels handles the bass on Alone With the Setting Sun, and also shares guitar duties, helping to create the savage landscape imagined by the riffs and rhythms. Up front, J. Coleman also shares guitar duties, handles synths, and provides the savage vocals which provide so much punch to the album. Combined, the three members are the epitome of the old saying, ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ The band sounds much bigger than a trio.
Fires in the Fall is an excellent album, gripping in every detail and holding the listener’s attention from first note to final fade. It could serve equally well as a soundtrack to a grand adventure through a strange and dangerous land (dungeon masters, take note). I have found it easy to get lost in the sometimes haunting, occasionally soothing, often nightmarish experience of Fires in the Fall, and strongly recommend you lose yourself in it also.
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
