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Hard to believe it's been eight years since the last Darkestrah album, and sixteen since their defining work The Great Silk Road. This band has always been a kind of Middle Asian version of Moonsorrow, with the massive, folk-fueled songs and the epic atmosphere. Riff-wise and mood-wise this is not any departure from their old sound, but I have to say I don't like their new vocalist all that well. Her voice is pretty relentlessly monotone, and there are too many vocals in general, kind of grinding over the music so it's hard to really let it carry you away. I want to love this, but when I reach for a Darkestrah album, it probably won't be this one.