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Harakiri For The Sky - Arson review




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Reviewer:
8.0

245 users:
8.15
Band: Harakiri For The Sky
Album: Arson
Release date: February 2018


01. Fire, Walk With Me
02. The Graves We've Dug
03. You Are The Scars
04. Heroin Waltz
05. Tomb Omnia
06. Stillborn
07. Voidgazer
08. Manifesto [Graveyard Lovers cover] [vinyl bonus]

Word of advice for Harakiri For The Sky: you write great music, you really do, but putting out 70-min+ long albums with 7-min+ long songs once every two years is overkill.

Let's get straight into it. This album is really long. Slightly shorter than III: Trauma was, thankfully, but still it's about as long as an album ca be before having to be a double album. The reason why Harakiri For The Sky's self-titled debut was so great was because, while it still had their trademark Insomnium-meets-Agalloch sound, it was much more concise, being about half as long as Arson is. Also every song but the bonus track is longer than 8 minutes, so can Harakiri For The Sky fill all this run time with meaningful music?

For the most part, while the full listen does get tiring, the music itself is truly engaging. Their brand of post-black is a lot more focused on riffs and melodies than ambiance, and this album has melodic riffs galore, being a lot closer to melodeath. The drums sound better than they ever sounded on any Harakiri For The Sky album, as they are handled by Krimh on this album, as opposed to JJ, who handles every other instrument. The vocals do not take any new approaches; most of the vocals are still in the same crisp scream, albeit a bit more polished.

Not much about the formula of III: Trauma and previous albums changed, but at certain points the band does try to stir things up a bit, like certain interludes or more upbeat riffs. Other than that, not broke, don't fix. Indeed, for the most part, the songs sound as good as Harakiri For The Sky has ever sounded, if not better. Coming into the album for the first time, I thought that this was definitely the best they ever sounded, and no, it wasn't only because the opening track referenced Twin Peaks. While they need to take some lessons in conciseness and pacing and not putting the most interesting song as the bonus track, the way they write said tracks isn't really up for any criticism.

Even though about 50 minutes in the album starts to drag on, I can't really point at a track and say "Filler! Out!". So how do we balance the fact that the album is too long and the fact that the music is great? Shedding some weight by scrapping one or two tracks and releasing them as bonus tracks or by cutting two minutes from every track would make the album have a bit more impact.

If all my "too long" ramblings don't put you off, take your dose here.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 7
Production: 8





Written on 19.02.2018 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out.


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 183 users
20.02.2018 - 18:36
Rating: 7
musicalkaratekid

Honestly, I preferred this album to Harakiri's previous record, simply because I found the musical arrangements and melodies more interesting here. It is however questionable that Arson is 70 minutes long and such a length doesn't seem to be justified, despite how well-written most songs here are.
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20.02.2018 - 20:28
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by musicalkaratekid on 20.02.2018 at 18:36

Honestly, I preferred this album to Harakiri's previous record, simply because I found the musical arrangements and melodies more interesting here. It is however questionable that Arson is 70 minutes long and such a length doesn't seem to be justified, despite how well-written most songs here are.

Pretty much my point as well
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One day there will be no heart at all?
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21.02.2018 - 09:55
Rating: 9
Coverkiller

The album can sometimes feel a bit overweight with material (unsurprising considering the runtime) but also really enticed me enough to want to carry out the journey. Arson shines in its ability to grip you with both the harsh and the cooldown material. I read somewhere that Trauma was "like The Mantle with twice the riffs, energy and antlers" and while I don't agree with that blip, there is room to draw comparisons to the two bands somewhat, and Arson furthers the transformation in spots.

But I do also agree that maybe a 5 track/45 minute album would potentially create a near-perfect experience for this genre and elevate the band further since its length would make it appear more approachable.
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www.youtube.com/user/coverkiller - THE best album reviews on youtube!
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27.02.2018 - 22:24
nikarg

It is long indeed. With some trimming, it would be aoty contender for me. However, I have found myself listening to it quite a bit despite its length. "Fire, Walk With Me" and "Stillborn" are majestic.
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08.03.2018 - 21:40
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
I disagree somehow this band has not so long track , and album is decent, maybe if you replay all band disco day by day maybe then, not listen as ordinary metalhead what has million bands and 7 or more genres to master.
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
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I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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09.04.2018 - 09:49
VforIAmAVagina

Agreed with reviewer that Manifesto is best track
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25.12.2019 - 09:33
Rating: 9
tintinb

1st time listening to Harakiri For the Sky. It sounded like one wall of sound to me. However the sound itself was so good that I wouldn't complain too much about it. Coming into the individual songs, what I previously thought was one basic wall of sound was probably because of the repetitive nature of the harsh vocals. However on closer attention I found each song to be unique in it's structure and composition and very very well pleasing to my metal attuned ears. I congratulate this band for making this music, and while there seems to be a little disappointment because of the length of the album, I personally find it to be a boon as it helps me enjoy this album for a longer period of time.
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Leeches everywhere.
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