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Harakiri For The Sky - Scorched Earth review



Reviewer:
8.2

127 users:
7.67
Band: Harakiri For The Sky
Album: Scorched Earth
Style: Black metal, Post-metal
Release date: January 24, 2025
A review by: AndyMetalFreak


01. Heal Me [feat. Tim Yatras]
02. Keep Me Longing
03. Without You I’m Just A Sad Song
04. No Graves But The Sea
05. With Autumn I'll Surrender
06. I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn’t Keep
07. Too Late For Goodbyes [feat. Serena Cherry]
08. Street Spirit (Fade Out) [Radiohead cover]

This is the deeply moving subject of our Scorched Earth from an emotional post-metal perspective brought to you by no other than Harakiri For The Sky.

Since emerging onto the scene back in 2011, Harakiri For The Sky have been on quite the journey of exploration and development as they've delved into a range of genres and influences from post-hardcore and post-rock, to atmospheric black metal, all of which they've incorporated into a distinctive sound and style of their own. They're known for capturing highly emotive soundscapes through their music, delving into themes surrounding hope, loss, love, and despair. This eighth full-length offering Scorched Earth, which follows the highly praised Mӕre (2021), follows suit. The theme here sends out a strong message of the broken world in which we live in, where society is divided and peace is shattered. This feeling of impending doom, where one crisis only leads to another, is captured on Scorched Earth, and also reflects the beautifully powerful cover art.

Accompanying the formidable Austrian duo of multi-instrumentalist M.S. and vocalist J.J. is a list of well-esteemed musicians including the vocalists Patrick Ginglseder (Groza), Serena Cherry (Svalbard), Tim Yatras (Austere), and Jorge Cisternas (Humanotone), as well as session drummer Kerim Lechner (Devin Townsend). Unsurprisingly, the album has a lengthy duration, spanning over an hour, and features 8 highly emotive and atmospheric songs, including the fitting Radiohead cover "Street Spirit (Fade Out)".

"Heal Me" starts things off with, as you can predict from the title alone, an emotionally-charged and uplifting song, thanks to its drawn-out, repetitively structured atmospheric builds, and heavily layered instrumentation, varying from heavy hypnotic riffs, sweeping melancholic leads, pummelling drums, and mesmerizing keys. The vocals, however, have always been a talking point for Harakiri For The Sky, and J.J.'s very distinctive style is no exception here. His style may not necessarily sit well with every listener, but one thing you simply can't deny is the passion he brings. He shouts out from the bottom of his heart, and this really complements the instrumentation.

For an opening song, "Heal Me" certainly leaves you with an overwhelming sense of emotions, and so it's no surprise that the album continues on in a similar manner. Much like the band's previous material, rarely does the tempo exceed a moderate speed, but there are several slower sections that act as minor interludes following the lengthy plodding build-ups. These slower sections are melodic, introduced at just the right time such that the album can regather some momentum and build its way back up to a heavier sound.

Getting through the entire duration of Scorched Earth may prove challenging, or even tedious, for some, particularly when not in the right frame of mind or environment, but once everything gels into place this, can be a wonderfully emotive experience. There are very few bands like Harakiri For The Sky that can pull this off, and they manage to do so time and again. Their discography has retained a solid consistency, and Scorched Earth is no exception; it may not reach the high standards or contain the same wow factor as their earlier releases, but the masters of post-black metal melancholy have managed to pull off another stellar release regardless.


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





Written on 29.01.2025 by Feel free to share your views.



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