Harakiri For The Sky – Scorched Earth

Harakiri For The Sky
Scorched Earth
Label: AOP Records
Out: January 24^th, 2025
Playing time: 01:07:33

Harakiri For The Sky are a Post Black Metal band. The two masterminds come from Vienna and Salzburg (Austria). OK, they bring in additional musicians for live gigs. I was able to see this for myself at the Metal over Malta Festival in 2019. Founded in 2011, they have released seven studio albums so far. Although that’s not quite true, because both ‘Aokigahara MMXXII’ and ‘Harakiri for the Sky MMXXII’ (both 2022) are obviously re-releases of the band’s first two albums. By that reckoning, ‘Scorched Earth’ is the sixth regular album.

The opener ‘Heal Me’ already offers a rollercoaster of emotions. It begins with calm piano melodies and a guitar fade in. Before the guitars kick in powerfully. The vocals are melodic but very heavy and scratchy, shouted and screamed. The double bass booms. And this interplay of beautiful melodies and evil screams continues on ‘Keep Me Longing’. At first, we hear piano melodies again, accompanied by strings. After a little more than one minute, the heavy guitars push themselves into the foreground and lie as a kind of tapestry under the screams. But it doesn’t stay that way. The longest song on the album, which is ten minutes and forty seconds long, is extremely varied. Hard passages alternate with beautiful melodies and quieter sections. The hectic double bass can be heard again and again. Is that already Progressive Black Metal? ‘Without You I’m Just a Sad Song’ is only slightly shorter. And no less varied. Another quiet start and then heavy guitars. ‘No Graves but the Sea’ starts with plucked acoustic guitars and keyboards. Before the heavy guitars provide plenty of melodies. Which are of course drowned out by screams. And this is exactly how it continues with ‘With Autumn I’ll Surrender’ and ‘I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn’t Keep’. There are not only varied melodies and instrumental accompaniments within the individual songs, but also between them. Surprisingly, ‘Too Late for Goodbyes’ then offers some clean vocals. It sounds as if Harakiri For The Sky have worked with a guest female singer here. Nevertheless, the screams dominate for long parts of the song. The next surprise awaits the listener on ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’. This song is completely devoid of screams. You really wouldn’t have expected a power ballad at the end. 

As I said above, the album offers a rollercoaster of emotions. There’s everything on ‘Scorched Earth’, lots of melodic passages, hard, sometimes hectic Metal riffs, harsh screams but also soulful elements. It’s an album that should appeal not only to Black Metal fans, but also to fans of Power Metal and Melodic Metal. If you can make friends with the screams, ‘Scorched Earth’ offers just over an hour of the best entertainment.

Harakiri For The Sky – With Autumn I’ll Surrender: https://youtu.be/X3ROuY9lpW4?si=hW2ggfiuxS0jLIu2

Lineup:

Matthias “M.S.” Sollak – guitar, bass, songwriting
Michael “J.J.” Kogler aka V. Wahntraum – vocals, lyrics

Track list:

• Heal Me
• Keep Me Longing
• Without You I’m Just A Sad Song
• No Graves But The Sea
• With Autumn I’ll Surrender
• I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn’t Keep
• Too Late For Goodbyes
• Street Spirit (Fade Out)