ALBUM REVIEW: Scorched Earth – Harakiri For The Sky

January 23, 2025 James Weaver

Throughout their near 15 year career, Austria’s HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY have carved their own space in the black metal world. Their emotionally charged mix of black metal and melodic post-rock shimmerings has struck a chord with plenty. Now, after a four year wait since 2021’s career-defining Mære, the band are back with their seventh album, Sorched Earth.

With the expectations set so high, it feels like a Herculean task for the band to strike gold once again. But as their consistently solid back catalogue attests to, HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY are a special band indeed, and Scorched Earth is no different. Opener Heal Me, featuring guest contributions from cult DSBM outfit AUSTERE, is a sublime and emotionally driven introduction to the album.

From there, the band continue to shine. Keep Me Longing boasts some truly gorgeous twin guitar harmonies and it’s near eleven minute runtime really allows the song to breathe and flex its muscles. Elsewhere, despite a somewhat misleading title, Without You I’m Just A Sad Song soars like a phoenix as pacey harmonious riffs dance in melody before allowing moments of respite where delicate instrumentation flutters and pushes the band’s excellent post-rock flavours front and centre.

Then there’s tracks like Too Late For Goodbyes and No Graves But The Sea. Too Late For Goodbyes cascades and crashes as a roll of blastbeats strike like rolling thunder and J.J‘s pained vocals strike ever so effectively and the added bonus of SVALBARD‘s Serena Cherry‘s gorgeous clean vocals help the track glisten with ethereal beauty. On No Graves But The Sea, riffs bend and pull on the heartstrings, almost imploring you to despair at the state of our home planet before a uptempo swing kicks the track in thunderous life, almost an expression of rage at those responsible for the turmoil of the modern era. The full spectrum of emotion is explored throughout Scorched Earth‘s runtime and the album’s remarkable ability to conjure these feelings is nothing short of brilliant.

Weighing in at just shy of 70 minutes, Scorched Earth is a mammoth of an album and for those who lean towards shorter blasts of extreme music, the album’s runtime will test their resilience to see the album all the way through. For fans, they are acclimatised to the band’s habits for albums that are lengthy sagas. But for those who may see the length and gasp, take the time to invest and fully embrace the vast and bountiful soundscape HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY have forged here. Take a song like I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn’t Keep. Its nine minute runtime allows the band to take you on an aural journey as the track naturally ebbs and flows from moments of thunderous metal to slow and reflective passages that feel as fragile at glass.

This listening experience simply cannot be replicated on a short and punchy number. Reinforced by a laser-focused precision in ensuring there is no bloat, Scorched Earth‘s biggest achievement is its ability to keep you fully immersed in the listening experience over the course of 67 wonderful minutes.

With a striking title that is reflective of the divided, unstable and tension-filled world we currently inhabit, on Scorched Earth, HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY deliver another bout of masterful melancholic-soaked black metal. This is a record that truly captures your attention and takes you on a long journey that truly captures the global mood of despair and sorrow. This is a record for dark times, a snapshot of the turmoil of the 2020s. Bask in its melancholy and reflect; the listening experience will floor you.

Rating: 9/10