A burner of an album
Consistency is key when it comes to building lasting relationships. It’s a statement particularly true in a romantic and friendship sense, but that type of reliability translates over into the relationships musicians develop with their fans. While taking risks can have its payoffs if executed properly, for the most part, what holds fans’ adoration is knowing they can depend on a musician for most of the general styles and elements that drew them in to begin with. This is something that Austrian duo Harakiri For The Sky understands fully. With Arson, their fourth full-length, Harakiri For The Sky don’t really do anything differently when it comes to the approach to post-black metal. For many, that’s the blessing of the album and for some, it’s the curse.
The pair, consisting of principal songwriter Matthias “MS” Sollak on guitars, bass and drums and vocalist Michael “JJ” V. Wahntraum, have a pretty marked formula for emotion-driven metal. Sounds always move pretty mid-tempo, but certain melodic or rhythm variances offer just enough to keep it from being a stream of monotonous din.
The opening track (and an obvious nod to Twin Peaks) “Fire, Walk With Me” showcases this from the start, with a light keyboard introduction that leads into a medley of key changes and lively guitar work that keep the listener engaged. It flows into the Agalloch-recalling “The Graves We’ve Dug” before hitting one of the standout tracks, “You Are the Scars.” Flowy goth rock melodies and washed out, distorted guitars accented with poignant drumming makes it the most blackgaze track on the record.
In its latter half, Arson gets more fierce in its rendering. The pairing of “Tomb Omnia” and “Stillborn” make for the sludgiest and prog-tinged on the record. Intricate riffs and chord progressions and blast beat drumming create a tough air on “Stillborn,” which even leads into a two-step worthy hardcore beat. Ending with very post-black metal, strained screams and soft chants fill a cover of the alt-rock song “Manifesto” by Graveyard Lovers and Arson rounds itself out with displays of Harakiri’s adept engineering.
Even without any real driving or memorable riffs, Harakiri For The Sky did well with Arson as the next fixture in their discography. Does it stand out as more as its predecessor III: Trauma? Not necessarily. But it holds up as a great record all the same.
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