Harakiri for the Sky know what they are. Six albums and fourteen years into the partnership between multi-instrumentalist M.S. and vocalist J.J., the Vienna duo has built a sound that is unmistakably theirs: layered melodies over mid-tempo structures, yearning post-rock atmospheres colliding with blackened aggression, song titles that wear their hearts on their sleeves. Scorched Earth refines that sound rather than reinventing it, and the result is an album that does what Harakiri for the Sky do with real conviction, even if it doesn’t push the project into new territory.
“Heal Me” opens with guest vocals from Tim Yatras of Austere, and the track does what Harakiri for the Sky do best: build from quiet introspection into walls of tremolo-picked melody that feel genuinely overwhelming on first contact. The melodies are gorgeous, layered with a precision that comes from years of doing exactly this. M.S. writes hooks that burrow in and stay, and the production by Kristian Kohle at Kohlekeller Studios, one of the most reliable addresses in German metal production with credits ranging from Powerwolf to Aborted, gives them room to breathe without sacrificing density.
“Keep Me Longing” and “Without You I’m Just a Sad Song” push past ten minutes each, and both contain moments of real power, passages where the guitars and vocals align into something that hits with genuine emotional force. The challenge is sustaining that intensity across their full runtime. At nearly an hour, the album asks a lot of the listener’s capacity for sustained melancholy, and some passages feel more like they’re maintaining an atmosphere than building toward something new.
“No Graves but the Sea” is the album’s most focused track, eight minutes that move with purpose and arrive at a climax that earns its intensity. It’s the song where the balance between post-rock patience and black metal aggression feels most natural. “With Autumn I’ll Surrender” follows in a similar register, the guitars layering melodies on top of melodies until the track feels almost orchestral.
The closer “I Was Just Another Promise You Couldn’t Keep” brings the record full circle with another nine-minute stretch of aching melodicism. The deluxe edition adds a Radiohead cover, “Street Spirit (Fade Out)” featuring P.G. of Groza, and it fits naturally into the tracklist. A song about resignation and inevitability feels at home in this catalogue.
J.J.’s vocals are a distinctive element. His post-hardcore bark sits at an interesting angle to the crystalline melodies beneath it, creating a tension that has defined the band’s sound from the beginning. It’s most effective in the heavier passages, where the raw edge of his delivery matches the intensity of the guitars. In the more delicate moments, that contrast can feel like friction, but it’s also what keeps the music from tipping into pure prettiness.
The production is clean and well-balanced, the mix giving each layer of guitar space to ring out while keeping the low end tight. Krimh’s drum work is precise and dynamic, providing a solid foundation without overwhelming the melodic content. The guest vocal spots are mixed with restraint, Serena Cherry of Svalbard on “Too Late for Goodbyes” being the most effective. The overall sonic palette is warm and wide, appropriate for music that depends on atmosphere as much as riffs.
Standout tracks: No Graves but the Sea, Heal Me, With Autumn I’ll Surrender
Scorched Earth is a confident record by a band that knows its strengths and commits to them fully. The melodies are undeniable, the emotional sincerity is real, and the craft behind the songwriting has only gotten sharper. Whether you want Harakiri for the Sky to evolve or to keep doing what they do at the highest level is a matter of taste. On the evidence of this album, they’ve chosen depth over breadth, and the music is strong enough to justify that choice.
