Harakiri for the Sky - Mære (2021)

Harakiri for the Sky deserves much more respect within post-black metal circles. 2018’s Arson sharpened the Austrian up-and-comers’ songwriting, and debuted Septicflesh’s Kerim Lechner as their session drummer. Having a death metal powerhouse behind the kit gave much more aggression and precision to the style Michael “JJ” Wahntraum and multi-instrumentalist Matthias Sollak had honed. Harakiri for the Sky’s foundation in beautiful guitar riffs and emotive vocals suddenly found bludgeoning rhythm support. This apparently gave them the confidence to drop an hour-and-a-half followup. While its length can be felt at times, Mære is a compelling next step for a band fresh off hitting a new stride.