I’ll be the first to admit that descriptors such as ’emotionally charged’, ‘dreamy’, ‘spiritual’, and ‘introspective’ set off a whole internalized system of alarm bells when applied to black metal. It’s not that these nouns aren’t relevant in their own right when describing a particular niche of extreme metal, but they are certainly not the tenets I would use to characterize black metal proper. When and where these terms entered the glossary of black metal is up for debate, but we can definitely trace it back to the early-to-mid 2000s with the post-black metal efforts of bands such as Agalloch, Alcest, Amesoeurs, Lantlôs, and Fen. As evolution and experimentation continued throughout this era, we started to see many bands enter the realm of post-black metal/shoegaze (with some notable exceptions being Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, and Ghost Bath). From here, the sub-genre basically exploded into the extreme metal mainstream and eventually became a hotly debated topic amongst many a black metal connoisseur. The acceptance, acknowledgement, and success of post-black metal has had far-reaching consequences, eventually finding its way into the music of legendary black metal bands and artists such as Enslaved and Ihsahn. The purists can quibble all day long about the relevancy of post-black metal, but it is safe to stay it is here to stay.

For those who do get it, Austria’s Harikari For The Sky is widely regarded as one of a handful of bands leading the charge in contemporary post-black metal circles. Since their formation in 2011, multi-instrumentalist M.S. and vocalist J.J. have gained recognition for pushing musical boundaries with their emotionally charged blend of atmospheric extreme metal and melodic post-rock, grunge and modern hardcore, carving out a genre of their own. After maintaining a steady two-year release rhythm and producing five albums in nine years, the band decided to break from tradition following 2021’s Maere (which peaked at #4 on the official German charts). This time, the guys allowed themselves four years to craft their most recent epic chapter, Scorched Earth.

I gotta be honest; after spinning the whole of the album for the very first time, I am hard-pressed to find anything that would constitute this as black metal, or even post-black metal for that matter. Sure, there is the odd tremolo-picked riff and blastbeated barrage here and there, but for the most part, this straddles the line between the high-energy post-hardcore approach of Kvelertak and the melancholic post-rock sensibilities of Katatonia. So, yes, Scorched Earth is dominated by the prefix ‘post’, just not of the black metal variety. Tracks such as ‘Heal Me’ and ‘No Graves But The Sea’ showcase a band with an ear for melody. In fact, this album is absolutely steeped in melody. I hear folkish nods to mid-era Amorphis (think Tales From The Thousand Lakes) and Finnish melo-death à la Insomnium and Swallow The Sun. As good as the melodies contained within may be, you can also have too much of a good thing. At just over an hour of music, the abundance of same-y melodic structures makes the whole of Scorched Earth come across as a bit long in the tooth.

Scorched Earth marks my very first introduction to this talented duo. In the end, I found myself both pleasantly surprised and slightly frustrated. On the one hand, the songwriting is absolutely top-notch. There exists a passion and utter fervency to each and every track. These guys mean business. On the other hand, the adroitness with which they approach melody tends to work against them, painting the overall picture with a slightly mirthful stroke. I would have loved to hear more dissonance and inhumanity applied to further usher the soul downward into despair while the existing melodies are then utilized to grasp out with hope just as all seems lost.