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Music

PREMIERE: Harakiri for the Sky's 'Trauma: III' Blends Genres and Longs for Death

Stream the new album from this Austrian post-metal/depressive black metal/post-hardcore duo.

Harakiri for the Sky is a name I've been hearing for years, but never properly investigated; that was a mistake on my part, as I discovered as soon as I idly hit play on the Austrian duo's newest album. The stark imagery of their name is what initially sucked me in—jumbled thoughts of slit bellies, gleaming swords, starry nights, and entrails slipping down like rainfall accompanied my first listen to Trauma: III, and made for a weirdly fitting accompaniment.

The music fits the name, as M.S. and J.J. weave moments of beauty and outright ugliness together into a cohesive, blended whole. The band tempers its broad swaths of post-rock with slight shades of depressive black metal, dazzling guitar work, and more than a touch of post-hardcore in the vocals. The lyrics long for death (as one might expect) but are written so poetically that the edge is blunted, and the overall effect is far less mopey than you may expect from a band named after ceremonial suicide.

Trauma: III is out July 22 via Art of Propaganda, and can be heard in its entirety below: