Austrian post-black metallers Harakiri for the Sky kicked off their debut US tour in Brooklyn, co-headlining with North Dakota’s Ghost Bath.
People must have rushed out of work to make this early show because the venue was already half full by 6 pm, just in time to catch the NYC-local openers, Viserion. On a bill full of atmospheric and post-metallers, Viserion was the heaviest band of the night. Raw black metal shrieks and fierce blast beats hallmarked each of their songs. Their latest single, Reborn in Darkness, injected energy into the crowd with churning speed and a brutal breakdown. They concluded with Abandoned, a calculated, full-bodied new rendition of a song from their first album.
I’ve been a fan of the Canadian one-man project Unreqvited for a few years, so imagine my surprise to see them added to a bill of some other favorite artists. As someone not too intimately involved in the logistics of live music performance, it always amazes me when a one-man project pulls a full band together and plays a perfect show. Their setlist spanned a rich palette of emotion. The twinkling guitar tones and wailing blackgaze vocals felt both depressive and uplifting at once. After the set, we found the members to be four extremely friendly people, doling out hugs and signatures to anyone wanting and willing.
Backed by a massive banner bearing the famous painting of Shakespeare’s drowned Ophelia, Ghost Bath got on stage and cut straight to the heart of the matter: “these are songs about killing myself.” Then they launched into their first song, full of melodic hooks that submerge you into their depressive sound. Vocalist Dennis Mikula’s shrieks rose hauntingly above the devastating shoegaze-y reverb of the guitars. They played a short but sweet, sad, and hateful setlist.
By the time Harakiri for the Sky took the stage, the venue was packed and buzzing with anticipation for the band’s first U.S. show. They started with the mournful dirge, Heroin Waltz, with shrill guitars that hummed beneath frontman J.J.’s gruff vocals. They followed with Funeral Dreams, its similarly melancholic melodies and mid-paced riffs fanning the flames of the crowd’s energy. Personally, I’m not bothered by bands with formulaic songwriting; you may not be sure where one song ends and another begins, but if you enjoy the sound, you enjoy it – end of story. J.J. ‘s unique voice easily conveyed the harrowing emotion behind his words and offset the same-y (and at times, drawn out) musical patterns. They ended with a cover of Placebo’s Song to Say Goodbye, a song which lent itself well and gained much dynamism from Harakiri’s bereft style.
Setlist:
Heroin Waltz
Funeral Dreams
Lungs Filled With Water
Fire, Walk With Me
I, Pallbearer
Sing for the Damage We’ve Done
Song to Say Goodbye
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WORDS AND PHOTOS BY REBECCA PAIGE