Interview with Harakiri For The Sky

Let’s talk about your new album. I’ve seen that some of the songs have been released on your Youtube channel, but not every one of them. Has the lockdown caused some delay in the release of the album?
Yes. We hadn’t finished the mix before the lockdown, so the full album will be released in September.

That’s bad. So, is it time now more than ever to make melancholic music?
Yes. It has been a tough year for everyone.

Let’s talk about some of the songs that I did hear. One of them is titled I’m all about the dusk. Are you also all about the dusk, as in, interested in darker themes?
Actually, it means I feel less depressed and less useless when it’s dark.

So you like the night? Do you also like cold and winter? These are the types of weather and natural elements that could be associated with your music.
No, actually, I like the summer more. But I’ve always liked writing about dark things, like estrangement, growing up, broken relationships, very personal stuff.

So writing is really like a therapy for you?
Yes, this is something I do to express myself. It’s something I can’t choose, it chose me.

It’s true, the need to write is a part of us, we wouldn’t be complete without it. There is another song with a very evocative title: Sing for the Damage we’ve Done. What kind of damage do you think mankind has done, in general?
It’s more about a ruined relationship, but also the damage that we have done to the world, to the environment, with the many species we have driven to extinction, or the fires in Australia last year, which destroyed a lot of the wildlife. Or parts of human history, like the Third Reich, which isn’t so long ago.

Yes, we have a long history of treating each other badly and we have to fix the damages that our ancestors have made.
Now let’s talk about your influences. Your album seems to be inspired by depressive black metal, but it has a more polished quality, and it seems to be mixed with slower, more melancholic folk ballads. What are your influences?
It’s black metal, but also post metal. I also like a lot of indie rock and grunge.

So, your music is a sort of common ground between various darker and more melancholic types of rock, like black metal, post metal and indie rock?
Yes, I guess.

You’ve also done a cover of a Placebo song.
We’ve always liked to cover unexpected songs from other genres. Also, Placebo is one of my favorite bands, and that song was very important to me, when I was finishing high school and living away from my parents for the first time.

So you covered the song because it meant a lot to you, but also because you like to do unexpected to that? Does your fanbase usually react well to your covers of songs that may be considered a little out of your range?
Actually, yes, the reactions have been pretty positive. The black metal scene can sometimes be a little close-minded, but now it has many new people who are more open to other genres. For example, we also listen to grunge and hardcore. We also like to tour with bands from different styles, to experience different genres in the same concert

It’s true, a few years ago, it was not really accepted to say you liked other genres, including rock subgenres if you liked metal, but now that all music ever is available online, everyone listens to a little bit of everything.
It’s true, though I don’t really listen to a lot of metal except black metal and some thrash metal like Slayer, and a few modern thrash bands.

The cover: what does it represent? A sort of werewolf ripping its face off?
It’s actually an ordinary wolf being trapped by humans. It represents our freedom getting cut day by day. The title Maere also comes from the name of the demon that gives people nightmares.

It’s a strange image but it sticks in your mind, because at first, you don’t understand what you’re seeing, but you can make your own interpretation.
We like having animals on our covers, and to have images that our listeners can have fun trying to interpret. Our artworks are very important to us.

Above all, why the name Harakiri for the Sky?
I was thinking of some kind of feeling I get when I listen to post rock songs, by Sigur Rós for example. It’s like running to a cliff and flying. It’s a metaphor, you can interpret it however you want.

It’s also a name you don’t forget and it’s easier to look up on the internet. Anything else to add?
No, not really.

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