SINGLE REVIEW: Black Soul Ceremony by THE HARA
Black Soul Ceremony throws us straight into the darkest depths of Manchester 3-piece THE HARA’s riff-rich ocean, so grab your armbands and let's fucking dive!
THE HARA are an alt-rock band made up of Josh Taylor (vocals), Zack Breen (guitar) and Jack Kennedy (drums). The trio met at BIMM Manchester and have since stormed their way through their career, with their EPs Play Dead and We Are The Movement hitting number one and two respectively on the iTunes album chart. Last year they were expected to perform to more than 250,000 people across their headline tour and summer festival appearances which included Reading & Leeds and Download.
Twisting morbid metaphors and sinister imagery with mosh-worthy beats, Black Soul Ceremony is dominated by a gritty guitar riff (and you know how we feel about those by now). Combine that with jazzy bass, angsty, rollicking vocal verses and a belting chorus, and you've got a track that fuses classic rock swagger with a hip-hop beat to create something almost like a gothic, sophisticated Limp Bizkit. Bold statement, we know.
On the lyrics, singer Josh says, “there comes a point in our life where we must free ourselves from all our vulnerabilities, I think there is a lot of beauty in doing so, just being completely undeniably yourself whether people hate it or love it. This song is our dark and twisted way to celebrate the demon inside, our fears and insecurities without being a prisoner to them. Instead, understanding who we can be to be truly free of those voices in our head and to kill the person we were told to be.”
2021 will see their return to live music with plans for a UK wide tour ahead of their much anticipated festival debut performances and more new releases, there's a lot more to come from THE HARA in 2021!
Stream Black Soul Ceremony on Spotify and Apple Music
Review by Courtney Myers
