Karg - Marodeur (2025)

V. Wahntraum (aka J.J) has been on a roll as of recently, not only with his exploits in Harakiri for the Sky, but also with this upcoming crushing Karg release titled “Marodeur”. With eight tracks and over 54 minutes of piercing music, this Post-Black Metal release is full of visceral rawness. Masterfully crafting highly melancholic music, this release is both punishing and demoralizing, creating a very bleak and yet lush atmosphere.

Opening with the enigmatic “ Schnee ist das Blut der Geister”, which also features guest vocals from Perchta and solemn piano elements from Michael Eder, the band sets a very emotional mood. There are certain similarities to Harakiri for the Sky, due to the vocals and some of the guitar melodies, however, this band takes it further into darker and bleaker territories with more solemn and direct songs like “Findling”, “Yūgen”, and our favorite “Annapurna” and its very dramatic atmospherics and cathartic moments.

Raw emotions ooze out of tracks like “Reminiszenzen einer Jugend” and “Kimm”, which give us some flashbacks of early Lantlôs and Heretoir. Karg manages to perfectly deliver feelings of hopelessness with some streaks of light thanks to very dynamic and engaging tempo changes and a wide variety of tempo changes alongside crafty guitar work. Other tracks like the closer “Anemoia” experiment with different elements, giving them a certain urban Amesoeurs-like vibes.

As a whole, “Marodeur” is definitely the band’s most polished release to date. While having its own signature style, Karg still manages to add additional influences and elements to their music to keep it fresh and different sounding from other related projects. We particularly love how this album slowly unravels and delivers different levels of atmospheric mastery that only a handful of bands can create. Do not miss out on this one if you love Harakiri for the Sky, and similar Post-Black Metal bands.

Label: AOP Records

Release: April 18th, 2025

Genre: Post-Black Metal

Country: Austria