Excavation - Haxan Cloak (2013)
The first time I really listened to Bobby Krlic was his soundtrack (under his own name rather than the Haxan Cloak dba) to the wild and weird film Midsommar. His other work under this alias is, if anything, even more dark and oppressive.
This is billed as exploring a soul’s journey after death. I don’t know if I get that from the music if I didn’t have that guide, but that’s often my problem with “programmatic” music. Whatever you think of artists who try to tell you what music means to you, this record is clearly not a pleasant hike through the Tuscany region of Italy. If I hadn’t been told it was about a journey through the Bardo, I might have told you it was about getting locked inside DisneyLand after close and being chased by a blob of goo that slowly devours everything in its path, but… uh… of course your mileage may vary.
