Biography
Bobby Krlic channels themes of existential dread, mortality, and the afterlife through his project the Haxan Cloak, fusing drone textures with electronics into an intensely unsettling atmosphere. His 2010 self-titled debut album under that name built ominous weight from strings, percussion, and bass that matched the heaviness of Sunn O))) or Earth, while the electronics-driven follow-up Excavation in 2013 pushed the music into more frightening territory and previewed his later work shaping layered, precise, and visceral productions for others.
Raised in Yorkshire, England, Krlic absorbed music early from his guitarist father and from his mother, who had spun Northern soul records as a teenager. At sixteen he encountered hip-hop and electronic music, which led him to start recording his own pieces drawing on folktronica. A university program in sound and visual art prompted him to buy an inexpensive violin and cello, which he learned by playing along to the Dirty Three.
In his final university year he launched the Haxan Cloak, tracking material in his parents’ shed with a few microphones, his string instruments, and a laptop. The self-titled debut EP appeared via self-release in 2009. London experimental metal label Aurora Borealis noticed the record, arranged distribution, and offered him a deal. The label issued the cassette-only Observatory EP in 2010. While preparing his first full-length, Krlic collaborated with former tutor and Sub Rosa artist Mikhail Karikis, whose choir-based experiments deepened the already ominous sound. The resulting album, The Haxan Cloak, arrived in April 2011 and drew praise for its singular style and foreboding mood.
Krlic joined the Tri Angle roster in 2012 alongside experimental electronic artists such as oOooO and Holy Other. That July, Southern Records released the nearly thirty-minute live composition The Men Parted the Sea to Devour the Water as part of its Latitudes series. His Tri Angle debut, Excavation, followed in April 2013 and examined the soul’s journey after death, again receiving acclaim for its blend of electronic and acoustic elements.
After Excavation, Krlic stepped away from the Haxan Cloak to focus on other work. Under his own name he produced albums including the Body’s I Shall Die Here in 2014, Björk’s Vulnicura in 2015, and Goldfrapp’s Silver Eye in 2017. He also joined Father John Misty for a 2018 cover of Link Wray’s “Fallin’ Rain” featured on the Hulu series Castle Rock and contributed to the title track of Khalid’s 2019 album Free Spirit. Scoring projects included joint work with Atticus Ross on the films Blackhat in 2015, Triple 9 in 2016, and Steve Hoover’s documentary Almost Holy that same year, plus solo scores for the USA Network series Shooter, which premiered in 2016, and Ari Aster’s 2019 film Midsommar.
Raised in Yorkshire, England, Krlic absorbed music early from his guitarist father and from his mother, who had spun Northern soul records as a teenager. At sixteen he encountered hip-hop and electronic music, which led him to start recording his own pieces drawing on folktronica. A university program in sound and visual art prompted him to buy an inexpensive violin and cello, which he learned by playing along to the Dirty Three.
In his final university year he launched the Haxan Cloak, tracking material in his parents’ shed with a few microphones, his string instruments, and a laptop. The self-titled debut EP appeared via self-release in 2009. London experimental metal label Aurora Borealis noticed the record, arranged distribution, and offered him a deal. The label issued the cassette-only Observatory EP in 2010. While preparing his first full-length, Krlic collaborated with former tutor and Sub Rosa artist Mikhail Karikis, whose choir-based experiments deepened the already ominous sound. The resulting album, The Haxan Cloak, arrived in April 2011 and drew praise for its singular style and foreboding mood.
Krlic joined the Tri Angle roster in 2012 alongside experimental electronic artists such as oOooO and Holy Other. That July, Southern Records released the nearly thirty-minute live composition The Men Parted the Sea to Devour the Water as part of its Latitudes series. His Tri Angle debut, Excavation, followed in April 2013 and examined the soul’s journey after death, again receiving acclaim for its blend of electronic and acoustic elements.
After Excavation, Krlic stepped away from the Haxan Cloak to focus on other work. Under his own name he produced albums including the Body’s I Shall Die Here in 2014, Björk’s Vulnicura in 2015, and Goldfrapp’s Silver Eye in 2017. He also joined Father John Misty for a 2018 cover of Link Wray’s “Fallin’ Rain” featured on the Hulu series Castle Rock and contributed to the title track of Khalid’s 2019 album Free Spirit. Scoring projects included joint work with Atticus Ross on the films Blackhat in 2015, Triple 9 in 2016, and Steve Hoover’s documentary Almost Holy that same year, plus solo scores for the USA Network series Shooter, which premiered in 2016, and Ari Aster’s 2019 film Midsommar.
Singles
