Haara: BACCANO
HAARA’s ‘Baccano’: A Psychedelic Battle of Rhythm, Ritual and Noise
Swiss psyche-folk band HAARA returns with “Baccano,” a hypnotic and visceral new single released on Rattler Records. Drawing on psychedelic folk, fusion and ritualistic percussion, the track feels less like a conventional song than an invitation into another world — primal, cinematic and increasingly intense.
The title itself sets the tone. Bacchanalia refers to the ancient Roman festivals held in honour of Bacchus, where nighttime celebrations were marked by dancing, shouting and general chaos. The Italian word baccano, meaning noise or commotion, derives from the same tradition.
And there is certainly plenty of commotion here.
“Baccano” begins with the striking voice of Robert Gardner, taken from his 1963 ethnographic documentary Dead Birds, filmed in New Guinea and documenting the ritual warfare of the Dani people of West New Guinea. The spoken introduction immediately creates an atmosphere of ceremony and impending conflict.
Then the didgeridoo arrives.
A wall of percussion gradually gathers momentum before the electric guitar crashes into the mix, transforming the track into a hypnotic musical battle that refuses to let up. HAARA describe it as an “electric tarantella”, and the description fits: the song is powerful and epic, psychedelic and almost blood-soaked in its intensity.
The arrangement is deliberately unconventional. The electric bass takes on a strongly percussive role, while Gardner’s documentary narration becomes an integral part of the composition rather than simply an introduction. The result is raw and immersive, with rhythm functioning almost as a physical force.
The English-language lyrics reinforce that feeling. They take the form of a mantra preparing the protagonists for a battle that will take place the following day. Their ritual is one of surrender as much as preparation — placing their lives in the hands of fate before entering the unknown.
That sense of ritual also extends to the visual side of the release. The accompanying “Baccano” video uses imagery connected directly to the track, with the cover artwork itself taken from a still from the video.
With its fusion of psychedelic folk, experimental rock and tribal-inspired percussion, “Baccano” finds HAARA pushing beyond conventional song structures and into something more elemental. It is music designed to evoke movement, tension and ceremony — a soundtrack for a ritual that feels as though it has been taking place long before the listener arrived.
“Baccano” is not simply a song about a battle. It sounds like the battle itself.
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