When I was a kid, whenever we returned to school after the summer break we’d be required to write an essay on “what we did during the holidays”, just to get us back into some form of literary shape before we started boning up again on Shakespeare and Moliere.
I don’t know what school Karahka attended but the outcome seems to be pretty similar here as they launch into a story about their chaotic summer schedule during which their gigs got double-booked, one member scheduled a cycling vacation trip, another had a dentist appointment, while someone else found himself working night shifts. So they opted to make this record, ‘Summer Hell’, instead.
I reckon they need a manager.
It’s tongue in cheek but hints at the mad, dysfunctional world we live in where Presidents can order football red cards to be overturned when they don’t even know what they are and then fly off to an international summit of allies and diss them one by one before calling an entire nation scum and then reiterating their intention to annex Greenland because imaginary Russian and Chinese ships are encircling it before declaring the event a great success.
In comparison Karahka’s exploits seem pretty tame.
The use of a kaleidoscope in the lyric video was a smart move. Like everything is out of control, man and we’re at a loft party where in the sky an elephant’s eye is looking down from a bubblegum tree.
I used that Traffic – ‘Hole in my shoe’ analogy because I’m not sure how to classify Karahka musically. Fundamentally they are a Stoner Rock band and the classic ingredients – doom metal, blues and psych rock, all fuzzy and distorted, are evident. But there’s more; it’s punky and with a metal edge too.
Then on another hearing it could be something rescued from the Alice Cooper archives.
I’m still none the wiser but ‘Summer Hell’ pushed all the right buttons. My only disappointment is that it never quite reaches the climax it promises. Perhaps that will come on Autumn Hell.
This new single marks another step toward Karahka’s third album, scheduled for release in early 2027. The record will consist of stories in which circumstances push people to the brink of madness and suggest what can happen in the worst event. But it will also feature glimpses of hope in the midst of that mad world.
Formed as recently as 2020, Karahka is a prolific band. Their debut album ‘Dark Side of the Night’ was released in 2024 followed by their second album ‘Modern Fanfares’ in December 2025.
Line-up:
Jaan Lehti – drums, vocals
Juuso Vettenranta – guitar, backing vocals
Mikko Teittinen – guitar, backing vocals
Ari Enqvist – bass, vocals
Find them on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karahkaofficial
