The Haxan Cloak
British musician (born 1985)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bobby Milan Krlic[1] (born 20 December 1985),[2] known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician.
20 December 1985
- Musician
- composer
- record producer
The Haxan Cloak | |
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Krlic in 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Bobby Milan Krlic 20 December 1985 Wakefield, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Labels |
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| Website | thehaxancloak |
He has released two full-length albums (2011's The Haxan Cloak and 2013's Excavation). As a producer, Krlic has worked with artists including Björk, Father John Misty, Khalid,[3] Troye Sivan,[4] Goldfrapp,[5] serpentwithfeet[6] and The Body.[7] He has also composed several soundtracks, credited under his real name, including Ari Aster's films Midsommar,[8] Beau Is Afraid and Eddington, and the television series Beef, Snowpiercer, Angel of Darkness[9] and Reprisal.[10]
Early life and education
Krlic was born and raised in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.[11] He is of Serbian descent.[12] He studied music and visual arts at the University of Brighton.[13]
Music career
The Haxan Cloak releases
Krlic's first release as The Haxan Cloak was the Observatory E.P., landing as a cassette via Aurora Borealis on Halloween 2010.[14] A year later, Krlic recorded his first album, The Haxan Cloak, in his parents' shed using strings, mics and a laptop, playing every instrument himself.[15] The second LP, Excavation, was released in 2013, and has a more electronic feel, using samples and heavy bass, along with distorted field recordings made by Krlic.[15][16][17]
In 2012, The Haxan Cloak released a limited edition, one track, 27-minute live recording, The Men Parted the Sea to Devour the Water, as a part of Southern Records' Latitudes series.[18]
Krlic has also released remixes of songs by other artists under The Haxan Cloak, including Father John Misty,[19] Foals,[20] and Björk.[21]
Production credits
In 2014, Krlic teamed up with American sludge metal band The Body to produce their 2014 album I Shall Die Here.[22] In the same year he produced Victim by noise rock band HEALTH.[23]
Krlic also collaborated with Björk as a co-producer on her album Vulnicura, released in January 2015.[24][25] Since then, he has produced serpentwithfeet's E.P. Blisters,[26] Goldfrapp's 2017 album Silver Eye,[27] Heaven by Khalid from 2019's Free Spirit,[28] and by Troye Sivan's 2018 single Animal.[29] He also produced Father John Misty's cover of Fallin' Rain.[30] and co-produced his 2020 singles To S. / To R.[31]
Scoring work
Krlic was invited by Academy Award-winning film composer Atticus Ross to work with him on Michael Mann's film Blackhat, which was released in 2015.[32] In 2016, Krlic continued his work with Ross, co-scoring Triple 9, directed by John Hillcoat, and the soundtrack to Almost Holy, a documentary directed by Steve Hoover.[33]
In 2019, Krlic scored Ari Aster's second feature horror film Midsommar,[3][34] for which Krlic won Best Original Score at the 2020 Ivor Novello Awards.[35] He also scored Ari Aster's following film Beau Is Afraid.
Within television, Krlic has scored a number of major network shows including TNT's Snowpiercer[36] and Angel of Darkness,[9] Hulu's Reprisal[37] Apple's Invasion, and Netflix's Beef and Seven Seconds.[38]
In 2020 he collaborated with Swans on a Halloween Pass of Red Dead Redemption 2 by Rockstar Games.[39][40] In 2021 he scored PlayStation 5's debut release Returnal.
Touring
In 2014, The Haxan Cloak toured the United States visiting Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles.[41] He performed at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple along with Robert Henke and his music and light show, Lumière,[42] and in Los Angeles with Pharmakon.[43] The New York Times called The Haxan Cloak's set "amorphous, ominous and immersive, a transcendent plunge into darkness and overwhelming pressure". The Haxan Cloak performed a solo show at Manchester International Festival in 2017.[44] Bobby Krlic also joined Björk on her Vulnicura tour in the U.S. (including The Governor's Ball in New York) and Europe.
Musical style
Krlic's music is almost entirely instrumental, and is often described as dark, carefully constructed, textured and atmospheric, with heavy bass and elements of drone metal.[45][15] Of his albums, Krlic has said, "The first record was about a person's decline towards death, so this one's about the journey he takes afterwards." The name Haxan Cloak derives from the Swedish "häxan", meaning "the witch".[45]
Excavation was rated a 9 out of 10 by Spin,[16] and an 8.7 out of 10 by Pitchfork,[15] who also named it the 29th-best album of 2013.[15] Rolling Stone named it the 16th-best dance album of 2013.[22]
Midsommar received wide critical praise including a 9/10 from The Line of Best Fit, ranked 2 in Insider's Top 20 Best Movie and TV Soundtracks of The Decade,[46][47] and critic Glenn Kenny of The New York Times stating that “The remarkable music score by Bobby Krlic aka The Haxan Cloak is also a major contributor to the uncanny feeling the movie creates. Top Stuff."[48]
Awards
- 2019: Midsommar – Nominee, Breakthrough Composer of the Year – International Film Music Critics Association[49]
- 2020: Midsommar — Winner, Best Original Soundtrack – Ivor Novello Awards[35]
- 2022: Returnal – Winner, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition – D.I.C.E. Awards[50]
- 2022: Returnal – Winner, Best Music – BAFTA Games Awards[51]
- 2022: Returnal - Nominee, Best Original Video Game Score - Ivor Novello Awards[52]
Personal life
Krlic moved from London to Los Angeles in 2015.[53] As of 2016, he resides in the Silver Lake area.[54]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2011 | The Haxan Cloak
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| 2013 | Excavation
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Extended plays and singles
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2009 | The Haxan Cloak
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| 2011 | Observatory
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| 2012 | The Men Parted the Sea to Devour the Water
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| 2023 | N/Y
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Film soundtracks
| Year | Film | Artist | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Blackhat | Atticus Ross | Programmer |
| 2016 | Triple 9 | Atticus Ross, Claudia Sarne, Leopold Ross, Bobby Krlic | Composer, engineer, mixer, performer, producer, programmer |
| Almost Holy | Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Bobby Krlic | Performer, composer | |
| 2019 | Midsommar [34] | Bobby Krlic | Composer |
| 2023 | Beau Is Afraid [55] | ||
| Blue Beetle | |||
| 2025 | Eddington [56] | Bobby Krlic, Daniel Pemberton | |
| Eenie Meanie | Bobby Krlic | ||
| Him | |||
| Anemone[57] | |||
| 2026 | The Wrecking Crew[58] |
Television and video game soundtracks
| Year | Project | Artist | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2018 | Shooter | Bobby Krlic | Composer |
| 2018 | Seven Seconds | Composer and music producer | |
| 2019 | The Alienist: Angel of Darkness | ||
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | |||
| Reprisal | |||
| 2021–2024 | Snowpiercer | ||
| 2021 | Calls | ||
| Returnal | Composer | ||
| 2022 | Paper Girls | ||
| 2023 | Beef | ||
| 2023–2025 | Invasion |
Songwriting and production credits
| Title | Year | Artist | Album | Songwriter | Producer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Secondary | Additional | Vocal | ||||||
| "To Carry the Seeds of Death Within In" | 2014 | The Body | I Shall Die Here |  |
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| "Alone All the Way" | |
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| "The Night Knows No Dawn" | |
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| "Hail to Thee, Everlasting Pain" | |
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| "Our Souls Were Clean" | |
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| "Darkness Surrounds Us" | |
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| "Like Chrome" | Wife | What's Between | |
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| "Tongue" | |
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| "Heart is a Far Light" | |
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| "Salvage" | |
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| "Dans Ce" | |
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| "A Nature (Shards)" | |
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| "Living Joy" | |
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| "Fruit Tree" | |
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| "Further Not Better" | |
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| "Unites" | Lost Under Heaven | Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing | |
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| "Family" | 2015 | Björk | Vulnicura | |
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| "Victim" | Health | Death Magic | |
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| "I&I" | 2016 | Lost Under Heaven | Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing | |
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| "Beneath the Concrete" | |
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| "Future Blues" | |
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| "Someday Come" | |
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| "$oro" | |
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| "Here Our Moment Ends" | |
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| "Loyalty" | |
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| "Lost Under Heaven" | |
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| "First Eye to the New Sky" | |
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| "Lament" | |
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| "The Great Longing" | |
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| "Flickering" | Serpentwithfeet | Blisters EP | |
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| "Blisters" | |
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| "Four Ethers" | |
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| "Penance" (featuring Andre Goldenhuys) |
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| "Redemption" | |
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| "Anymore" | 2017 | Goldfrapp | Silver Eye | |
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| "Tigerman" | |
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| "Become the One" | |
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| "Faux Suede Drifter" | |
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| "Zodiac Black" | |
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| "Moon in Your Mouth" | |
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| "Ocean" | |
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| "Animal" | 2018 | Troye Sivan | Bloom | |
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| "Fallin' Rain" | Father John Misty | Non-album single | |
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| "Heaven" | 2019 | Khalid | Free Spirit | |
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| "Heaven Hunters" | 2023 | Emile Mosseri | Heaven Hunters | |
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| "Oklahoma Baby" | |
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| "My Greedy Heart" | |
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| "Home For The Summer" | |
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| "Some Kind Of Sting" | |
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| "All For The Bliss" | |
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| "Where The Waters Warm" | |
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| "Two Heaven Hunters" | |
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| "In The Shadows" | |
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| "Rosewater" | |
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