The alt-rock band, best known for contributing to the horror-adventure video game Death Stranding, has lost its founder and lead Ryan Karazija.
The American immigrant founded the Icelandic project named after his solo act in 2011 after moving to Reykjavik, Iceland.
The band informed the public of Karazija’s sudden and unfortunate death in an Instagram post on Sunday, detailing the cause of his death as complications from pneumonia.
The band’s music catapulted in popularity following their inclusion in game developer Hideo Kojima’s 2019 sci-fi epic, Death Stranding, after Koijima chanced upon the band’s music while browsing through a CD shop in Reykjavik.
Karazija’s melancholic vocals played an inseparable part of Death Stranding’s sullen, dystopian atmosphere, the dreamy folk-like designs of their work on the soundtrack album capturing the beauty in the somber realities of the game. Karazija’s soulful lyrics, coupled with Death Stranding’s immersive gameplay offered solace to many in the trying times of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Low Roar was a response to Karazija’s solitude in the wake of moving to Reykjavik, his distinctly wistful musical style and mellow vocals a product of his struggles of adjusting to the alien environment of a foreign land away from home; a theme poetically reflected in Kojima’s Death Stranding as well.
Low Roar’s song "Help Me" also features over the end credits of 2021’s Academy Award nominated animated documentary, Flee.
Following the announcement of his death, the band also confirms that their sixth album is underway and shall be released once ready as Karazija’s sole posthumous work of music.