Liturgy is an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The band features Haela Hunt-Hendrix (vocals, guitar), Mario Miron (guitar), Tia Vincent-Clark (bass) and Leo Didkovsky (drums). The band have described their music as "transcendental black metal," which was especially described in a manifesto written by Hunt-Hendrix; in the process of transforming their style of black metal, they have experimented with other genres including

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, hip hop and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

. In the band's early days, Hunt-Hendrix expressed her interest in the work of

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

Glenn Branca Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement ...

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalism, minimalist music. He is best known for his "g ...

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

and Lightning Bolt as influences.

History

Originally the solo project of Haela Hunt-Hendrix, the band expanded to a four-piece in 2008, after the release of the 12" ''Immortal Life'', which was followed in 2009 with their debut album '' Renihilation''. The group's second album, '' Aesthethica'', was released in May 2011 by

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

, and was ranked as number 26 on Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2011. In a 2012 interview with

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

, Hunt-Hendrix expressed her desire to move away from black metal on future releases in order to avoid "self-imitation," noting that ''Aesthethica''s recognition "turns it into safe territory." She suggested that the next release could include bells or a focus on electronics. In June 2014, the band recorded its third studio album, ''

The Ark Work ''The Ark Work'' is the third studio album by American rock band Liturgy. It was released on March 24, 2015 through Thrill Jockey record label. The first single off the album, "Quetzalcoatl" was released digitally on January 20, 2015. Backgroun ...

'', which was released in 2015. The album was named the #1 avant garde album of 2015 by Spin and Rolling Stone. Hunt-Hendrix released her debut electronic album, ''

New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala ''New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala'' is the first studio album of Kel Valhaal, an electronic music focused project of Liturgy vocalist and guitarist Haela Hunt-Hendrix. It was released on Hunt-Hendrix's label YLYLC ...

'', under the name Kel Valhaal in 2016, following the same mythologies she had written as Liturgy's songwriter. Hunt-Hendrix composed, directed, and starred in the video opera “Origin of the Alimonies,” which was screened at National Sawdust in New York City in October 2018. It was shown with a live score performed by Liturgy alongside an eleven-piece chamber ensemble. In November 2019 a live-action version of the opera was staged at REDCAT in Los Angeles. Liturgy performed in collaboration with the Sonic Boom Ensemble, and the opera featured performers Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste and Kathleen Dycaico, with choreography by Gillian Wash and light design by artist Matthew Schreiber. The band's fourth studio album, ''

H.A.Q.Q. ''H.A.Q.Q.'' is the fourth studio album by the American band Liturgy. It was released on November 12, 2019 as a surprise digital release, and physically in February 2020 through main artist Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's label YLYLCYN. It was primarily r ...

'', was released without any prior notice in November 2019, with a physical release following five months later. The album is tied to an ongoing series of philosophical lectures by Hunt-Hendrix on YouTube, which details the system of concepts portrayed by the diagram on its cover. In May 2020, Hunt-Hendrix

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as transgender in an Instagram post. On November 20, 2020, the band released their fifth studio album, ''

Origin of the Alimonies ''Origin of the Alimonies'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Liturgy. It was released on November 20, 2020, via bandleader Haela Hunt-Hendrix's record label, YLYLCYN. Performance The album was performed by the band at the Roadb ...

.'' On March 24, 2023, the group released their sixth studio album, '' 93696''.

Band members

Current members * Haela Hunt-Hendrix – vocals, guitar , electronics * Mario Miron – guitar * Tia Vincent-Clark – bass guitar * Leo Didkovsky – drums Former members * Greg Fox – drums * Tyler Dusenbury – bass guitar * Bernard Gann – guitar

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Renihilation'' (20 Buck Spin, 2009) * '' Aesthethica'' (Thrill Jockey, 2011) * ''

'' (Thrill Jockey, 2015) * ''

'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020) * '' 93696'' (2023)

EPs

* ''Immortal Life'' (Unfun CD release, 2007) – (Infinite Limbs vinyl release, 2008) * ''As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time'' (2022)

Other releases

* split LP with

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

(Thrill Jockey, 2011) * "Quetzalcoatl" single (Thrill Jockey, 2015) * "PASAQALIA II" single (2020) * "Antigone" single feat. Leya (2020)

References

External links

''Transcendental Black Metal'' theory paper by Hunter Hunt-Hendrix presented at ''Black Metal Theory Symposium I: Hideous Gnosis''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liturgy (band) American black metal musical groups Thrill Jockey artists Musical groups established in 2008 Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state) American noise rock music groups American avant-garde metal musical groups Musical groups from Brooklyn