Liturgy is an American black metal band from Brooklyn, New York. The band features Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, Bernard Gann, Tia Vincent-Clark and Leo Didkovsky. 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, hip hop and electronic music. In the band's early days, Hunt-Hendrix expressed Swans, Glenn Branca, and Lightning Bolt as influences.
History
Originally the solo project of Hunter 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 albumRenihilation. The group's second album, Aesthethica, was released in May 2011 by Thrill Jockey, and was ranked as number 26 on Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2011. In a 2012 interview with Pitchfork Media, Hunt-Hendrix expressed her desire to move away from black metal on future releases in order to avoid "self-imitation," noting that Aesthethicas 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, 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, 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. Hunt-Hendrix has also started a new band, a "trap djent" project called Ideal, which released the single “Seraphim” in 2019. The band's fourth studio album, H.A.Q.Q., was surprise-released on November 12, 2019. 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. H.A.Q.Q. will be physically released on vinyl and CD in April 2020. In May 2020, Hunt-Hendrix came out as transgender in an Instagram post.
