Biography
Liturgy represents the creative vehicle of Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix, merging black metal, art rock, classical forms, hip-hop, and trap production into a style designated "transcendent black metal" and shaped by visual art, philosophy, plus speculative theological and eschatological concepts. Renihilation from 2009 delivered refined takes on the approach's signature circular riffs, ferocious vocalizations, and blastbeats. Aesthethica, issued in 2011, extended metal's expressive range through added vocal polyphony alongside intricate harmonic frameworks. The project's scope grew steadily more elaborate: electronics and chromatic percussion marked The Ark Work in 2015, while 2020 brought the live opera Origin of the Alimonies, staged with an 11-piece chamber ensemble. Punk and classical currents informed 93696, released on Thrill Jockey in 2023.
Operating from Brooklyn, New York, the endeavor originated as Hunt-Hendrix's solo work before expanding in 2008 into a quartet that included guitarist Bernard Gann, drummer Greg Fox, and bassist Tyler Dusenbury. Their potent blastbeats, cyclical guitars, and howling vocals prompted 20 Buck Spin to sign the group and issue the debut album Renihilation in May 2009. Produced by Krallice's Colin Marston, the record earned praise for rejecting conventional metal imagery in pursuit of a deeply spiritual character. After moving to Thrill Jockey—which reissued Renihilation in 2014—the band advanced metal's limits further on Aesthethica, released in May 2011. Again produced by Marston, this heavier, more elaborate effort landed on multiple year-end lists from major outlets.
Following Aesthethica, Hunt-Hendrix and Gann performed as a duo iteration of Liturgy. The full band then paused while Hunt-Hendrix refined its sonic direction. In the interim, the Survival collaboration with longtime associates Greg Smith and Jeff Bobula delivered a self-titled album on Thrill Jockey in 2013. Hunt-Hendrix revived Liturgy by late 2014, broadening its palette to encompass MIDI horns, bagpipes, liturgical chants, and indie rock. Fox and Dusenbury rejoined for the recording of The Ark Work, a provocative and polarizing collection that reached Thrill Jockey in March 2015.
Hunt-Hendrix introduced the electronic solo outlet Kel Valhaal in 2016 via New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala, extending mythologies first mapped on Liturgy releases. Ambitions scaled higher with Origin of the Alimonies in 2018: a video opera she composed, directed, and performed in, it premiered in New York City featuring Liturgy plus the 11-piece chamber ensemble delivering the live score. The following year it appeared in Los Angeles with the Sonic Boom Ensemble. Also in 2019, Hunt-Hendrix unveiled the trap-meets-djent project Ideal through the single "Seraphim." She closed the year with Liturgy's November release of its fourth album, H.A.Q.Q. Tied to her series of video lectures on social media, the set marked the first Liturgy album on her own YLYLCYN imprint and the first to include bassist Tia Vincent-Clark and drummer Leo Didkovsky. The label followed a year later with Origin of the Alimonies in album format alongside its video component.
By October 2022 Liturgy—now a quartet featuring second guitarist Mario Miron—issued the four-track mini-album As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time. The full-length 93696 arrived the next March. Its title numeral draws equally from Christianity and Thelema as a numerological emblem of heaven. Hunt-Hendrix shaped the music to examine "Haelegen," i.e., heaven, through observance and interplay of four laws: sovereignty, hierarchy, emancipation, and individuation. These principles guided the songs via distinct yet connected dramatic arcs woven into the personal and conceptual lyric themes. Seeking a punk-leaning tone over metal this round, the band tracked directly to tape before overlaying classical-inspired choral voices and orchestral instrumentation to heighten dramatic urgency.
Operating from Brooklyn, New York, the endeavor originated as Hunt-Hendrix's solo work before expanding in 2008 into a quartet that included guitarist Bernard Gann, drummer Greg Fox, and bassist Tyler Dusenbury. Their potent blastbeats, cyclical guitars, and howling vocals prompted 20 Buck Spin to sign the group and issue the debut album Renihilation in May 2009. Produced by Krallice's Colin Marston, the record earned praise for rejecting conventional metal imagery in pursuit of a deeply spiritual character. After moving to Thrill Jockey—which reissued Renihilation in 2014—the band advanced metal's limits further on Aesthethica, released in May 2011. Again produced by Marston, this heavier, more elaborate effort landed on multiple year-end lists from major outlets.
Following Aesthethica, Hunt-Hendrix and Gann performed as a duo iteration of Liturgy. The full band then paused while Hunt-Hendrix refined its sonic direction. In the interim, the Survival collaboration with longtime associates Greg Smith and Jeff Bobula delivered a self-titled album on Thrill Jockey in 2013. Hunt-Hendrix revived Liturgy by late 2014, broadening its palette to encompass MIDI horns, bagpipes, liturgical chants, and indie rock. Fox and Dusenbury rejoined for the recording of The Ark Work, a provocative and polarizing collection that reached Thrill Jockey in March 2015.
Hunt-Hendrix introduced the electronic solo outlet Kel Valhaal in 2016 via New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala, extending mythologies first mapped on Liturgy releases. Ambitions scaled higher with Origin of the Alimonies in 2018: a video opera she composed, directed, and performed in, it premiered in New York City featuring Liturgy plus the 11-piece chamber ensemble delivering the live score. The following year it appeared in Los Angeles with the Sonic Boom Ensemble. Also in 2019, Hunt-Hendrix unveiled the trap-meets-djent project Ideal through the single "Seraphim." She closed the year with Liturgy's November release of its fourth album, H.A.Q.Q. Tied to her series of video lectures on social media, the set marked the first Liturgy album on her own YLYLCYN imprint and the first to include bassist Tia Vincent-Clark and drummer Leo Didkovsky. The label followed a year later with Origin of the Alimonies in album format alongside its video component.
By October 2022 Liturgy—now a quartet featuring second guitarist Mario Miron—issued the four-track mini-album As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time. The full-length 93696 arrived the next March. Its title numeral draws equally from Christianity and Thelema as a numerological emblem of heaven. Hunt-Hendrix shaped the music to examine "Haelegen," i.e., heaven, through observance and interplay of four laws: sovereignty, hierarchy, emancipation, and individuation. These principles guided the songs via distinct yet connected dramatic arcs woven into the personal and conceptual lyric themes. Seeking a punk-leaning tone over metal this round, the band tracked directly to tape before overlaying classical-inspired choral voices and orchestral instrumentation to heighten dramatic urgency.
Albums
93696
2023
As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time
2022
The Ark Work
2015
Aesthethica
2011
Renihilation
2009
Singles
