Three 65, Day 32
Liturgy, Aesthethica

(Side note: I haven't been posting religiously this week, partly because I'm sidelined by a bad cold and partly because Blogger.com can't be bothered to get their shit together. Hang tight, kiddies - Chin Slinky is back with a vengeance.)

I overheard this album a few days ago while shopping at my favorite record store, and bought it nearly sight unseen based on maybe 3.5 minutes of hearing one of the tracks. It's just that kind of album.

Liturgy has been labeled "hipster black metal" by the press, which is kind of funny. They are certainly a metal band - riffing, blastbeat drumming, and howled vocals abound - but their approach is incredibly off-beat. Abandoning almost all of the tropes of modern metal, Liturgy have chosen to instead ally themselves with the Brooklyn crowd, performing without make-up in jeans and t-shirts and signing to indie stalwart label Thrill Jockey for this release. If you know anything about Thrill Jockey, you know the number of metal bands they had on their roster before Liturgy showed up was a whopping zero.

All of that having been said, how is the music? Exhilarating. It boils down to a simple equation: (black metal) x (math rock) = good good times. The band plays like their hearts are in their mouths, which is a requirement for this kind of music; the sheer energy on display blows your hair nearly off your head.

Don't be confused by song titles like "Sun Of Light" and "Helix Skull" and "Veins Of God." Don't be confused by a lyric sheet that focuses on mindless metal anti-Catholic posturing (you can't understand the lyrics when sung anyway; it's all just psychotic howling). This is experimental rock, plain and simple. When the band digs into "Generation" for 7+ minutes of the same damn riff over and over - effectively creating the most annoying song since Revolting Cocks' "Let's (Talk) Physical" - you know something more profound than mere metal is at work. Liturgy's Aesthethica rocks on so many levels, you can't be expected to get it all at once.