Thrill Jockey. A label known for its wide musical scope. Tortoise. Gaunt. Trans Am. David Byrne. Mouse On Mars. Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake. So, where does black metal fit into the aforementioned? It doesn’t. Which is precisely the point, I think. Satan’s square peg in New Music’s round hole.
Brooklynites Liturgy have taken black metal’s primal scream literally and applied it to an experimental framework. Actually, from the sounds of Aesthethica lead-off track “High Gold”, it’s the other way ’round. Apart from the opening and ending sonic bookends, “High Gold” is a furious, repetitious, and dissonant salvo carved out the same mindset that has carried fellow New Yorkers Krallice to acclaimed heights. Ultimately, Liturgy’s “High Gold” rules.
Behold “High Gold”:
[audio:https://www.decibelmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/01-High-Gold1.mp3]
** Liturgy’s Aesthethica is out May 10th, 2011 on Thrill Jockey Records.
