With a new LP planned for 2015, the reissue of Liturgy’s out-of-print debut from 2009 (originally released by 20 Buck Spin) is, I imagine, intended to remind listeners of the primal essence of the band's black metal sound which is well described as a "balance of pure chaos and meticulous composition".
These are the first recordings of the Brooklyn band’s quartet line-up of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (vocals, guitar), Greg Fox (drums), Bernard Gann (guitar), and Tyler Dusenbury (bass).
The album title signifies the negation of a negation which leads from nihilism to affirmation; an abstract Nietzchean-style philosophy of obliteration resulting in a perfect void of purity.
Faced with such a deep concept and the relentless onslaught of tremolo guitars and primal screams,you wouldn't dare call Renihilation optimistic. Nevertheless, the acknowledgement of positive outcomes of dark thoughts shows the album is not so deeply mired in depression as many by their immediate peers on the Hellfest circuit..
Still it's not so easy to find glimmers of hope. With vocals composed almost exclusively of guttural growls, any attempt to discern meaning from the lyrics is futile. Furthermore, to interpret howls in terms of pain or pleasure becomes a largely subjective exercise.
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In Pagan Dawn I equate the high-pitched wails as being like the screams of a witch trapped in a burning house; but that probably says more about the workings of my brain than any of the band's true intentions.
Four short untitled vocal tracks are drone incantations which offer a respite from the maelstrom of intense noise and you may reason that a track entitled Beyond the Magic Forest can't be entirely focused on negative forces.
The band's acclaimed follow-up album, 2011's Aesthethica, took Hunt-Hendrix's vision even further away from the vortex of suffering normally associated with black metal. Tracks like Tragic Laurel and Helix Skull on that record even suggested the band might make a side turn into classical minimalism.
Time will tell what direction Liturgy will take with their future release(s) but if I was a betting man I'd lay odds on that darkness and gloom will still triumph over sweetness and light.
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