Liturgy

Liturgy began in 2005 as a solo project of Haela Hunt-Hendrix, who started it in New York City while studying at Columbia University. After the Immortal Life recordings, the project grew into a four-piece in 2008, with Bernard Gann on guitar, Greg Fox on drums and Tyler Dusenbury on bass. Hunt-Hendrix has described the band’s music as “transcendental black metal.”

The debut full-length Renihilation appeared on 20 Buck Spin in 2009. Liturgy then moved to Thrill Jockey, which released Aesthethica in May 2011. Recorded by the Hunt-Hendrix, Gann, Fox and Dusenbury line-up, the album took a more controlled, layered approach than its predecessor, with songs often built up from simple, chant-like figures into complex arrangements. It was ranked 26th on SPIN’s list of the 50 best albums of 2011.

After a pause, the band returned with The Ark Work in 2015, a record that broadened the sound with electronic elements. In 2016 Hunt-Hendrix also released electronic music under the name Kel Valhaal.

H.A.Q.Q. was released without advance notice in November 2019, the first Liturgy album on Hunt-Hendrix’s own label YLYLCYN, and introduced bassist Tia Vincent-Clark and drummer Leo Didkovsky. It was followed in November 2020 by Origin of the Alimonies, an opera-album that had first been staged as a video opera.

The sixth studio album, 93696, was released by Thrill Jockey in March 2023, with guitarist Mario Miron joining Vincent-Clark and Didkovsky.

Liturgy remain active. In July 2026 Hunt-Hendrix issued the project’s early recordings from 2005–2008, including The Paranoiac Miracle and Harmonium, digitally for the first time.