New York, NY

Since 2009, Liturgy has been both a critical darling and a lightning rod for conversation about what is and isn’t black metal. Like their contemporaries Deafheaven, Liturgy draw from a foundation of extreme music but tear apart so-called “rules” with each release. Their albums have featured everything from synthesizers to bagpipes, and while there’s a vocal minority among metal fans who like to gatekeep and shout down defectors from genre constraints, Liturgy is a band that has proved itself beyond these semantic arguments. 

From cemented classics Aesthetica (2011) and The Ark Work (2015) to bold newer works H.A.Q.Q. (2019) and Origin of the Alimonies (2020), the band has undergone many a lineup change and frontwoman Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix’s own gender transition. Through countless challenges and breakthroughs, Hunt-Hendrix’s fiendish howls, apocalyptic shredding and compositional spontaneity always remain at the forefront. 

Always flipping the script, the band makes its Sled Island debut in support of new album 93696, perhaps Liturgy’s most straight-up metal album to date. It’s yet another surprise in a career chock full of them, and one we eagerly await.