Liturgy – H.A.Q.Q. (2019)

April 14, 2023

Holy shit this is one of the most insane things I have ever heard. Incredible, explosive, volatile yet so delicate – honestly, words are escaping me right now as I start to try and solidify my thoughts on this thing into one digestible soundbite. It is worth mentioning that I am familiar with Liturgy’s earlier works, specifically Aesthethica, but its been a long, long time since I checked in on this project.

My initial reaction to the insane explosions of sound that grace this album is that the band are composing something akin to a more black metal influenced take on what Swans were doing between 2010 and 2016. But then, shit starts glitching out too, and you get all these other electronic and percussion elements thrown in as well, which are almost incomprehensible at first. It’s like somebody threw a vinyl copy of To Be Kind into a cement mixer along with a copy of Sunbather, a SNES console, a bunch of strange unidentified religious texts and a child’s plastic recorder instrument.

Sonically overwhelming and entirely fulfilling, HAQQ demands all of your attention and rewards you for giving it. The fact that this record has escaped me until 2023 is incredible.