There are so many brilliant contradictions inside Liturgy's first studio full-length that it's almost headache-inducing to try and pull the whole thing apart. Every aspect of the album is an inverse of itself; a wondrous balancing act of triumph and desperation that throws the listener head first into a state of dark ecstasy. Such is the process of Renihilation, a term coined by band founder and guitarist/frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix to refer to the end product of a dissension against dissension, creating something entirely new and clear in the face of destruction.

Renihilation begins with a multi-layered vocal track, one of four musical interludes, all simply titled "-." It sounds almost like Animal Collective, if the animals were ancient and mythological, covered in corpse paint. And all the sudden, a drumroll brings on "Pagan Dawn," a fiery blast of painfully uplifting black metal. Tremolo guitars move transparently through major and minor vamps, with Hunt-Hendrix's prophetic death screams somehow escaping to the top in a courageous blaze of raw emotion. Renihilation has little need for alteration. Other than a couple doom-inspired breakdowns halfway through the album in "Ecstatic Rite" and "Arctica," the album moves at a familiar pace through its 40-minute run time. And somewhere between drummer Greg Fox's excavating blast beats and Hunt-Hendrix and guitarist Bernard Gann's dueling guitar arpeggios, a conflicting feeling of fear and admittance will make you realize this is the black metal album of the decade.


Tracklist For Renihilation
01. -
02. Pagan Dawn
03. Mysterium
04. -
05. Ecstatic Rite
06. Arctica
07. -
08. Beyond The Magic Forest
09. -
10. Behind The Void
11. Renihilation

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