Liturgy - Renihilation

(12 Feb 2011)

There exists at least one video on Youtube of the sound of a pulsar. It's a sort of clacking sound that occupies the entire spectrum, and with an unevenness in the loudness that it sounds almost like a living creature. This album sounds quite similar to that.

The album starts with a lot of voices being layered together, starting off minuscule, and but becoming huge before the end of the first untitled track. What follows is an endless onslaught of speed and hugeness only made slightly smaller during the three other untitled tracks. It's not exactly music in the usual sense of the word. There are elements of music thrown in, but it is more of a sound, a feeling, than an album. Liturgy's debut pulsates, it breathes, and the actual details of what is being played are like a personality, an emotion. Everything is part of a whole, and creates a very unique atmosphere. The constant use of different harmonies and extreme speed has a trance-like effect. You will find it very difficult to remeber any part of the album after listening to it, but you will remember that you enjoyed it.

The only problem I have with this album, and the reason why it isn't perfect is that it's incredibly easy to lose your attention and see yourself listening to pure noise, which ends up quite boring. But when you manage to focus, what you find is the extent of Liturgy's achievement. Renihilation goes beyond music. There is melody here, there is rhythm, but they don't actually make the album any more musical. Instead, this album connects with you and takes you to a higher plane. Everything feels like it's in its place. The album has a personality and sticks to it throughout. And, in the process, Liturgy reinvent a genre and, just like Worlds Beyond The Veil, show a new way of looking at music. A great achievement.

Standout tracks:

Pagan Dawn
Ecstatic Rite
Untitled (track 9)
Behind The Void