Liturgy have announced the release of their fifth studio album, Origin of the Alimonies, which is the soundtrack to the bandās opera of the same name. The album arrives November 20th, and Liturgy have offered up a preview with the new song āLonely OIOIONā.
Origin of the Alimonies was originally announced last year alongside 2019ās excellent H.A.Q.Q.. Both albums were planned for a 2020 release, but the bandās chief songwriter and leader Hunter Hunt-Hendrix altered those plans, surprise releasing H.A.Q.Q. while holding back Origin, which had previously been performed live as a proper opera.
The move worked out, giving each album the spotlight it rightfully deserves. H.A.Q.Q. was greeted with overwhelming praise for its combination of composed black metal and Hunt-Hendrixās microtonal production wizardry. āLonely OIOIONā ā the aria from the opera ā takes us back into the labyrinthian soundscapes the band created on its last album. The opera was originally intended as a companion piece, after all.
Liturgy are dabbling in metal of the most futuristic strain, with an equally uncompromising vision for the overall project. In addition to music, Liturgy act as a vessel for many of Hunt-Hendrixās artistic scholarly inclinations, from museum exhibits to a quasi-religious theology created by Hunt-Hendrix known as the āSystem of Transcendental Qabalaā. The multimedia experience goes far beyond the songs themselves for those willing to investigate the bandās complex web of lore and self-mythology (i.e. Hunt-Hendrixās controversial transcendental black metal āmanifestoā).
Central to the theme of Origin of the Alimonies is Hunt-Hendrixās gender transition, according to the albumās press release. The opera ātells the story of a cosmogonical traumatic explosion between OIOION and SIHEYMN, a pair of divine beings whose thwarted love tears a wound from which civilization is generated, producing the Four Alimonies of the intelligible universe and the task of collective emancipation.ā Familiarity with Hunt-Hendrixās writings and lectures almost seems necessary to deciphering the bandās mysteries, but as āLonely OIOIONā goes on to prove, the music still remains captivating on its own terms.
Pre-order Origin of the Alimonies via Liturgyās Bandcamp. Listen to āLonely OIOIONā and check out the operaās trailer, Hunt-Hendrixās video announcement, and the NSFW album art below.
Origin of the Alimonies Artwork: