Hunt-Hendrix broadens black metal sound with Liturgy

In 2010, Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, the lead singer of the formerly classified black metal group Liturgy, wrote a manifesto on a new subgenre of metal that he had created. He called it Transcendental Black Metal, which takes the closed-minded tenants of Scandinavian black metal and enlightens them, synthesizing music into something more courageous, diverse and symphonic – with less screaming.

The idea came to him in his college dorm room. “I indentified black metal with the tortured state that I was in at the time, when I was 20,” he said. “Then I had a vision. ... It took a couple of years after that to hone it. I want to use the tools of this thing that I love to adequately express a lot of pent up emotions I had, I guess. Those moments don’t happen very often in someone’s life.”

Hunt-Hendrix, a Brooklyn-based musician who studied philosophy, received a torrent of irate feedback from his stance, but he’s since recovered nicely. Liturgy’s latest record, the March-released “The Ark Work,” finally sees his revelation coming full circle (listen to tracks “Follow II” and “Kel Valhaal” to get an idea). Gone is much of the bleating featured on the band’s previous release, “Aesthethica,” and more emphasis on a pastiche of classical and rap elements.

Metal music surely isn’t for everybody, but what Liturgy’s doing, as Hunt-Hendrix puts it, is “we’re trying to help something new be born,” he says. The band played MidPoint Fest last year and makes their return to Cincinnati when they play the Woodward Theater on July 15. Hunt-Hendrix spoke to us about the new record and why non-metal fans should come to their show.

Question: How would you describe a Liturgy show to someone who’s never been to one?

Answer: There was a time when we were more a part of a metal scene. Liturgy was known as a black metal band, and more metal audiences would come to the show. Now it’s just Liturgy fans who come to the show. It’s not really as much about metal, which I’m glad about, because I think our music has a broader reach than that.

It’s a very energetic performance. We have friends in bands who kind of go out and stand there and play their songs. With Liturgy it’s a very involved and visceral process in playing the music, which gets pretty tiring doing it day after day. In a perfect world we would maybe play a show every five days. We keep doing it over and over again. It’s so intense.

Q: What would you say to convince a non-metal fan to come to your show?

A: We’ve thought about that. I think that a lot of people would love Liturgy if they could only get a chance to hear it. It doesn’t necessarily make it sound more attractive if I say I’m adding classical music and rap elements to black metal. It’s really kind of emotionally unique music that’s original. That’s the reason to check it out.

Q: Would you say the new record is the epitome of your vision of Transcendental Black Metal?

A: Every record we’ve done is a little different so far. This one certainly goes the furthest into what I imagine the style to be. Now I’m working on a new record, which is actually a lot more stripped down. I’m trying to purify the sound a little bit now and make something that’s shorter and simpler. There are always new ways to spin it. At the time of writing that record, it was the closest to the sound that I think it could be.

Q: Since you’ve become Transcendental Black Metal, have you noticed other bands following suite?

A: I don’t know how influential we are. Maybe we’ll be more influential to a younger generation that just started to make music, or maybe we won’t be influential at all. I certainly don’t hear lots of bands that are emulating our style.

Q: You started the band in 2008. Today, do you think the band’s evolved into your vision back then?

A: With this new record, it’s definitely flowered. I’m interested in finding a way to use this music in a dramatic context. We were talking about films scores. For me, part of the vision is combining music with a narrative of some kind. Like a David Lynch film – like a really strange, cosmic narrative. I don’t know if that’s Liturgy exactly, but I think that we can make new Liturgy records that are variations on a lot of things that I’ve already done.

Liturgy

Where: The Woodward Theater

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Tickets: $12 advance, $14 day of show, woodwardtheater.com