Best of NYC #39: Liturgy

We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel and DJs).

Liturgy are New York’s first black metal band to truly feel like New York—the hypnotic churn of Glenn Branca or Rhys Chatham; the transcendent ecstasy of La Monte Young’s Dream Syndicate; the art-punker cutter sprawl of the Swans or Suicide; the everydude psych of Oneida. Dudes are more likely to wear a Michael Jordan shirt than corpsepaint, more likely to attack metal with a noise-punkers zeal, more likely to make love than war. To wit: Drummer Greg Fox clearly values power and theatrics over speed, watching his BPM increase over the last two years has been nothing short of mesmerizing. – Christopher R. Weingarten