Brooklyn may be the last place you would expect find a black metal band. But Liturgy bucks the trend. Taking their name from the dictionary definition of a form of public worship, the band’s music is an ecstatic affirmation of becoming and an assault on the floating malaise of contemporary information-age life. The ebb and flow of their churning, swarming rhythms and melodies both models and fosters the eternal flux. After the success of their first album, Renihilation, the outfit will be releasing their second album, Aesthethica. Recently, Bestnewbands.com caught up with the band’s 25-year-old frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix to chat about the making of their second album, the lessons learned between albums and the band’s upcoming tour.

Daniel Kohn: What different about the making of this record as opposed to the first one?

Hunter Hunt-Hendrix: The first one was pulled together very quickly and recorded even more quickly. We spent a lot more time on both the composition and the recording of this second album, and put a lot of thought to its unity as a whole.

DK: What lessons have you learned to make the writing/recording process easier this go-round?

HHH: A major thing I’ve learned is that it’s important to decide on something and then wait till it’s really complete to judge it

DK: How do you like playing in Europe and what is the general reception been like?

HHH: We love to play in Europe. The reception has generally been very positive.

 

DK: Are there any songs that get a bigger reaction in Europe than in the States and vice versa?

HHH: I don’t think so. Though last time we were in Europe we got lots of requests for “Beyond the Magic Forest” from our last record, which is a song we don’t normally play live.

 

DK: Did you experiment with any new sounds on the album?

HHH: Yes there is a lot more groove on this record.

 

DK: What’s the rest of 2011 looking like? When can we expect to see the band touring in the States?

HHH: We’ll be doing a U.S. tour in July.

 

Liturgy’s record will be out June 2 on Thrill Jockey Records and check their website for tour dates.