''Aesthethica'' is the second studio album by

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

-based

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. Produced by

Krallice Krallice is an American black metal band from the Woodhaven, Queens neighborhood of New York City. Formed in 2007 by musicians Colin Marston and Mick Barr, they play an experimental metal, experimental, highly technical style of black metal. In ...

guitarist

Colin Marston Colin Marston (born September 13, 1982) is an American record producer and musician residing in New York City. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music technology in 2004, and owns Menegroth The Thousand Cav ...

, the album was released on May 10, 2011 via

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

ranked it as number 26 on Spin's 50 Best Albums of 2011, and ''

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'' placed the album at number 41 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011".

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Aesthethica'' received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 72, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 13 reviews. In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, critic reviewer Thom Jurek wrote: "''Aesthethica'' consists of intricate, sophisticated songs, full of majesty, nearly insane drive, intention, and the frighteningly unleashed power of emotion. This is extreme music. It may come to define or utterly transcend metal, but it doesn't matter because this album is in its own class." Jason Heller of ''

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'' said the album "carries plenty of Renihilation’s momentum." At ''

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'', Jamie Thomson explained: "While their second album ticks off plenty of genre tropes – bloodcurdling screamed vocals, kinetic drum blasts, and the kind of left-field musical excursions that are now de rigueur for any reasonably experimental BM band – it is difficult to escape the impression of Liturgy as chin-stroking dilettantes."

Accolades

Track listing

"Harmonia" contains a hidden track on the CD version. The song itself lasts for approximately 5:31 and the hidden track lasts for approximately 1:37, with just under a minute of silence between them. Additionally, "Sun of Light" contains just under a minute of silence after the song. Both silences and the hidden track are omitted from the vinyl edition; however, "Veins of God" has an extended coda on the vinyl pressing that stretches the song's length to approximately 9:28.

Personnel

Band members *

Haela Hunt-Hendrix Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix (formerly Hunter Hunt-Hendrix; born January 25, 1985), also known as HHH, is an American musician and composer best known for her work as a creator, lead singer, and guitarist of experimental black metal band Liturgy. ...

– guitar, vocals *Tyler Dusenbury – bass *Greg Fox – drums *Bernard Gann – guitar Production *

Heba Kadry Heba Kadry is an Egyptian mastering engineer who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her work with Björk, Beach House, Slowdive, The Mars Volta, Neon Indian, Wooden Shjips, Lightning Bolt, White Hills, Alex G, Futur ...

– mastering *

– production, engineering, mixing

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2011 albums Liturgy (band) albums Thrill Jockey albums