The Ark Work

Their music isn’t for everybody, but those who enjoy musical adventurism would do well to give The Ark Work a try. Even if you hate it, you certainly won’t be bored. For those of us who are already on board, this is an exciting next step from Aesthetica, and it will be interesting to see where they can possibly go from here.

The Ark Work is best at its most explorative rather than its most punishing.

This is captivatingly repetitive music that grabs the listener by the throat and drags him into a higher aural and indeed emotional plane.

The Ark Work pays tribute to Hunt-Hendrix’s dogged desire to push listeners’ buttons. Sure, this could all be a massive wind-up, but to these ears Liturgy seem to have melted down the traditional ingredients of black metal and crafted it into something unyielding, unique and ultimately engrossing.

It's catchy without sacrificing heft. It's a behemoth, but also sounds meditative. Furthermore, it doesn't seem to compromise so much as heartily invite the genres it dives into.

Mr. Hunt-Hendrix is a feckless, floppy-voiced singer, and either for reasons of safety or rigor he often sticks to a single tone organized into rhythmic phrasing. The monotony can become crazy-making. And sometimes these songs become facile and grandiose.... But the band knows its virtues and works them hard: density, repetition, development, perversity, integration, catharsis.

The result is often challenging, occasionally rapturous, and always without peer.

As heavy-handed and impenetrable as that philosophy might seem, The Ark Work is still triumphant and interesting enough musically to keep fans satisfied.