PopMatters' 20 Best Metal Albums of 2023

Since the release of 2011’s *Aesthethica*, Brooklyn’s Liturgy have positioned themselves as a kind of black-metal band for listeners indifferent to the conventions of black metal—a stance no doubt aggravated by the self-consciously obscure philosophies of frontperson Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix, who has done as much to poke the genre as she has to expand it. At 82 minutes, *93696* probably isn’t the kind of album you’ll listen to in one sitting, but its weird juxtapositions of flute fragments (“Red Crown II”), choral arrangements (“Angel of Sovereignty”), and black-metal comfort food (“Djennaration”) are provocative in any measure. Ambitious, but immediate, too.

"Since 2019, a spectral entity earthly summoned as Lamp of Murmuur gradually ascended as one of the furthermost esteemed and sought of luminaries within the rawest most crude innards of Black Metal. Such following and public awareness does not stand as a certitude merely grounded on good music. In a niche that presently perceives clear signs of overabundance and counterfeit expression, Lamp of Murmuur prospered, particularly owing its opulence to a vision that didn’t establish itself after an easy pathway - one of exploring a microclimate towards exhaustion - instead displaying there was no guidelines for the artistic manifestation behind the distressing specter behind it. From the raw lo-fi approach of the band’s beginnings to the gothic and melodic overtones trailed on recent times, Lamp of Murmuur redefines itself yet again with a fervorous new declaration of strength and vigor, a ghastly beast under the title “Saturnian Bloodstorm”. From its very early storming chords, one faces a frantic swaying of rabid riffs and intricate rhythm segments, a visceral trail of electrical magnetism. An ardent restless voice narrates this offering with poisonous might and nocturnal fever conjoined with the six-string sharpness, expanded through a razor-sharp sound production, blazing with a dynamic edge, organically mixing cleanness and aggression in a mantra of potency and (un)pure fanaticism. Inspired by the core edge and raging solemnity of Black Metal’s history, “Saturnian Bloodstorm” is as varied as it is organic, offering tumultuous instrumental proficiency under fast, raging bursts of sonic aggression intertwined with brilliant mid-tempo sections, ever epic and ice-cold in its riffing extravaganza. Released through Argento Records (EU) and Not Kvlt (USA), “Saturnian Bloodstorm” stands as an opus of Black Metal might, hailing The Seven Spears of Fever with raging chaos, an eternal spark of flaming delight." -M.S.