As The Blood of God Bursts The Veins of Time

Liturgy has a record slated for the new year, but to tide us over until then, we have this companion EP. I didn't find it too dissimilar in sound, production style, or composition from H.A.Q.Q. which was a little disappointing. I thought there were many riffs, angular leads, and glitchy edits that were quite indistinguishable from that record. Even though this feels like a rehash of old ideas, I did still enjoy the first two tracks which were considerably more groovy than black metal tends to be. 969 I enjoyed a little less because of all the strings and glockenspiel making the already messy mix even more cacophonous. The closing track was the only real surprise, a somewhat tender guitar and piano piece with some somber vocalizations. The glitchy artifacts are incredibly prominent on this track which makes it interesting and unsettling at the same time. As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time is a decent teaser to the album, although I'm hoping that Liturgy can experiment a little more and introduce some new sounds. Something to make it feel more fresh and exciting.