Hunter Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix (born January 25, 1985) is an American musician and composer. She is best known for her work as creator, lead singer, and guitarist of black metal band Liturgy.[2]
Hunter Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1985-01-25) January 25, 1985 (age 37)[1] |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Black metal, avant-garde metal, experimental rock, classical music |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, vocalist, guitarist, filmmaker |
| Labels | YLYLCYN, Thrill Jockey, 20 Buck Spin |
| Website | http://liturgy.bandcamp.com |
| Relatives | H. L. Hunt (grandfather) Lamar Hunt (uncle) Clark Hunt (cousin) |
Hunt-Hendrix was born in 1985 in New York City,[1] the child of academician Helen LaKelly Hunt and self-help author Harville Hendrix.[3][4] She is a member of the Hunt oil/football family which includes her grandfather oil tycoon H. L. Hunt, her uncle Lamar Hunt, and her cousin Clark Hunt.[4] Hunt-Hendrix grew up in New Mexico, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York.[5]
In May 2020, Hunt-Hendrix came out as transgender in an Instagram post, writing, "The love I have to give is a woman's love, if only because it is mine. To varying degrees many already understand this, but I'd like to make a clear statement about my actual gender."[6]
Hunt-Hendrix formed Liturgy as a solo project while attending Columbia University in New York City.[1] In 2008, Hunt-Hendrix released the EP Immortal Life under the Liturgy name, and the band cohered as a quartet with Bernard Gann (guitar), Greg Fox (drums), and Tyler Dusenbury (bass). Liturgy released their first full-length record, Renihilation, in 2009. Shortly after, Hunt-Hendrix published the philosophical treatise "Transcendental Black Metal: A Vision of Apocalyptic Humanism" as part of the Hideous Gnosis Black Metal symposium.[7] Liturgy's second and third albums, Aesthethica (2011) and The Ark Work (2015), were released with Thrill Jockey Records. Despite the critical success of Aesthetica,[8] Hunt-Hendrix stated in an interview with Pitchfork that "I was never happy with any other Liturgy release. I didn’t want to release them. But the aim with this one (The Ark Work) was to take that musical vibe and execute it all the way—and I love it."[5]
In November 2019, Liturgy debuted their fourth studio album, H.A.Q.Q. The album features a new lineup, with original members Hunt-Hendrix and Gann joined by Tia Vincent-Clark (bass) and Leo Didkovsky (drums); on H.A.Q.Q., the band is accompanied by an ensemble including harp, hichiriki, piano, ryuteki, vibraphone, voice, and assorted strings.[9] Hunt-Hendrix also began releasing a series of videos explaining the philosophical system that informed the album and is depicted on its cover.[10]
On November 20, 2020, Liturgy released their fifth full-length studio album, the "cosmogonical opera-album" Origin of the Alimonies; with the release came the announcement of an accompanying operatic film written, shot, edited by, and starring Hunt-Hendrix.[11] As with previous Liturgy releases, Origin of the Alimonies is part of Hunt-Hendrix's larger philosophical and mythological framework. The opera "tells the story of a cosmological traumatic explosion between OIOION and SIHEYMN, a pair of divine beings whose thwarted love tears a wound from which civilization is generated, producing the Four Alimonies of the intelligible universe and the task of collective emancipation."[12] Hunt-Hendrix debuted an earlier version of the video opera at National Sawdust in October 2018.[13]
In 2005, Hunt-Hendrix’s screamo side project The Birthday Boyz released their debut album The Bro Cycle. Following this, Hunt-Hendrix collaborated with Krallice guitarist Collin Marston and former Birthday Boyz bandmates Greg Smith and Jeff Bobula to form the band Survival, who released their eponymous debut in 2013.[14]
In 2016 Hunt-Hendrix released an electronic album titled New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala under the band name Kel Valhaal.[15] Hunt-Hendrix describes the release as combining elements of classical music, electronic music, rap, and metal,[16] as well as working "to activate transcendental catharsis using the elements of sound design."[17]
In September 2019, Hunt-Hendrix released the single "Seraphim" with the "trap-djent" band Ideal.
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