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H.A.Q.Q. is the fourth studio album by the American band Liturgy. It was released on November 12, 2019 as a surprise digital release, and physically in February 2020 through main artist Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's label YLYLCYN.[3] It was primarily recorded and produced in August 2019.

H.A.Q.Q.
Studio album by Liturgy
Released	November 12, 2019 (2019-11-12)
Recorded	August 2019
Studio	Machines With Magnets, Providence Metropolis Mastering, Chicago
Genre	Black metal avant-garde metal
Length	45:11
Label	YLYLCYN
Producer	Hunter Hunt-Hendrix
Liturgy chronology
The Ark Work (2015) H.A.Q.Q. (2019) Origin of the Alimonies (2020)
Singles from H.A.Q.Q.
"God of Love" Released: September 5, 2019

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Metal Storm	8.6/10[1]
Pitchfork	7.6/10[2]

Background and concept

The press release for H.A.Q.Q. describes the record as "a consolidation of the band's sound to date," as well as "Liturgy’s most vulnerable record for Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, addressing anger and struggles around mental health, sexuality, and religion."[4] The album title is an acronym for "Haelegen above Quality and Quantity".[4] Haelegen is a function within Hunt-Hendrix's belief system, which she previously explored through the record New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala (2016); this belief system is expressed as a diagram on the cover of the album.

The album is tied to an ongoing series of philosophical lectures by Hunt-Hendrix on YouTube, which details the system of concepts portrayed by the diagram on its cover.[5]

Critical reception

Pitchfork gave the album a 7.6 out of 10, calling it "their most aggressive and radical album yet."[6] H.A.Q.Q. was ranked #30 of 2019 by fans on Rate Your Music,[7] and Kerrang called it one of the ten best surprise-released rock albums of all time.[8]

Track listing

• All track titles are stylized in all uppercase.

Personnel

Liturgy

• Hunter Hunt-Hendrix – guitar, vocals, electronics, piano (track 5, 7, 9), bells (track 5, 6), production
• Bernard Gann – guitar
• Tia Vincent-Clark – bass
• Leo Didkovsky – drums, glockenspiel (track 4, 6)

Additional personnel

• Marilu Donovan – harp (track 1, 3, 6, 8)
• Lucie Vítková – hichiriki (track 1)
• Eric Wubbels – piano (track 2)
• Adam Robinson – ryuteki (track 1)
• Tadlow Ensemble – strings (track 4, 6)
• Cory Bracken – vibraphone (track 4, 6)
• Charlotte Mundy – voice (track 1, 3)
• Matt Colton – mastering
• Seth Manchester – mixing

References

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