This is one of the reasons I love Liturgy. They use these long-form rhythmic patterns that are sometimes so sprawling that they're hard to notice while listening, but they're also the parts of the song that eventually get stuck in your head. Similarly, in their album H.A.Q.Q. there are rhythmic motifs that span multiple songs and really makes that album feel cohesive.
The Ark Work is a brilliant album and this song is definitely a highlight off of it. The spoken word vocals that come in later also make it feel even more urgent.
Found this song a few months ago and it's been a huge pleasure listening and picking up the patterns intuitively. It's incredible seeing it divided and formally laid out. I don't really know much about music theory so I mostly enjoy just picking things up by ear, but I wonder if this is going to help me understand and express better how these mechanisms work. Such an exciting channel, thank you!
This makes quite a bit of sense actually. HHH has listed glenn branca as one of her major influences, and unpatterned varible systems are a common thing in totalist music.
We "the metal heads" are quite clever ... but it sounds mostly like we have no idea how to play instruments... by the way ... You are ALIEN ,Men in Black are on the trail of you
This reminds me a lot of generative music on modular synths, where you can 'program' in simple rules and let the system randomly choose what comes next. Or one of my favourite things to do with (modular) synths is to have two sequencers playing very simple sequences, both in the same key, but of different lengths. Then by adding the CVs you get from the sequencers before sending them to the oscillators you can get a huge variation of different but related melodies by simply shifting both sequencers relative to each other (this works especially well if you choose prime numbers as sequence lengths).
On the topic of application of theory: Can you discuss how one can effectively count and subdivide this sort of complex set of patterns in practice? What sort of things did you learn in school for performance of such complex material?
An interesting question! Not much I did in school would have helped with this. I come up with various ad hoc shortcuts for notating this type of thing to look at while I'm playing, and if I practice enough I eventually memorize them. Kind of reminds me of competitions where people memorize strings of random numbers or playing cards and the tricks they come up with for that. I'd be interested to talk to other people who write / play music like this to see what strategies they have!
lel i love the endless hate on liturgy. so funny to despise a random band because the frontman is trans, and it actually happens to be cool music. this very much reflects on traditional black metal values
Pardon me, but you've got that all wrong. Liturgy got all the hate way way way before Hunter transitioned to Haela. It was never about that. It was about Hunter back then having written a manifesto where he laid out his ideas about transcendental black metal as a reaction and alternative to black metal and even giving a lecture about it back then. Black metal purists and close minded folks found him to be: up his own arse, badmouthing black metal by inventing an opposing lighter version of it, a softy weirdo that was thinking way too far out of the box and bastardising their genre. I think that at this point, the internet has caused a much wider acceptance and mixing of genres and because of this, Hendrix' music is much more understood and praised nowadays.
@@billy2896 Maybe a bit. From what I can gather though, she's more loved and embraced than ever! Her recent album has been very well understood and received. She definitely deserves that. I've been a fan of the band since Aesthetica and I've loved every album of theirs. She writes such layered, mind-bending, rapturous music! Sure, there will always be bullies and haters (that goes for every artist), especially since she's very idiosyncratic with her whole esoteric philosophical spiritual framework and gesamtkunstwerk ethos underpinning her music. It will weird people out.
Neat! Have you got that written down anywhere for the final playthrough? That's some brutal memorization if not, I tend to write little mnemonics for anything that obtuse.
Thanks! Yeah I had some scribbles I was looking at showing the rhythmic road map and roughly where the pitches change, but I didn't write out a full transcription. Some stretches I had memorized but others always seemed to catch me by surprise (which is why the playthrough is so patchy lol)
I still can't believe I got memed into thinking Liturgy was bad as a kid. Great vid, and great channel!
liturgy was never bad even that first ep they made is so overly hated
My guy's phrase:
"Here's one of the most original, exciting sections of music I've heard in metal in the last 10 years or so."
My guy's face:
😐😐😐
This is one of the reasons I love Liturgy. They use these long-form rhythmic patterns that are sometimes so sprawling that they're hard to notice while listening, but they're also the parts of the song that eventually get stuck in your head. Similarly, in their album H.A.Q.Q. there are rhythmic motifs that span multiple songs and really makes that album feel cohesive.
Same thing with dodecahedron
I love music
getting a new job where i will have much more time to sit and digest all of your amazing videos! keep em up man!
Never thought I would see Liturgy covered. This song rocks
The Ark Work is a brilliant album and this song is definitely a highlight off of it. The spoken word vocals that come in later also make it feel even more urgent.
omg this is one of my fave songs of all time
Found this song a few months ago and it's been a huge pleasure listening and picking up the patterns intuitively. It's incredible seeing it divided and formally laid out. I don't really know much about music theory so I mostly enjoy just picking things up by ear, but I wonder if this is going to help me understand and express better how these mechanisms work. Such an exciting channel, thank you!
Absolutely love this song, thanks for this 🤘
how the hell have I not heard about liturgy before! Thanks a lot man!
Brilliant ! You made me discover this awesome song + your analyze is beyond great, keep doing what you do !
This is amazing. I feel like I should practice to create at least 1 song to apply lessons learned fro each of your analysis.
Hell this should have much more views, brilliant, thank you! And thanks for meshuggah video.
This makes quite a bit of sense actually. HHH has listed glenn branca as one of her major influences, and unpatterned varible systems are a common thing in totalist music.
has she got a list of influences written online somewhere?
There's a couple of interviews listed on Wikipedia. Can't post them here because links automatically get removed.
Thank you for all your videos!!
We "the metal heads" are quite clever ... but it sounds mostly like we have no idea how to play instruments... by the way ... You are ALIEN ,Men in Black are on the trail of you
This reminds me a lot of generative music on modular synths, where you can 'program' in simple rules and let the system randomly choose what comes next. Or one of my favourite things to do with (modular) synths is to have two sequencers playing very simple sequences, both in the same key, but of different lengths. Then by adding the CVs you get from the sequencers before sending them to the oscillators you can get a huge variation of different but related melodies by simply shifting both sequencers relative to each other (this works especially well if you choose prime numbers as sequence lengths).
Absolutely! There was a time when I was messing around with programming things like this in Max...
Great videos!!
This and Veins of God are my favourites.
Please please please make a new video for Liturgy's new record. Speaking of, what did you think of it? Some of the most genius stuff I've ever heard
Nice kralice shirt.
On the topic of application of theory: Can you discuss how one can effectively count and subdivide this sort of complex set of patterns in practice? What sort of things did you learn in school for performance of such complex material?
An interesting question! Not much I did in school would have helped with this. I come up with various ad hoc shortcuts for notating this type of thing to look at while I'm playing, and if I practice enough I eventually memorize them. Kind of reminds me of competitions where people memorize strings of random numbers or playing cards and the tricks they come up with for that. I'd be interested to talk to other people who write / play music like this to see what strategies they have!
Do generation from the first album next man, thats one of my favorite tracks
Ooh a deep cut, I'll add it to the list!
@@metalmusictheory5401 yeah i mean, doing a 7 minute song on one riff must have its intricacies
lel i love the endless hate on liturgy. so funny to despise a random band because the frontman is trans, and it actually happens to be cool music.
this very much reflects on traditional black metal values
Pardon me, but you've got that all wrong. Liturgy got all the hate way way way before Hunter transitioned to Haela. It was never about that. It was about Hunter back then having written a manifesto where he laid out his ideas about transcendental black metal as a reaction and alternative to black metal and even giving a lecture about it back then. Black metal purists and close minded folks found him to be: up his own arse, badmouthing black metal by inventing an opposing lighter version of it, a softy weirdo that was thinking way too far out of the box and bastardising their genre. I think that at this point, the internet has caused a much wider acceptance and mixing of genres and because of this, Hendrix' music is much more understood and praised nowadays.
@@rijntje73 oh no, i agree with you, i just mean how it's something currently being used to bash her.
@@billy2896 Maybe a bit. From what I can gather though, she's more loved and embraced than ever! Her recent album has been very well understood and received. She definitely deserves that. I've been a fan of the band since Aesthetica and I've loved every album of theirs. She writes such layered, mind-bending, rapturous music! Sure, there will always be bullies and haters (that goes for every artist), especially since she's very idiosyncratic with her whole esoteric philosophical spiritual framework and gesamtkunstwerk ethos underpinning her music. It will weird people out.
Neat! Have you got that written down anywhere for the final playthrough? That's some brutal memorization if not, I tend to write little mnemonics for anything that obtuse.
Thanks! Yeah I had some scribbles I was looking at showing the rhythmic road map and roughly where the pitches change, but I didn't write out a full transcription. Some stretches I had memorized but others always seemed to catch me by surprise (which is why the playthrough is so patchy lol)
Not the best one but the first one! (Comment)
Interestin, but I hate it lol. Sounds dreadful to me.