Panegyrist – Hierurgy CD

I, Voidhanger Records proudly attends the birth of PANEGYRIST, a mysterious entity sure to take the avant-garde black metal scene by storm. Hailing from USA, PANEGYRIST’s debut full-length “Hierurgy” – meaning “ritual” or, literally, “holy work” – is an expression of burning religious impulse. This collection of meditations explores the theme of theosis, the process whereby the individual is transformed and united with God through the operations of the divine energies. “This unification is not a dissolution of self into a generic ‘divinity’,” asserts PANEGYRIST’s singer/lyricist Elijah Tamu, “but is instead a higher individuation that occurs in relation to the Divine Other, across the ontological abyss. The abyss is transcended in a manner parallel to its very existence: the living relation between the individual and God is precisely the higher unity that is made possible by the distinction. Existence itself is prayer.”

Offering a unique, vertiginous combination of avant-garde/progressive black and epic heavy metal, sacred vocal chants and powerful screams, and with the furious drumming of Marcel Szumowski – who played on INFERNO’s “Gnosis Kardias” – each track on “Hierurgy” is a spiritual working focusing on a particular aspect of theosis. Journey through alchemical riddles and contemplations on the inner and outer temple, the void and the eye, the serpent and the savior. Come at last to the shores of primordial mercury, and take flight on wings of theion, the philosophical sulfur and everliving fire.

Though conceptually dense, the music and words contained in “Hierurgy” are not merely theoretical musings; rather, they are drawn from prayers and meditations grounded in personal agonies and triumphs. “The Morning Star lights a narrow and all-consuming path,” concludes Tamu, “and these are the songs of those who dare to tread it.”