I’m a sucker for stories of songs with the word Quetzalcoatl in them. Not only has Liturgy created such a song, this “Transcendental Black Metal” band is the ideal outfit to concoct such a ditty. Liturgy does a singular sort of Gothic church music, respecting sacred compositional structures and noting the connections between medieval plainsong, classical new-music, drum-n-bass, Beatles and layered-on production techniques. The results are enthralling, and do to me what Monteverdi and Byrd can do to me, but using tools and references from this century. It’s a higher calling, just as Quetzocoatl is a flying feathered serpent worshipped by Aztecs.

The song’s a teaser for the upcoming (third) Liturgy album The Ark Work, coming out on the Thrill Jockey label March 24.