To say that metal of any variety is not in my wheelhouse is an understatement; I don’t even mostly understand metal music, because I have a really hard time finding the lines in it. So I agreed to go see Liturgy at Duke Coffeehouse with Louis with a little trepidation. It could be great, it could be a total trainwreck. But I’m game for most stuff — I loved HONKY’s country-hardcore odes to breakfast foods, after all — and it was five bucks, and I hadn’t been to the Coffeehouse in years, and I enjoy Louis’s company and his taste, and I trust him when he says I probably won’t be totally horrified by [whatever].

It turns out? I had a really great time. I’m still not sure I understand metal and I’m not sure I ever totally will, and I’m not sure I’d ever sit down and say, now I am going to listen to a Liturgy album, but I genuinely enjoyed their set last night. At the moment, minus a drummer, they’re two guys wailing on guitars with a loop pedal and a laptop, and I was fascinated and completely captivated by the music and the noise that they made. Metal is still not my thing; but it’s pretty damn easy to see why it is, for some people. I feel educated, a little, and definitely well rocked. So props and thanks to Lou for that, and to Liturgy for introducing me gently but loudly to the world of black metal.