Impressed by the intense blastbeats, cyclical guitar riffs, and howling vocals, 20 Buck Spin signed Liturgy for their first album, Renihilation, in 2009. Later, the band joined Thrill Jockey's diverse roster for their 2011 follow-up, Aesthethica, which was accompanied by an interview DVD with Hendrix, where he defined his band's music as "Transcendental Black Metal" that rejected negativity and embraced chaos in pursuit of spiritual ecstasy.

While the album initially received glowing reviews from major media outlets, the comment fueled a critical furor that raged through pop culture media and was waged by music fans globally. After internationally touring in support of the album, Liturgy went silent as Hendrix's side project, Survival, with Greg Smith and Jeff Bobula (the hard rock trio began playing together years before Liturgy was born), issued a self-titled album on Thrill Jockey in 2013.

In January of 2015, Liturgy issued the pre-release single "Queztzlcoatl," in which their sound underwent a transformation that featured everything from MIDI horns to bagpipes to liturgical chants to indie rock. It was followed by the equally provocative 11-minute "Reign Array. The full-length set, The Ark Work, was released in March. ~ Jason Lymangrover