Apart of the binary-static-ness of the hugo static site generator, another reason it appealed to me is that the Go templating syntax feels a bit /lispy/. For example, I use this:
{{ $.Scratch.Set "__repo_updated_time" (index (index (index (index $repo_json "commit") "commit") "committer") "date") }}
Indeed, Hugo is incredibly powerful. I’m still far from an expert on it, although I’ve started dabbling into modifying/creating my own templates. Hugo has quite a bit of a learning curve, so it’s not for everyone, but if you are willing to spend some time learning it, it’s really worth the effort.