Genre : Avant-garde, Classical, Noise
Released : August 6th, 2021
Label : Sargent House
FFO : Sightless Pit, Merzbow, Liturgy
Ever since she started releasing music under the moniker Lingua Ignota in 2017, Kristin Hayter has accustomed us to extremely intense, gritty, beautiful and masterful vocal performances.
Needless to say that vocals are at the very heart of her music and this album showcases once again what a versatile performer she is.
Plus, I feel like the arrangements of vocal layerings and harmonising choices are perhaps even more eyebrow-raising here than they have ever been in her past discography.
One of my favourite highlights of this would be the absolutely chilling dissonant harmonies that occur during the chorus of "I WHO BEND THE TALL GRASSES" which create such a strong sense of unease.
Although "SINNER GET READY" is far less aggressive sonically than its predecessor, "CALIGULA", that sense of unease is there even during the albums calmest moments.
There are these scraping noises borne from all manner of instruments and unknown objects which create this eerie atmosphere that is ripe for Lingua's singing, chanting, screaming and lamenting to curdle the blood of the listener and raise the hairs of their arms.
And it doesn't help either that every single instrument sounds rusted and broken, charged with either malice or sorrow, ebbing towards an unavoidable boiling rage fueled by despair.
Despite being globally very "calm", the first listening of the record makes you feel as though you are in danger and that nothing is safe.
And this mainly occurs during the opening track "THE ORDER OF SPIRITUAL VIRGINS" where danger explodes in the form of heavy distortion and terrifying dissonant grand piano chords without any warning in a very "CALIGULA"-esque fashion.
However, contrarily to Alexis Marshall's "House of Lull, House of When", here the omnipresent tension does have moments where it resolves before building up again. Whether it is through soaring vocal lines or triumphant harmonies.
My favourite example of this, and perhaps my favourite moment of the album overall, would be the switch in pace that occurs midway through "MAN IS LIKE A SPRING FLOWER", which brings a very welcome renewed sense of energy and wonder through the urgency that is created by the fantastic instrumental and vocal arrangements.
This section comes as an unexpected surprise given the slow-burn nature of the album until that point, although it perfectly leads the listener into the bittersweet yet sonically appeasing conclusion of "SINNER GET READY".
I won't delve too much into the symbolism behind this album since I think that this is the kind of record that has a very strong intimate relationship with the personal experiences its creator underwent while making it and I do not have the prentention to analyse and comment upon that.
However, it does leave space for the listener to give their own personal interpretation of what this desperate search of "god" is and why we fail to find him/it during certain periods of our lives.
"SINNER GET READY" is without a doubt, part of the most gripping, engaging and memorable pieces of music I have heard this year.
Although I prefer when the more chaotic elements of Lingua Ignota's music come into play on a more regular basis, it is hard to not get fully absorbed by the sounds of this album and set aside any kind of wishes and expectations regarding it in doing so.