Sinner Get Ready (studio album) by Lingua Ignota

From Cargusbralem 03/26/2024 16:14

Absolutely soul crushing

This isn't an album. This is an experience.

This is truly a work of art . Very operatic, very modern. Emotionally one of the most powerful albums in a long time.

“Sinner Get Ready” tackles religion through the lens of suffering. The thematic tension between violence and faith is used fantastically. Lingua Ignota questions why divine punishment has not reached abusers while using religious imagery to paint abusers in positions of power. On “The Sacred Linament Of Judgement”, a sample of Jimmy Swaggart’s confession is juxtaposed against the protagonist's divine reclamation of self. Hayter’s vocals are deeply emotional and cleverly layered over themselves. The incorporation of Appalachian folk music adds a historical tinge to the sound of the record. The aesthetic is present but the quieter sound removes some of the emotional power from the music. Many of the tracks are front loaded with the latter halves being quieter and dragging on occasion. “Sinner Get Ready” has some flaws but deserves real reflection.

From mdbaxter 01/13/2022 18:58

More my taste than her previous album but still not totally for me. I appreciate the energy and recognize the album as a cathartic one.

This album is definitely one of the best records released this year. The quality on display at times is just mesmerising and it often leaves you in awe of what you are listening to. Lyrically, it is a joy to explore and look into the meanings behind the music. Her voice is very unique and utilised to perfection and she can make her vocal go from being haunting to beautiful in seconds and that really keeps you on the edge of your seat for the duration. The album does peak at the start though with the 9 minute opener being the best track on the release, with it leaving me in stunned silence when I first heard the record. However, the only critique I have of the record is that some songs do feel like a slog to get through at times and like they could have been ended sooner. Overall, I heard a lot of hype before my first listen of this record and it really delivers and gives the listener a stunning masterpiece.

From HoldenM 12/28/2021 23:02

Jesus Christ. Lingua Ignota is not fucking around here.

There are some works of art that take some time to build themselves, that require patience. And there are those that announce themselves immediately, that grip you in moments. Sinner Get Ready is a bit of both. From the first minutes, this is an album that lets you know exactly what it's about, and establishes a soul-crushing string of feelings. Yet, you could never make out the true complexity of what LI is doing here without getting the whole picture.

Sinner Get Ready can be read in a few ways. It works as a literal commentary on Christianity as a soothing, yet totally fucked hierarchy. And knowing what we know now about Kristin Hayter and the abuse she (allegedly) suffered from Daughters frontman Alexis Marshall, the album takes on another layer, with religion as an allegory for toxic and violent intimacy. Whatever your interpretation, Sinner Get Ready is no less chilling and personal.

The album works largely because of how cinematic it is. That suggests that this is a bombastic record, but instrumentally, it's just drawing out a sparse palate. There's a lot of atmospheric tones, lingering textures of strings and piano, occasionally some synthesizers, and Hayter's thundering voice. In fact, there's not really any percussion on this thing. And yet, it's as hard-hitting as anything you'll hear this year.

Fundamentally, I find Sinner Get Ready impossible to shake. It's such an experience. The terror and heartache, juxtaposed with moments of tenderness. Being only a few listens deep, maybe I'm not ready to call this an all-time favorite, but it is a record I won't be getting rid of any time soon.

From Brad1770 10/30/2021 11:13

2019’s ‘CALIGULA’ was a harrowing angry tour de force and one of my favourite albums for that year. Here on ‘SINNER GET READY’ the noise and industrial sound is dialled down for the more structurally familiar operatic, folk and drone territory whilst retaining the emotional apocalyptic intensity that will leave its mark on you long after “THE SOLITARY BRETHREN of EPHRATA” closes out proceedings

From Mercury 09/17/2021 01:03

(Expertly crafted, thematically deep to an extreme degree, neoclassical darkwave. While I can't say its truly become a favorite after these first 3 listens, there is some deeply moving music here and this subject and material and these themes are tackled here about as well as I can imagine them being tackled by a modern artist.)

Okay, so this is one of those albums that I was kind of intimidated by. The cover, the artist, the name, the Fantano 10, the themes, the musical style, the song titles etc etc... literally every aspect of this album screams "INTELLECTUALLY AND SONICALLY CHALLENGING MASTERPIECE!!!" and, honestly, I just felt out of my depth even saying or writing anything about it.

Today I listened to it a couple more times after listening to it once on it's day of release. The listening experience was halfway harrowing musical revelation and halfway sonorous slog. The music itself is generally brilliant especially on the softer and more tender moments. I wasn't, however, as into the loud operatic parts or the part on the first track when she is operatic AND kicks her piano for maximal impact. But that first track basically contains in miniature everything I loved and didn't about this album. There is something incredibly haunting with the way she desperately sings "Hide your children, hide your husband" and that took my breathe away. There is also something a bit jarring in a bad way about the sudden loud explosions of noise. The spoken word/found sound that closes the track is also quite fitting and beautiful here. At points later when you hear that christian talking about going to walmart, not so good, kinda takes me out of the almost ancient and timeless atmosphere of the album.

Other songs and parts that blow my mind are large portions of the insane screaming on track 2 (one of the rare over-the-top parts that didn't turn me off, although the way she drops the the word "fucking" into the track is another example of this almost old testament atmosphere being ruined by something that sounds like a very angry woman in 2021.). Also love the almost Tom Waits, junkyard orchestra sounding track 3 "Many Hands" - the track is dope but I am kinda mixed on her vocals. "Pennsylvania Furnace" is an unabashed masterpiece. Its a soft and sad and overwhelmingly emotional song and Kristin Hayter sounds sooo damn great here. I never question how insanely talented and technically brilliant she is as a vocalist and musician just sometimes I don't vibe with how she uses her voice, but here it is perfect, and this is probably my favorite song on this record and one of my favorite of the whole year.

Other standouts: I feel like I am going in a time machine when I hear track 5 "Repent Now Confess Now" and there is no oddball line or spoken bit to take me out of this other time and place and although I don't adore the song as much as the previous track, just the sensation of being transported via music to such a different place is incredible. "Perpetual Flame of Centralia" is another track like "Pennsylvania Furnace" that is so beautiful it almost makes me weep. "Man Is Like A Spring Flower" starts out a bit too damn repetitive, and just as I'm like "Nah, not my thing" the layers of beautiful melody and harmony and percussion come in and make this one of the best songs here, truly a brilliant song. Then after the stupid found sound/spoken word with the walmart and home depot name drops, "The Solitary Brethren of Ephrata" is beautiful and another truly transcendent neoclassical arrangement and song.

Overall, as I wrote this, I started to realize that outside of a few songs and halves of songs and some tracks that are too ponderous and sloggish, I actually love this album. Maybe 20-30% I am mostly unmoved by. Maybe 5% I think is lame or too much. This leaves a solid majority of the album that evokes feelings and thoughts and concepts in me and in my mind that no other album has this year or in recent memory.

I placed this album pretty low on my 2021 top 100 as I started writing this comment and now I've moved it up quite a bit. My opinion ripened and my liking deepened the more I listened and revisit tracks to write this snippet of thoughts. Still not an absolute fave of mine nor one that I see going back to that often as it is an NCREDIBLY blackened and deep album with daunting subject matters. But this album is one that I consider very special, as well as a triumph in modern music and an album that holds a unique place in modern music.

From Timestarter 09/02/2021 08:50

Stand-Out Track: The Order of Spiritual Virgins