Lingua Ignota's Sinner Get Ready

5/5 stars
Sinner Get Ready is the newest album by Kristin Hayter, better known as Lingua Ignota. It strays away from the metal and noise-inspired sounds that she established herself with and delves into a unique, dark, semi-classical sound that does well to serve the themes she explores. This album is both haunting and beautiful at once. It’s also quite theatrical, almost feeling like it should be sung and acted on a stage rather than played through a speaker. The prevailing theme of Sinner Get Ready is religion. Lingua Ignota explores the extreme feelings of devotion and anger that can come with a Christian set of beliefs, with moments of awe and beauty being juxtaposed with moments of rage and anguish. The album begins with “The Order of Spiritual Virgins”, a dramatic opening that leads into smashing piano segments while Hayter screams about eternal devotion, which all serves to warn the listener that this album is not messing around.
This song is followed by “I Who Bend the Tall Grasses”, a spectacular track in which Hayter begs God to kill a man, intermingling praise of God and
his power with the blunt, violent demands that she makes. Hayter explores this hateful worship further with “Repent Now Confess Now”, a track where she orders the listener to repent and confess under threats such as: “He will ram your eyes with glass, He will take your legs and your will to live, If you do not confess now, confess now”. The entirety of this album is atmospheric and symbolic. Every note, sound, and verse is filled with intent and meaning. This is a fantastic album, though not recommended for casual, lighthearted listening. Sinner Get Ready is an experience that deserves the listener’s full attention, otherwise, it may just sound like anguished noise.