Intravenal Sound Operations US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Diamanda Galas's The Divine Punishment was the first album in her Masque of the Red Death trilogy and is a stark, confrontational record that was produced in response to the AIDs epidemic. On the same day it was first released back in 1986, the Supreme Court criminalized consensual sex between men at a time when then epidemic was truly taking hold. Galas uses her voice both to deliver oration taken from the Old Testament as well represent AIDS and its ill effects. Dark analogue synth drones by Dave Hunt and haunting atmospheres complete this most brilliantly bleak put poignant work.

Review: Greek-American legend Diamanda Galas conjours up an ode to a Medieval plague sanctuary in Hanover on her latest brilliantly bizarre new album Broken Gargoyles. The sounds are as unsettling as the cover and were made during the pandemic - hence the references to the quarantine for plague victims. It's a nightmarish mix of synths and spoken words, screeching vocals and distant vowels that very much puts you in the middle a room full of the mentally and physically ill, desperately looking for a way out that isn't there.