Kristin Hayter, better known by her alias Lingua Ignota, delivers a story of unfiltered truth and pain in her latest project Sinner Get Ready. Heavily inspired by Hayter’s struggles with Catholicism and past relationships, Sinner Get Ready is as visceral and emotionally jarring an experience as one can have. With her dark textures and instrumentation, morbid lyricism, and religious allegories, Hayter takes the listener on an absolutely devastating journey from beginning to end.

The opening song, “The Order Of Spiritual Virgins,” starts the album off on a terrifying note. With distorted bass and piano and lyrics like “Hide your children, hide your husbands” and “sickness finds a way,” Hayter makes it clear that the road ahead isn’t an easy one. Hayter presents herself as a deity-like figure, claiming all who look upon her swear “eternal devotion.” “I Who Bend The Tall Grasses” is written as a prayer, an honest expression of rage towards God and His refusal to exude revenge on a manipulative and abusive partner. The ongoing organ phrases set the stage and turns the entire song into a church service.

“Many Hands” is a call for the Sinner to “get ready.” It alludes to the imminent coming of Christ and presents a terrifying and nihilistic view of God, saying that “The Lord spat and held me by my neck. ‘I would die for you, I would die for you’ he wept.” “Repent Now Confess Now” is a bone-chilling call to return to Christ and atone for one’s sin. It paints God in a violent and terrifying light, with phrases such like “He will take your legs and your will to live” and “he will knock the breath from you… He will rim your eyes with black.” The instrumentation adds to the song’s eerie nature with shrieking bowed instruments and detuned strings.

“The Sacred Linament Of Judgment ‘ is a grander piece which acts as a point of conflict lyrically. The first half of the song consists of praise and worship towards God as Hayter reflects on her own spiritual journey and focuses on how God extended his love to her. It also highlights her confidence in standing before the Lord in judgment. However, the second half of the song samples televangelist Jimmy Swaggart confessing to adultery, and Hayter’s last line asks, “Oh sinner, have you ever had the love of Christ so ruthlessly denied?”

“Perpetual Flame Of Centralia” is a quiet piano and vocal performance reiterating Hayter’s confidence in her faith as she chooses to stand directly against fear and doubt. “Man Is Like A Spring Flower” describes the human heart in various ways, including being “an orchid,” “the Seventh Gate of Hell,” and “impossible to hold.” It also features a four minute instrumentally dominated section which continues to grow in intensity and begins to distort significantly towards the end.

The final song, “The Solitary Brethren Of Ephrata,” ends the album with a hymnic piano and vocal piece and features multiple choral takes from Hayter. It’s structured and performed like a typical church hymn and repeats the line, “Paradise will be mine.”

Sinner Get Ready presents a unique viewpoint, an honest look at anger, hate, faith, and death from Hayter perspective. Its songwriting, symbolism, and sound design take it beyond a simple album and create an entire, cohesive experience for the listener.