Diamanda Galás: Masque of the Red Death Trilogy (1986-88)

The Divine Punishment (1986)

Queen of avant-garde, Diamanda Galás, can give grown men nightmares with her extraordinary vocal range. Her performance is unashamedly theatrical and her subject matter often controversial.

The Divine Punishment is the first part of her Masque of the Red Death Trilogy. It has only two songs, but they're split into nine parts.

Listening to it in the dark can give the impression that the listener is being haunted by incensed spirits reading scripture, knowing full well that you'll never be able to forget their aural bouts of primal terror. They don't care. They want you to lose sleep.