Diamanda Galas
Studio album by
Diamanda Galás
Released1984
RecordedOctober 1981 (1981-10) – February 1984 (1984-02)
Studio
GenreAvant-garde
Length32:41
LabelMetalanguage
Diamanda Galás chronology
The Litanies of Satan
(1982)		 Diamanda Galas
(1984)		 The Divine Punishment
(1986)

Diamanda Galas is the eponymously titled second album by American avant-garde musician Diamanda Galás, released in 1984 by record label Metalanguage.

Content

The album's first track, "Panoptikon" (named after Panopticon, a type of prison building designed to allow all areas of a prison to be seen from one vantage point), deals with imprisonment, isolation, torture and extreme alienation as well as homicidal mania and vengeance. It incorporates tape, electronic manipulations[1] and distortion. It was composed by Diamanda Galas, with additional lyrics from In the Belly of the Beast by criminal and author Jack Abbott.

"Τραγούδια από το Αίμα Εχούv Φονός" (Song from the Blood of Those Murdered), recorded in 1981, consists solely of vocals in numerous vignettes. The recording is similar in texture to "Wild Women With Steak-Knives" from her debut album The Litanies of Satan (1982), but when the latter was hysterical and loud, "Τραγούδια" is slow, ghoulish and mournful. The singer was inspired by the tradition of Greek mourning rites, where women mourn the dead as well as seek revenge for the person responsible for the death. The words of "Τραγούδια" are sung in Greek and refer to the victims of the Greek junta regime that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.[2]

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Diamanda Galas was first released in 1984 by record label Metalanguage. In October 2020 Diamanda announced the remastering of the album done by Egyptian mastering engineer Heba Kadry, eventually completed in December 2020. In September 2021 she announced the reissue of the album on CD and LP under her label Intravenal Sound Operations with different artwork, subsequently released on October 28, 2021, after being out of print for 37 years.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Diamanda Galás; all music is composed by Diamanda Galás and Richard Zvonar

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Panoptikon"15:22
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Τραγούδια από το Αίμα Εχούv Φονός" (Song from the Blood of Those Murdered)17:19

Personnel

Production and additional personnel

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States 1984 Metalanguage LP ML 119

References

  1. ↑ Kenny, Glenn; Robbins, Ira (2007). "Diamanda Galás". Trouser Press. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Olewnick, Brian. "Diamanda Galas". Allmusic. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
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