Diamanda Galas (album)

Diamanda Galas
Diamanda Galas
Studio album by Diamanda Galás
Released	1984
Recorded	October 1981 – February 1984
Studio	KOPN, Columbia, Missouri, USA; Arch Studios, Berkeley, California, United States;
Genre	Avant-garde
Length	32:41
Label	Metalanguage
Diamanda Galás chronology

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.^{[citation needed]} 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,^{[citation needed]} "Τραγούδια" is slow, ghoulish and mournful.^{[citation needed]} The singer was inspired by the tradition of Greek mourning rites,^{[citation needed]} where women mourn the dead as well as seek revenge for the person responsible for the death.^{[citation needed]} 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
Source	Rating
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.	Title	Length
1.	"Panoptikon"	15:22

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Τραγούδια από το Αίμα Εχούv Φονός" (Song from the Blood of Those Murdered)	17:19

Personnel

Diamanda Galás – vocals

Production and additional personnel

Phil Brown – mastering
T.J. Eng – photography
Ed Herrmann – recording (B1)
Naomie Kremer – cover art, design
Larry Ochs – executive producer
Robert Shumaker – engineering
Richard Zvonar – tape (A1), electronics (A1), recording (B1)

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	1984	Metalanguage	LP	ML 119
Worldwide	2021	Intravenal Sound Operations	CD, LP, digital download, streaming	ISO005

References

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

External links

Diamanda Galas at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] Kenny, Glenn; Robbins, Ira (2007). "Diamanda Galás". Trouser Press. Retrieved July 1, 2015.

[AllMusic-2] Olewnick, Brian. "Diamanda Galas". Allmusic. Retrieved July 1, 2015.

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[2]