If a change is as good as a rest, is a rest as good as a change? It has been over five years since the undistinguished Afraid of Heights (Warner Music) and over two years since the first single from this album, ‘Forgiveness I + II’. While delays could be justifiable and chalked up to the pandemic, the question is, on their sixth album and first for Spinefarm, are Canadian punk troupe Billy Talent facing their own Crisis of Faith and confidence?
Lingua Ignota’s music has always come with a certain duality as her first three albums cycled through the harshest Industrial textures and the most arresting Neoclassical Darkwave. However, that duality has seemingly been phased out with the release of her fourth full-length, Sinner Get Ready (Sargent House). The walls of noise are considerably subdued in comparison to past outings and the vocals are devoid of screams and distortion, leaving the songs to be primarily driven by sparse piano and organs with layers of melismatic cleans.