Kristin Hayter is perhaps better known by her erstwhile pseudonym Lingua Ignota, under which moniker she has released several albums that combine dark experimentalism with the influence of classical and folk music. Stating that it is “not healthy for [her] to relive [her] worst experiences over and over” through the music of her previous project, she has now recast herself as Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, under which name her new album SAVED! (Perpetual Flame Ministries) arrives.
Since the music of Baroness has been unlike any other band to me, and more akin to a spiritual experience since I first got into them in 2007, I set the mood for myself before listening. I turned the lights down low, cracked the window open to get a nice breeze going, and heard the sound of large late summer raindrops filling my ears. The city’s heartbeat in the deep background was the only other sound besides my breathing. I just stared at the new album artwork for five straight minutes. At peace for a change, in the still and calm of myself, and by chance, present in the city of my birth for a few days, I hit play on the promo and then let the first notes hit me.