{"product_id":"the-divine-punishment","title":"The Divine Punishment","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn June 30, 1986, the same day that Diamanda Galás's \u003ci\u003eThe Divine Punishment \u003c\/i\u003ewas released, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Georgia's so-called sodomy law in Bowers v. Hardwick, criminalizing consensual sex between men. At the time, about 15,000 people were known to have died of AIDS in the U.S. alone, with little government acknowledgement besides suggestions to quarantine homosexuals on island colonies. By the end of 2021, the number of AIDS deaths globally would exceed 36 million. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first album in her Masque of the Red Death trilogy, \u003ci\u003eThe Divine Punishment\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the most jarring works of art produced in response to the AIDS epidemic, and a milestone in Diamanda Galás's artistry and activism. Galás uses her famous voice both as an orational instrument and as well as a physical representation of AIDS and those it afflicts. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album features the panphonic dirge work of Galás, accompanied by analogue synthesizers played by Dave Hunt. The texts are primarily taken from the Old Testament, contrasting the hectoring lawmakers of Leviticus with the desperate appeals of the Lamentations and Book of Psalms (Psalm 22, 59, and 88). In doing so, she indicts those who use religion to instigate the witch hunts that inevitably accompany real and perceived plagues.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Intravenal Sound Operations","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50466971255115,"sku":"1154892","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466971025739,"sku":"1154891","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ad8e3504-687d-414b-91e1-7c6cf7a87c59_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727333382","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/the-divine-punishment","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}