The East London industrial trash rockers Saint Agnes, returns to fill the void left in the wake of their devastatingly enthralling sophomore studio LP Bloodsuckers, with what lead vocalist Kitty Austen calls their best sounding record to date. Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin is the long awaited third full length addition to Saint Agnes’ discography of pure unadulterated chaos. Yes, it may feel like a mouthful, but it possesses the core of this intriguing album’s driving force, being that the Bloodsuckers eras deeply emotional reckoning, has now been turned upon the audience it confessed its sorrow to. Riding the line between societal retribution and appreciation of its healthiest influences, this latest album is testament to the band’s mission of Nine Inch Nails-esque production sensibilities fused with the sonic equivalent of Grant Woods’ American Gothic, all the while connecting with an audience of outcasts in such a way that it mentally transports them to their very own version of The Matrix’s Club Hel.
Diving head first into YGFDAATB, expectations run high with the opening rebuke of male privilege and those who uphold systemic exploitation with ‘Good Boy’. Of course being swept away by elements of online and kink culture, the term Good Boy also spins this track into a sort of verbal domination and psychological reinforcement, that Kitty is the ultimate figure of authority or dominating force. While ‘Good Boy’ is one of many examples of Saint Agnes’ masterful creation of sonic monoliths, remaining fierce in its unwavering pursuit of reprisal and collective expression of multi-generationally internalised righteous anger, ‘Gods of War’ is the slow burn censure of male fragility and unquestionable incompetence in positions of power, while ‘Get Them Out’ is a rallying cry of all those who have been systemically downtrodden.
“a rallying cry of all those who have been systemically downtrodden.”
It’s a reminder to Saint Agnes’ listeners to be faithfully seen and respected, to break the shackles of shame and control. To fully realise themselves, free from judgement and free from harm in the world Kitty, Jon and Andrew have curated across this darkly elegant record’s runtime. This album has not made it through the rough without a few dents and misfires, however. ‘The Beast’, although a great world builder in the context of YGFDABTB’s musical architecture, feels quickly forgettable, while ‘Everything You Denied’, being one of the album’s more anthemically combative and pointed tracks, falls victim to what feels like deliberately cliche or overly simplistic lyrics.
Have Saint Agnes softened their edge in order for their songs to be more consumable, or is this simply a natural evolution of their sound? Ultimately, such critique can fall to personal preference and perception but for most it’s unlikely to take away from the overall enjoyment of the album in full. With Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin, being the realisation of Saint Agnes’ ultimate artistic vision, the band fully blossom post exhumation of their emotional nadir, fearlessly striving for this new chapter to entice and energise its intended audience. Although Saint Agnes’ industrialised gothic charm is a much beloved sole entity in contemporary heavy music, this latest release can feel somewhat detached emotionally in places, especially when comparing it to their previous work. In short, Your God Fearing Days Are About To Begin is a solid effort of potent belligerence, inspirational glorification and transformative reflection.