The Litanies of Satan

{{Infobox album

| name = The Litanies of Satan

| type = studio

| artist = Diamanda Galás

| cover = Diamanda Galas The Litanies of Satan.jpg

| alt =

| released = 25 February 1982

| recorded = {{Start date|1981|9}}–{{Start date|1982}}

| venue =

| studio = Nadir Studios, London, England and San Diego, CA

| genre = {{flatlist|

Avant-garde

}}

| length = 29:51

| label = Y

| producer = Dave Hunt

| prev_title = If Looks Could Kill

| prev_year = 1979

| next_title = Diamanda Galás

| next_year = 1984

}}

The Litanies of Satan is the debut album by American avant-garde artist Diamanda Galás, released in the United Kingdom by Y Records in 1982; it was released in her home country in 1989.

Content

The text for "The Litanies of Satan" is taken from a section of Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire. According to the album liner notes, the piece "devotes itself to the emeraldine perversity of the life struggle in Hell." The notes go on to state that "Wild Women with Steak-Knives," from the tragedy-grotesque by Diamanda Galás Eyes Without Blood, is "a cold examination of unrepentant monomania, the devoration instinct, for which the naive notion of filial mercy will only cock a vestigial grin."

Reception

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web |first=Brian |last=Olewnick |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000199144|pure_url=yes}}|title=The Litanies of Satan |website=Allmusic |accessdate=July 1, 2015}}

| rev2 = Trouser Press

| rev2score = favorable{{cite magazine |first1=Glenn |last1=Kenny |first2=Ira |last2=Robbins |url=http://trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=diamanda_galas |title=Diamanda Galás |magazine=Trouser Press |year=2007 |accessdate=July 1, 2015}}

}}

Trouser Press described it as "a disturbing and provocative piece."