It’s not easy to find nuance in hate. Sounding like a country death ballad banged out by factory machinery, “Prayer to God” is a double-death wish with revealing specificity. The setup is simple enough: There are two people

here, and the narrator wants God to kill them. Over clamoring chords and the dead-air breaks in between, any other information comes slowly, and the same goes for the blustering climax and teeth-gritting tension from the lyrics’ repetition– all to be deflated by its grim punchline: the most disarming “amen” put to tape. –Jason Crock

Listen: Shellac: “Prayer to God”