When I received the Great Kat's (Guitar Goddess) CD, I really didn't know what to expect. The cover features Kat decked out in a red satin cape with lacy red lingerie underneath, striking a pose with her guitar lifted ecstatically in the air and a marshall amp in the background. Was this some cheap revival of 80's glam? "Oh," I thought to myself, "not all that again!" Well, on the inside flap we find out a bit more about the Great One. Apparently she's the High Priestess of Guitar Shred, Inventor of Cyberspeed Metal/Classical Music, Julliard Graduate Violin Virtuoso. Many pictures in the promo pack are of her in leather dominatrix gear and more lacy underwear.
This CD features 4 tracks, clocking in just under 8 minutes in length. So really, there isn't a tremendous amount of actual musical content here on which to base a review. What there is however belies the self-aggrandizing Glam image that the Kat puts across. What one hears on this CD is definitely some of the most blistering fast metal there is. It's fast, yes, and agressive, and quite dark. Two of the tracks are classical covers, Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", and Sarasate's "Gypsy Violin Waltz". The sheer technical wizardry of her dervish guitar and electric violin is most impressive. Don't expect a pansy-assed classical-to-rock coversion here. Somehow the Kat takes this music, rips it apart, then puts it back together again inside-out. What in its original form is very baroque sounding music, in the Kat's claws becomes a wall of cold agression flung at you with blinding acceleration. Kat's technical expertise certainly lends a great deal of credibility to her interpretation of these pieces. The other two tracks, "Dominatrix", and "Feast of The Dead", one presumes are Kat's own creations. Again we witness a guitar sound that approaches a jack hammer in intensity, this time accompanied by black metal-style shrieking, layers of distortion and relentless pounding drum beats.
The Kat also has put out a CD-Rom called "Digital Beethoven On Cyberspeed", which purports to be an educational venture to introduce classical music into the 21st century. Let's just say you don't want to get any of the quiz questions on the CD-Rom wrong! I personally haven't checked out the CD-ROM, but it does seem interesting.
All music and lyrics by The Great Kat
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