- "Extreme Guitar Shred" DVD Review in Metal Life
Magazine
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- The Great Kat, a Juilliard School of Music graduate and violin virtuoso picked up an
electric guitar one day and decided to apply her classical music training to heavy metal.
Her speed and abilities on the guitar earned her a place in the "Top 10 Fastest
Shredders of All Time" in Guitar Magazine.
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- With her over-the-top persona and dominatrix theatrics, she has earned a loyal following
of fans and an almost equal number of sceptics. Often misunderstood, The Great Kat applies
her female attributes, her musical skills and her self proclaimed "guitar
goddess" status while she recreates numerous classical works on electric guitar.
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- Her recordings have included works from Wagner, Vivaldi, Sarasate, Liszt, Bazzini, Bach,
Beethoven and Rossini. in 1996, she released "Digital Beethoven on Cyberspeed",
an interactive CDROM that was met with rave reviews. This CDROM introduced the masses to
the speed and technical skills of The Great Kat on guitar.
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- Since then, she has released other audio CDs and mini CDs, each focusing on the blend of
classical music with heavy metal. The violin is never far from The Great Kat, and you can
often hear her shredding on it as well as the guitar as she "re-invents"
classical music.
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- To truly understand the artist that is The Great Kat, you must listen to the music,
chuckle at the "in-your-face" sense of humor and marvel at the sheer speed at
which her fingers fly across the strings.
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- "Extreme Guitar Shred" DVD Review
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Before we begin: For those of you who are already familiar with The Great Kat and her
brisk, "in your face" sense of humor, this DVD offers many treats. If you've
never heard of The Great Kat, before you watch this DVD, remember that this is not to be
taken seriously. The skills of The Great Kat are serious, her artistic talent is real, but
the show is ... just the show.
Now, on to the review.
VIDEOS
Extreme Guitar Shred offers blistering guitar and violin work with all the S&M,
blood, gore and twisted humor you need to make the DVD enjoyable. True to her self
proclaimed goddess status, she is portrayed in each video as in control and in charge.
Musically, The Great Kay offers extremely fast guitar work with almost vocals that are
a cross between almost industrial-style and death metal. The resulting overall effect in
each video is a mini gore/bondage movie with appropriate music in lieu of dialogue.
The DVD opens with "Zapateado", a classical piece by Sarasate. We see Kat
playing this on the violin, an instrument she plays well enough to have toured doing solo
performances on violin following her graduation from the Juliard School of Music.
Next, we are taken down into the "Torture Chamber". Watch as The Great Kat is
worshipped by her slaves as she abuses them and shreds on her guitar.
Escaping from that dungeon, we progress on to (dare we say it), "Castration".
This one is definately not for the squeamish or easily grossed-out. Watch as Kat performs
this surgical prodecure in a not so surgical manner. More guitar work as well.
Thankfully, after witnessing that, we get to take a break. The next video is "Live
in Chicago". The Great Kat live is a show, not just a concert. The many slaves of the
The Great Kat are treated as they meant to be while The Great Kat forces her instruments
to perform in much the same manner. More so in this video, we can see The Great Kat's
talent as her hands deftly fly across the frets.
While the image of the slaves is still fresh in our minds, we are taken next to see the
"Dominatrix". ...
After that visit, we are exposed to the fury that The Great Kat when she is angry,
really angry. "War" is the last video on the DVD. Patriotic in context and full
of the imagery of war.
BONUS FEATURES
The first bonus is "Hot Shred Bits", a fast paced collage of Kat photos set
to the tune of Kat music. Pay attention, as it moves quick and you might miss a
"bit".
Next we have the "Shred FAQs", another fast paced bit. This has quick little
questions and answers about this DVD and some info about Kat.
Lastly, we have the "Shred Credits", where Kat makes extra sure you know who
did everything. Contact info for The Great Kat is also in this section.
One more thing, putting this DVD into your DVD Rom drive in your PC enables you to
access online content at The Great Kat's website.
SUMMARY
Overall, this DVD is worth the money, even if you're not really a fan of The Great
Kat's style of music. If you are a fan of gore horror movies, bondage movies or are just
looking for a new DVD that isn't like all the rest, then this DVD is for you. Some of you
may watch this DVD and think that the imagery is too much. You may be right, but it's a
lot more fun to watch that just watching someone stand there and play their guitar really
fast. So, go buy "Extreme Guitar Shred" and enjoy it for what it is.
PRODUCTION REVIEW
Self produced along with her publicity firm / distributor TPR Music, The Great Kat once
again does things her way. Many arguments could probably be made as to alternate ideas for
presenting the materials included on the DVD, but fans of The Great Kat know what to
expect and they are getting just that.
PACKAGING REVIEW
Simple cover, no booklet, but it is a budget priced DVD ($8 US MSRP). The photos on the
cover serve their purpose and give you an idea of what you are going to see if you buy it.
Nothing fancy, however, it is functional.
