THE GREAT KAT “Wagner’s War” /CD/

The fifth EP by legendary American Speed/Thrash Metal/Shred guitarist and singer.
Juilliard Graduate violin/guitar virtuoso shredder/creator of "Shred/Classical" music confronts the terrorists after 9/11 with the revolutionary CD "Wagner's War". "The song "War" was written out of severe rage and the song "Terror" was written in horror out of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and my city - New York City!", – declares the Great Kat. Listen to this shocking CD and hear for yourselves!
The Great Kat was a short-lived phenomenon in the late 80s, when her albums "Worship Me Or Die" and "Beethoven On Speed" initiated a counter-revolution all by herself, impossibly fast music played by a delicate woman, not much taller than five feet, but containing more energy than whole legions of long-haired male Metal bands. The Great Kat was so far ahead of her time that her former label didn't do more music with her.
Back in the present: The Great Kat is still alive. These days, she is releasing short CD-EPs, with songs rarely longer than 2 minutes, through TPR Music – her sister's public relations company. And one thing is for sure: The Great Kat still knows how to sell herself!
Where in her early days, we had to do with satanic clichés, the 9/11 events have made her a fierce warrior queen against terrorism. Dressed in camouflage clothes and looking scarier than a whole squadron of navy seals, The Great Kat starts her album with Wagner's "The Ride Of The Valkyries", a fitting opening for such a violent album. She still knows how to blend perfectly hyperspeed Metal with Classical music, adding her virtuosity with the fastest guitar solos you might ever hear. And by the way, The Great Kat has been voted among the ten fastest guitar shredders by Guitar One Magazine.
Next up are four original compositions, displaying the typical The Great Kat sound: Speed Metal so fast that even early Napalm Death seem lame in comparison, with wailing banshee vocals that scare the hell out, and whenever you think that this is all getting out of control, you are rewarded with one of the mistress's staccato solos that are so out of this world.
The two last tracks are again Classical pieces, the first one being Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody #2", with impossible fast guitars and without a doubt the highlight of the album. On the last track, Sarasate's "Zapateado", The Great Kat gets out her violin and proves that she is a Juilliard graduate for a good reason. The Classical pieces are backed by a midi Symphonic orchestra, but as the emphasis is on guitar and violin, you don't even really notice.
Since the late 80s, instrumental (or nearly instrumental) guitar albums have been quite popular mostly with musicians, but rather inaccessible to casual listener. The Great Kat outperforms not most, but all of the competition, by not only being faster, but also much fiercer than anyone you can think of. As much as we enjoy the combination of Extreme Metal (which may seem parodist at times), BDSM imagery and an ego bigger than Jesus, we also can see that there is incredible virtuosity in a musician that makes it easier to write whole pages about 10 minutes of sheer originality than to even wonder what to write about hour long albums of boring mediocrity. The Great Kat may only release 10 minutes of music every other year, but these short moments are well worth the wait!
TPR Music, 2002. Made in the USA.


Tracklist:
Act I: War
1. Wagner’s “The Ride Of The Valkyries” (from the Opera “Die Walkürie) for Symphony Orchestra, Band & Opera Singers 1:34
2. War 1:24
3. Terror 1:22
Act II: Revenge
4. Punishment 1:28
5. Humiliation 1:07
Act III: Victory
6. Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody #2" for Symphony Orchestra & Band 2:11
7. Sarasate's "Zapateado" for Violin, Piano & Band 1:58
Total playing time: 11:06 min.