SPK
Leichenschrei


4.0
excellent

Review

by DadKungFu STAFF
March 13th, 2018 | 41 replies


Release Date: 1982 | Tracklist

Review Summary: "Therapy through violence Bomb for mental health Kill for inner peace."

The name SPK, or Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv was taken from an organization founded by Wolfgang Huber, a German psychiatrist who hypothesized that capitalism was the root cause of mental illness. In 1970 he and his wife, Urdula Schafer founded the original SPK, gathering mental patients for group therapy sessions with an explicitly Marxist mindset, with the ultimate goal of enacting social change through the group itself, as a “weapon against society”, in the words of Huber. By threatening his University with the collective suicide of his burgeoning organization, he was able to attain funding and supplies to carry out the groups’ aims of societal destabilization. Eventually, Huber began inciting his group to commit minor acts of terrorism against government and corporate structures, including the attempted bombing of a train, which led to his arrest in 1971.

It was with this inspiration in mind that Graeme Revell, who was working at a mental hospital at the time, decided to form his own collective, dedicated to spreading socialist ideology through music, rather than acts of terrorism. SPK created abrasive, atonal and highly rhythmic sound collages that used elements of Musique Concrete, Punk and Noise to create a uniquely disconcerting cacophony of power tools, mutilated synths and interviews of mental patients. Their work was explicitly political, but also was a naked attempt to advocate for people suffering from mental illness, with their initial album including a pamphlet which stated, “The project ideal is to express the content of various psycho-pathological conditions, especially schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, mental retardation and paranoia. Information Overload supersedes normal, rational thought structures, forcing deviation into less restrictive mental procedures of so-called ‘mental illness.”

Leichenschrei, their second and most notorious LP, is difficult to describe in musical terms, as the only constant and explicit musical element is the palpitating, mechanical rhythm, which pulses like the exposed nerve endings of an infected wound. Bare, dissonant melodies from distorted synthesizers lurk under screeching feedback and scrap metal percussion while vocal samples speak calmly and collectedly about horrific deviant acts, autopsies, sexual assaults and mental aberration. It’s a difficult listen to be sure, but one that never overstays its welcome as SPK are able to coax enough variety and novelty from their music to keep their uncompromising sound fresh and (albeit in an almost masochistic sense) enjoyable.

The lyrics (if they can be called lyrics) which are derived from samples for the most part are as depraved as can be. Most representative of the horrific imagery conjured by the vocal samples is the immortal (and darkly hilarious) line from album highlight “Post-Mortem”: “The manager of the corporation tried to give me syphilis by wiping his cock on my sandwich”, intercut with audio commentary from a dissection. Revell himself provides vocals on a minority of tracks, usually limited to wordless, animalistic howling, roaring or screaming over the noise and distortion. Other vocal highlights include the orgasmic squeals of “Despair”, the enraged bellowing in “Day of Pigs” and the desolate wail of the throbbing “Genetic Transmission”.

The ultimate purpose of Industrial music, at least at its outset, was to create a grotesque parody of Industrial society in order to reveal the true horror show that was and is Industrialized Capitalism. As effective as SPK are at realizing this vision, the most glaring issue with the album isn’t anything to do with the music itself, as it is more than effective at its stated aim of expressing “various psycho-pathological conditions” viscerally and horrifically. But in portraying mental illness and abuse so luridly, so confrontationally, SPK straddle the thin line between respectful portrayal of the grim reality of mental illness and horror movie exploitation. This is further complicated by the question of whether Wolfgang Huber, as the inspiration for the group, was truly giving his patients a voice, or merely exploiting them for his own political ends. Ultimately, given that one of the founding members of SPK was a patient of the mental hospital that Graeme Revell worked at when he founded the collective, it’s more likely that the ugliness and horror of Leichenschrei is meant to be a respectful portrayal of the blackest aspects of mental illness.



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user ratings (103)
4.1
excellent


Comments:Add a Comment 
SandwichBubble
March 13th 2018


13820 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Holy hell! Finally a review for this one

Let
March 13th 2018


1910 Comments


And a great one too

Flugmorph
March 13th 2018


34922 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

finally someone reviewed this

ScuroFantasma
Emeritus
March 13th 2018


12213 Comments


Great review, this sounds super interesting and I appreciate the additional info, will jam.

"hypothesized that capitalism was the root cause of mental illness"
"began inciting his group to commit minor acts of terrorism"

Thanks doc, I'm cured.

GhandhiLion
March 11th 2020


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Godly album

SandwichBubble
March 11th 2020


13820 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah?

goblinilbog
June 26th 2020


1116 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

This is gnarly, I'm starting to acquire a taste for these old school nightmare fuel industrial albums.

GhandhiLion
June 16th 2022


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

https://opaltapes.com/album/breeders

parksungjoon
June 17th 2022


47231 Comments


hey dadkungfu thanks for reviewing this

parksungjoon
June 17th 2022


47231 Comments


hey dadkungfu thanks for reviewing this


ReefaJones
July 17th 2022


3913 Comments


israel is a bop

DadKungFu
Staff Reviewer
August 9th 2022


5498 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Hey parksungjoon you're welcome, hope all's well

Demon of the Fall
March 7th 2023


35599 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Whoa, kind of loved this more than I feel is reasonable given the content. This is an informative review about their origins / purpose too 👍🏻… interesting stuff

DadKungFu
Staff Reviewer
March 7th 2023


5498 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Hell yeah Demon spread the gospel of 80s industrial

DadKungFu
Staff Reviewer
March 7th 2023


5498 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Hell yeah Demon spread the gospel of 80s industrial

Demon of the Fall
March 16th 2023


35599 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

finally decided to rate this 'excellent', as I can't see it not sticking with me. A rather unique atmosphere / experience for sure. I'll be attempting to seek out similar artists at some point

JohnnyoftheWell
Staff Reviewer
March 16th 2023


62444 Comments


Dad Kung Fu
Demon Kfthe Fall

i should jam this


GhandhiLion
March 16th 2023


17677 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

no















Demon of the Fall
May 1st 2023


35599 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

my double negative above is already paying dividends, I definitely cannot seeing this not sticking.

Eerily Haunting and genuinely affecting. And this ain’t all style points either, there’s substance to the way these songs flow. Surprisingly varied song-writing despite the consistent atmosphere and ‘feel’ being the biggest draw.

parksungjoon
May 1st 2023


47231 Comments


accessible pleb filter



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