Despair

SPK is an industrial group which was made by three Australians in the late 1970's (one of them was actual Hollywood composer Greme Revell). "Despair" and "Human Post Mortem" are their very rare videos, which were released on VHS tape. It includes footages from some live performances and couple of disturbing scenes from the morgue. What do we have in here? Some mutilated corpses, autopsy, oral sex with use of a head severed from the body. Isn't it nice? Those are the pictures that you won't forget easily. Unfortunetely, the quality of the copy which I have is quite bad and sometimes material is hard to watch. But on the other hand, the music by SPK is a pleasure in itself - mostly these are compositions from the album "Leichenschrei", which is my favorite. So, entertainment enjoyable both for music fans and the gore maniacs.

The original shocking music video. I rented "Despair" from a music video store in 1987 and was, well, shocked (I was also 15). Harsh noise and distorted colors first come at you, but that's nothing compared to what follows.

SPK, first of all, were capable of being musically terrifying. At this stage of their career their music was of the junkyard punk variety - a lot of distortion, clamor and white noise with grim shouting. But they developed into a truly awe-inspiring outfit. Later tracks like "In Flagrante Delicto" or "Twilight of the Idols" remain some of the spookiest songs I've ever heard. Their unique selection of sounds, and the way in which they're introduced into the piece, are still unmatched. The subject matter of their early songs (mental illness, terrorism, sadism) seemed to take a backseat as time went on and their music took on an exotic, sophisticated, but still eerie tone. They also had a foray into dance music. But when SPK wanted to, they produced music that was the stuff of nightmares. Once I left my CD player on random play and went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and the player was stuck on an SPK disc which was scratched -so it kept repeating over and over. Nightmare music indeed - sleep accompanied by SPK is not recommended.

But back to the videos. "Despair" and "Human Postmortem," both released in the early 80's, have been endlessly bootlegged and copied as few copies were originally produced. It was also claimed by some outlets that these titles were both rated XXX for offensive content, but in reality that was merely a suggestion. "Despair" actually contains some live band footage. In one sequence, we see a hooded band member on stage tearing apart a huge slab of meat. But then things get truly disturbing as we see disgusting things done to a dead cat as well as a human corpse. The last time I attempted to watch this I gagged involuntarily, and I don't have that reaction easily. Absolutely nauseating. "Human Postmortem," as the title suggests, is a straight-up autopsy with SPK music as the soundtrack. It is the more straightforward of the two, although not light viewing by any stretch of the imagination. Watching a person's brain be removed is far worse in action than it is on paper.

So, these videos are so over-the-top that they really don't leave any room for interpretation. But again, the music that SPK went on to produce was so intelligently done, and so eerie, that even the work of other experimental legends pales in comparison. That Revelle went on to become a multi-millionaire Hollywood movie composer is a fitting development in his legendary career.

I have obtained the 2007 DVD re-issue of this notorious 'video nasty'. For gore hounds it's a mere curio featuring enough to wet their appetites, but not much they wouldn't have seen before (gore hounds may want to press the mute button whilst watching this as the music is an acquired taste). But for true authentic industrial music fans such as myself it's a real treat, essential viewing in fact. SPK pioneered the disturbing industrial noise music that began with legendary originators Throbbing Gristle in post-punk London in the late 70's (Actually spk re-located from Austrailia to London and recorded their skull shattering debut lp 'information overload unit' in a squat during the brixton riots). As a fan of the scene who understands the aesthetics of the music, i found the juxtaposition of the music and disturbing images quite mesmerizing, particularly on the song 'Wars of Islam'. There is a particular scene which has gained some notoriety in which a SUPPOSEDLY severed head has a SUPPOSEDLY severed penis inserted into the mouth. Don't worry this is mere special effects and not real body parts. In an interview the films creator Dominik Guerin (tone generator of spk) hints: "It's amazing what you can do with a bit of Plasticine". And when you see it in crystal clear detail on the DVD re-issue it is blatantly obvious that it is mere sfx. (And if it was real it surely would be illegal - and i for one would be truly horrified). However there are nauseating images of real horror such as real autopsy footage and real mutilated corpses that will shock those of a faint heart. Dominik Guerin said of Despair: "We were trying to create a radical new aesthetic and be cultural terrorists" - you should bare that in mind when viewing this. It's almost impossible to believe that the founding member of this band Graeme Revell is now a mainstream Hollywood movie composer. For gore hounds its interesting viewing, for industrial fans its essential viewing. If you are neither of these then steer well clear.