Leichenschrei / SPK
There’s no doubt that Throbbing Gristle are the originators of industrial music, but I believe SPK followed suit.
My first encounter with SPK was through the song Despair, which was included on the classic industrial music compilation album “The Elephant Table Album," which I bought when I was in high school.
The album’s cover featured the elephant’s foot table, the title of the album, and Lustmørd and SPK were particularly cool.
The sense of tension in the music was conveyed directly to my skin.
I later discovered and bought this album in a record store in Sapporo.
I think I bought it at either Gyokukodo in Asahikawa or UK Edison in Tanukikoji, Sapporo.
At the time, I could get import records from Gyokukodo in Asahikawa, and from Tower Records or UK Edison in Sapporo.
Looking back, Gyokukodo had some rare items in stock, such as compilations featuring JOY DIVISION, NIGHTINGALES, and AND ALSO THE TREES.
However, I couldn’t listen to the albums, so I had no choice but to buy them based on the cover (buying based on the look of the cover alone), which was always a challenge…
Meanwhile, at UK Edison, although the prices were higher, I remember that they came with captions (explanations) which made them easy to understand.
And as for this album, every song has a gloomy atmosphere, and it’s not the kind of album you enjoy listening to, which actually suited my adolescence perfectly.
In particular, the 10th track, The Agony of the Plasma, features a woman screaming and the sound of glass breaking over and over again, and at the time it was the number one piece of music that made me feel sick whenever I heard it.
I’ve gotten over it a lot now, but…
As for SPK, there was no internet back then, and the only information I could get from them was from the magazine Fool’s Mate.
Shortly after its launch, Fool’s Mate was a rock magazine aimed at listeners of new wave, progressive, and avant-garde music, and MERZBOW’s Akita Masami often wrote articles about noise music.
I remember learning from it that SPK was formed by Neil Hill and Graham Revell, a mental hospital patient and nurse, and it made sense why they created The Agony of the Plasma.
A few years later, a Japanese record company called SMS released a Japanese version of SPK, which blew me away.
However, around that time, Neil Hill had left SPK and committed suicide.
A female member named Sinan took over as vocalist, and the band transformed into a techno-influenced pop band with an emphasis on metal percussion.
The transformation was so surprising that noise fans left SPK, and the pop band SPK didn’t sell very well, and the group disbanded shortly thereafter.
Aside from Despair, I’d say Slogan and Mekano are SPK’s best compositions.
Both songs leave a strong impression, so if you have the chance, be sure to give them a listen.
They’re included on an early SPK compilation called Auto-Da-Fé.
It seems that SPK’s live performances after Sinan joined have been uploaded to YouTube.
Check them out if you’re interested.
You can search for Metal Dance or Machine age Voodoo and SPK.