“Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time!” “50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time!” So read a couple of blurbs on the DVD cover for The Great Kat’s Beethoven’s Guitar Shred” DVD. The Great Kat… And she’s modest, too.
Where to begin… Well, let’s go to the tape/DVD/whatever – The Great Kat is made up and costumed in such a way as to resemble a female Dee Snider with Elvira’s cleavage. Beethoven’s Guitar Shred is a series of seven videos – three of which are for her own material [Torture Techniques, Blood, and Islamofascists] and four are adaptations of classical works [The Flight of the Bumblebee, Paganini’s Caprice #24, Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3].
Musically, Kat is – at the very least – technically proficient. On her own material, she’s nearly incomprehensible whether on guitar or violin. Her vocals are adequate for the genre, but none of the greats are going to be looking over their shoulders.
When it comes to her selection of classics, though, it becomes clear that Kat can really play. Her Bumblebee is definitely a stinger and, even at top speed, her Caprice #24 shows that she understands the concept of phrasing – something that is lacking on her original material. She does get a bit muddy on Beethoven’s 5th, but regains her clarity on the Brandenburg.
For the videos for her original material, Kat [whom I get the feeling has complete creative control] wallows in more stage blood than Ash saw in the entire Evil Dead Trilogy – but her staging of the classical pieces borders on the refined [the parody of a baroque party for the Brandenburg is almost delightful].
The Great Kat may not be the shy, retiring sort [her credit on the DVD sleeve read: The Great Kat Performs: All Shred Guitars, All Shred Violins, Demonic Vocals & Genius Virtuosity] – and, despite having some ability in that area, she could probably learn a few lessons in phrasing from greats like Dave Edmunds [before he got into that rockabilly stuff, he blistered his way through a few classics, too], especially his take on Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance on the Love Sculpture album, Forms and Feelings [worth the search if you love great guitar].
Shred Bonus Features: Hot Shred Bits #2; Shred Geniuses; Metal Fugue: Back’s The Art of the Fugue; Shred Credits
Shred Kartoon
Shred Online.
The entire DVD comes in at under half an hour of material. I guess we’re supposed to be exhausted just from watching The Great Kat play.
Grade: Beethoven’s Guitar Shred – B-
Grade: Features – C
Final Grade: C+
The Great Kat may not be the shy.