The Great Kat - Worship Me Or Die (1987)
The Great Kat - Worship Me Or Die (1987)
1 Metal Messiah 2:10 2 KAT-possessed 2:34 3 Death To You 2:06 4 Satan Goes To Church 2:55 5 Worship Me Or Die ! 1:54 6 Demons 2:30 7 Speed Death 2:28 8 Kill The Muthers 2:33 9 Ashes To Dust 3:57 10 Satan Says 2:48 11 Metal Massacre 1:51 Bass – Tom Von Doom Drums – The Animal Guitar – The Great Kat Violin – The Great Kat Vocals – The Great Kat
“Metal’s fastest guitarist, The Great Kat, the first guitar goddess and creator of ‘Hyperspeed’ metal, has blown the doors off the metal scene with the LP of the century!”
The above quote is the kind of pre-release hype that Roadrunner’s New York office has been saturating the metal press with over the past few months. Kat plays accessible thrash with strong catchy choruses, which is sure to gain The Great Kat and her band a sizable following, but I doubt very much whether ardent thrashers of the underground will take Kat that seriously. All the ‘Satan this, Satan that’ lyrical content is so old-hat that it’s now become a pathetic joke, and in particular the lyrics to ‘Satan Goes To Church’ (“Satan goes to church today, la-la la la la la-la”) and ‘Satan Says’ (Kat’s Satanical interpretation of the kid’s party game ‘Simon Says’) are plain embarrassing.
Musically though the album has a lot of high points and, even if speed doesn’t always make up for the lack of technique, Kat certainly shows plenty of ability on the fretboard and shows her virtuosity with a frenzied violin solo on ‘Demons’.
Best cuts (musically) are probably the anthemic ‘Metal Messiah’ and the out’n’out thrash of the aforementioned ‘Satan Says’. The strong riffing ‘Ashes To Dust’ is also worth a mention (even if the lyrics leave a lot to be desired) and so too is the excellent production.
It’s hardly the “LP of the century” and lyrics are certainly not Kat’s strong point, but if you like thrash with commercial appeal then Worship Me Or Die! is worth investigation, especially if you like tongue-in-cheek thrash like Piledriver. As the press release says, “Hyperspeed metal has arrived!!” But just how genuine it is remains to be seen? ---Bernard Doe, metalforcesmagazine.com
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