S.P.K.: Despair DVD Twin Vision

S.P.K.: Despair DVD Twin Vision

If by reading this review you have to ask who the hell SPK are, then you really are in the wrong place. Receiving a DVD from arguably one of the most influential true Industrial artists on the planet is enough to whet anyone’s appetite and I was over the moon when this dropped through my letterbox.  Unfortunately the smile ended there.

I am a big fan of this Australian mob’s early works, and without them there wouldn’t be a hell of a lot of the acts you listen to today.  Given that this DVD is made up of bootleg video copies of early live shows this should be a real treat.  Bizarre death camp mutilations and the like are mixed into these live performances and there is a warning on the sleeve that this could offend.  The problem being with the footage of the live show’s, is that the footage is so bad it just comes across as unimaginative and trying too hard.  You could argue of course that this is SPK after all and who are they copying?  The answer would of course be ‘no-one’.

Music has moved on a lot since these had their day and this is SPK’s ultimate downfall.  This looks bad, feels bad and is offensive for all the wrong reasons.  It’s boring, past its sell-by date, sounds terrible, and perhaps the worst crime of all is that it’s ultimately pointless.

Sure all the sycophantic death industrial fan-boys with a passion for Herr Flick haircuts will probably cream their pants over this one raving on about how wonderful it all is, missing the point that they could have had something actually worth watching and refusing to admit what they have in front of them is god awful bollocks. ‘Despair’ is aptly titled, and for all the wrong reasons.  Avoid.

3/10