Leichenschrei is the second album by the band SPK

SPK (band)

SPK, formed in 1978 in Sydney, Australia, was a 1980s and early 1990s industrial music and noise music group. One member, Graeme Revell, would later go on to become a successful Hollywood movie composer.-History:...

. It was released in 1982 on Thermidor Records in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and in 1983 on the band's own Side Effekts label in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The title is a German word meaning "corpse screams", and might refer to an alleged supernatural behavior exhibited by the deceased.

The band was listed on the initial Thermidor release as "SPK", although subsequent vinyl reissues were credited to "Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv", a reference to the leftist German patients' group of the same name

Socialist Patients' Collective

The Socialist Patients' Collective was a patients' collective founded in Heidelberg in February 1970, by Wolfgang Huber. The kernel of the SPK's ideological program is summated in the slogan Turn Illness into a weapon, which remains actively practiced...

. The name was misspelled on the CD reissue as "Socialistisches Patienten Kollektiv".

Legacy

In a 1987 interview for Italian fanzine Snowdonia, Edward Ka-Spel

Edward Ka-Spel

Edward Ka-Spel is an expatriate English singer, songwriter and musician residing in the Netherlands.-Biography:...

 of The Legendary Pink Dots

The Legendary Pink Dots

The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream , LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.-Overview:The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London...

 stated that he thought industrial music should have stopped after Leichenschrei, describing it as a "brilliant album" and "nobody could make a better, more definitive work in industrial music".

Oddity

The final track on side 2 of the vinyl LP contained a locked groove whose sound emulated a combination of a steam press and a pile driver. This track was often used in the mid-1980's by announcers at the University of Maryland

University of Maryland

When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...

 WMUC-FM

WMUC-FM

WMUC-FM is the student-run non-commercial radio station licensed to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, broadcasting at 10 watts...

 radio station to avoid dead-air when an announcer's relief failed to show. Rumour has it that this record was used so much that they wore the groove out on more than 5 copies over three years.

Track listing

No tracklisting was provided with the initial release on Thermidor Records. The first side of vinyl editions of the album end with a lockgroove. Sides one and two of the vinyl editions are labeled "Seite ((Lysso))" and "Seite ((Klono))", respectively.

Side one

1. "Genetic Transmission" – 3:17
2. "Post-Mortem" – 2:24
3. "Desolation" – 1:18
4. "Napalm (Terminal Patient)" – 2:39
5. "Cry from the Sanatorium" – 2:26
6. "Baby Blue Eyes" – 2:38
7. "Israel" – 2:46
8. "Internal Bleeding" – 1:46
9. "Chamber Music" – 3:26

Side two

1. "Despair" – 4:45
2. "The Agony of the Plasma" – 3:03
3. "Day of Pigs" – 4:18
4. "Wars of Islam" – 4:31
5. "Maladia Europa (The European Sickness)" – 3:50

Personnel

According to the album liner notes:

• Oblivion (Graeme Revell
  Graeme Revell
  Graeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
  
  ) – synthesizer
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , electronic rhythms, tape, syncussion, vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• NE/H/IL – synthesizer, electronic rhythms, tape, treatments, vocals
• Pinker – drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s, syncussion, metal percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
  , backing vocals
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Paul Charlier
  Paul Charlier
  Paul Charlier is an Australian composer and sound designer who works primarily in theatre and film. He has also worked in radio and was a founding member of the Sydney post-punk band SoliPsiK...
  
   – guitar, bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , synthi
  EMS Synthi AKS
  The EMS Synthi A, first available in May 1971, and then in March 1972 a version of it with a built-in keyboard and sequencer, the EMS Synthi AKS, a portable modular analog synthesiser made by EMS of England. Most notable for its patch pin matrix, its functions and internal design are similar to the...
  
  
• Peter Kennard – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , bass
• Karel van Bergen – violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  , vocals
• Sinan Leong – vocals, photography
• Brett Guerim – additional vocals
• Margaret Hill – additional vocals
• Lustmord
  Lustmord
  Brian Williams is a British electronic musician often credited for creating the dark ambient genre with albums recorded under the name Lustmord.- History :Williams started recording as Lustmord in 1980 before joining SPK in 1982...
  
   – additional vocals
• Rose – additional vocals
• Phil Punch – mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	1982	Thermidor Records	LP	T-9
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	1983	Side Effekts	LP	SER 02
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	1986	Normal Records	LP	NORMAL 26
United Kingdom	1992	The Grey Area	CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...	SPK 2CD