Psychopathia Sexualis (album)
Encyclopedia
Psychopathia Sexualis is the seventh album by Whitehouse
released in 1982 by Come Organisation
.
s, the subject of most of the songs. Every song title bearing the name of serial killer opens with a spoken introduction, detailing the profile of the serial killer. The introductions are spoken in Spanish
, except "Edward Paisnel
" spoken in Catalan
. While the songs continue to utilize the high pitched feedback known in most albums during the Come Organisation
era, the album pursues a diverse sound. Example include, the tape manipulation of the introduction in "Edward Paisnel" and the pulsing beats in the opening track "Peter Kürten". Note that the songs "Peter Kürten" and "Boston Strangler" (pseudonym
for the serial killer Albert de Salvo
) differ from the songs "Dedicated to Peter Kürten" and "Dedicated to Albert de Salvo - Sadist and Mass Slayer" found on their previous albums. "Live Action 4 (Complete)" is, as the title suggests, Whitehouse's fourth live concert.
Psychopathia Sexualis was originally limited to 500 copies on vinyl
on the group owned record label Come Organisation
. Unlike most of their albums, Psychopathia Sexualis has not been reissued by Susan Lawly because the master tapes have been lost. Though possible to master from vinyl or cassette with the appropriate technology to remove the scratching and cracking sounds, the group worries that the content of the album would be altered given the already noisy nature of the music.
Whitehouse (band)
Whitehouse are a pioneering English power electronics band formed in 1980, largely credited for the founding of the power electronics subgenre.-History and personnel:...
released in 1982 by Come Organisation
Come Organisation
Come Organisation was a record label started by William Bennett in 1979 as a way to release albums by his own band, Come, when he was unable to find a label willing to release them. It is best known for releasing the work of Bennett's subsequent band, Whitehouse.The label's first release was the...
.
Overview
Psychopathia Sexualis returns to the theme of serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s, the subject of most of the songs. Every song title bearing the name of serial killer opens with a spoken introduction, detailing the profile of the serial killer. The introductions are spoken in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, except "Edward Paisnel
Edward Paisnel
Edward 'Ted' Paisnel , dubbed the Beast of Jersey, was a notorious sex offender who terrorised the Channel Island of Jersey for a period of eleven years from 1960. He entered homes at night dressed in a rubber mask and nail-studded wristlets, attacking women and children. Reports that he would...
" spoken in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. While the songs continue to utilize the high pitched feedback known in most albums during the Come Organisation
Come Organisation
Come Organisation was a record label started by William Bennett in 1979 as a way to release albums by his own band, Come, when he was unable to find a label willing to release them. It is best known for releasing the work of Bennett's subsequent band, Whitehouse.The label's first release was the...
era, the album pursues a diverse sound. Example include, the tape manipulation of the introduction in "Edward Paisnel" and the pulsing beats in the opening track "Peter Kürten". Note that the songs "Peter Kürten" and "Boston Strangler" (pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
for the serial killer Albert de Salvo
Boston Strangler
The Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders were not committed by one person.-First Stage...
) differ from the songs "Dedicated to Peter Kürten" and "Dedicated to Albert de Salvo - Sadist and Mass Slayer" found on their previous albums. "Live Action 4 (Complete)" is, as the title suggests, Whitehouse's fourth live concert.
Psychopathia Sexualis was originally limited to 500 copies on vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
on the group owned record label Come Organisation
Come Organisation
Come Organisation was a record label started by William Bennett in 1979 as a way to release albums by his own band, Come, when he was unable to find a label willing to release them. It is best known for releasing the work of Bennett's subsequent band, Whitehouse.The label's first release was the...
. Unlike most of their albums, Psychopathia Sexualis has not been reissued by Susan Lawly because the master tapes have been lost. Though possible to master from vinyl or cassette with the appropriate technology to remove the scratching and cracking sounds, the group worries that the content of the album would be altered given the already noisy nature of the music.
Track listing
- "Peter KürtenPeter KürtenPeter Kürten was a German serial killer dubbed The Vampire of Düsseldorf by the contemporary media. He committed a series of sex crimes, assaults and murders against adults and children, most notoriously from February to November 1929 in Düsseldorf.-Early life:Kürten was born into a...
" – 3:51 - "Edward PaisnelEdward PaisnelEdward 'Ted' Paisnel , dubbed the Beast of Jersey, was a notorious sex offender who terrorised the Channel Island of Jersey for a period of eleven years from 1960. He entered homes at night dressed in a rubber mask and nail-studded wristlets, attacking women and children. Reports that he would...
" – 3:44 - "Boston StranglerBoston StranglerThe Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders were not committed by one person.-First Stage...
" – 4:00 - "Peter SutcliffePeter SutcliffePeter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
" – 3:34 - "Fritz Haarman" – 4:10
- "Ian Brady and Myra Hindley" – 2:58
- "Graham Young" – 4:36
- "Vulcan Air Attack Mission" – 1:53
- "Pleazure für Frauen" – 2:21
- "Live Action 4 (Complete)" – 7:51
- "Genesis of the New Weapons" – 1:01