Reissue of the legendary SPK album "Auto-Da-Fé", originally released by Walter Ulbricht Schallfolien in 1983 and later by Mute's sublabel Grey Area / SPK & Lustmord's label Side-Effects in 1993.

"Auto-Da-Fé" is a collection of SPK's singles from 1978-1979. The first five tracks are basically a scratchy thrashy punk sound, augmented by synthesizers and samples. Guitars grind, electronics screech, and metal is most thoroughly bashed. A highlight of these early works (and album), is the deranged 'Slogun'. The intro to the song, a demented echoing clucking and quacking, leads into a pulverising mechanical grind. Surely a candidate for most extreme song of the late 70's.

The next three tracks come from 1981 when a more synth-oriented sound was discovered. 'Metal Field' and 'Walking on Dead Steps', ever-so-slightly catchy, creepy, with militaristic overtones. 'A Heart that Breaks (In No Time Or Place)', is the stand-out here; a minimalistic, almost EBM track, as an impassioned female voice narrates the amazingly bitter lyrics, while seemingly random percussion bashes quietly in the background.

On the final three tracks (from 1982), a kind of shamanic quality has overcome the music, with a tribal, mystical sound. Synth-drum beats hold the songs together, as metallic-percussion inject the tracks with a hint of randomness and confusion. Vocals are no longer shouted, but delivered calmly, and the synth backing is created through drones, rather than beeps and stabs.

Every single one of these 11 tracks is of highest Industrial quality, with the rough sound of the era. From Industrial-Noise textures to Punk trappings to more danceable Industrial Angst-Pop, this is a selection of great SPK hits that made the history of Industrial Muzak.

6-panel digipak with booklet, including a new introduction by Graeme Revell, written at the end of 2025.

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