Dude. What with my taste for melodic metal, I can't believe I've never heard of The Great Kat before today. I don't why her publicist would've sent us an e-mail about her newest DVD release (we're not exactly known for our coverage of Julliard-educated thrash guitar virtuosos), but wow. I've never heard "Flight of the Bumblebee" played so fast on a guitar.

Please be warned that The Great Kat is metal in the craziest sense of the word. She does perform in bondage gear, so the following clip might not be safe for work. It is, however, better than the clip of Paganini's Caprice #24, which also included a lot of blood. I didn't have the guts to check out the clips titled "Dominatrix" or "Torture Chamber," but I'm assuming they're not work-appropriate either.

You can check out audio clips of her classical work at her Web site. The pictures are a little, um, frightening - she likes blood and making scary faces and is apparently bow-legged from all the guitar straddling she does. But the audio clips are quite impressive. I recommend "The Barber of Seville" and "William Tell Overture." She's a violin virtuoso as well, so there are some violin clips on there, too.

Does anyone else remember the mall chase scene in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"? The one where Beethoven is playing the keyboards in the music store and the soundtrack launches into a high-powered version of Beethoven's Fifth? Going by my mind's ear, it sounds very similar to The Great Kat's "Beethoven on Speed," albeit a little slower.

I haven't found any official documentation on it, but I can't help wonder if that was her or not. She was around in the late 80s. Hmm. I might just have to ask The A.V. Club.