73-671: Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton) while he was in the new wave band Images in Vogue , Skinny Puppy evolved into a full-time project with the addition of vocalist Nivek Ogre (Kevin Ogilvie). Over
146-484: A remix album in 1998; titled remix dystemper , it featured various Skinny Puppy tracks re-worked by artists including Autechre , Deftones , and Guru . Ogre and Walk also took part, contributing a remix of "Dig It" and an updated version of Remission ' s "Smothered Hope" with new vocals by Ogre. In 1999, "Draining Faces" (1987) appeared on the soundtrack for The Blair Witch Project . In August 2000, Ogre and Key reunited and performed live as Skinny Puppy for
219-617: A " bad trip ", was eventually released on the initial European edition of Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996, and on a limited edition single called " Track 10 " sold at the Skinny Puppy reunion concert in 2000 at Dresden. The stage show for the Last Rights tour in North America, much like the album itself, was built around a detailed narrative inspired by Ogre's past ordeals with drug abuse. The show involved Ogre interacting with
292-485: A "delicious mind-altering affair", a sentiment shared by Wil Lewellyn of Treblezine who included the song in a list of the best underground songs of the 1990s. Environmental degradation was a major theme on both the album and the North American Too Dark Park tour. For the tour, Key took on the role of drummer, leaving Goettel as lead keyboardist. Key told Alternative Press that "we could very well have
365-495: A backing film by way of a virtual reality machine, a tree made of human heads and fetuses, and numerous other props and costumes. For this tour, Key once more focused exclusively on live drumming, leaving Goettel on keyboard duty. One incident that occurred at a show in Boston involved several concert goers climbing on stage and grabbing at Ogre's various masks and props, several of which were stolen. The band's manager, Tim Gore, pursued
438-418: A backing tape and stand behind synths playing two notes on the keyboard, but we've decided to physically strain ourselves and learn additional parts along with what we've already written". Onstage theatrics included a segment with Ogre performing on stucco stilts and pneumatic crutches, Ogre being hoisted from the stage by cables, and a backing film featuring scenes of graphic violence, most notably sequences from
511-599: A dance floor favorite. Following Too Dark Park , Skinny Puppy was commissioned by the dance group La La La Human Steps to compose several songs for their 1991 production Infante C'est Destroy , a duty shared alongside the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten . During this time Ogre made a concerted effort to rid his drug addictions. In an interview with CITR-FM , Ogre discussed his ordeals with hepatitis A and subsequent hospilization; he also thanked Pigface for looking after him during his "hour of need". Skinny Puppy released their seventh studio album, Last Rights , in 1992. It
584-570: A music group from Munich , formed in 1988. They laid the foundations of the dark electro movement in the early 1990s, and were the first artist on the German label Celtic Circle Productions . In subsequent years, dark electro was displaced by techno -influenced styles such as aggrotech and futurepop . Other groups to practice the style included amGod, Trial, early Evil's Toy , Mortal Constraint, Arcana Obscura, Splatter Squall, Seven Trees, Tri-State, and Ice Ages . Aggrotech (also known as hellektro )
657-544: A number of guests, including Al Jourgensen (1989), Danny Carey (2004), and many others. After the self-release of their first cassette demo in 1984, Skinny Puppy soon signed to Vancouver label Nettwerk , anchoring its early roster. From their Nettwerk debut EP Remission in 1984 to their 1992 album Last Rights , Skinny Puppy developed into an influential band with a dedicated cult following , fusing elements of industrial , funk , noise , new wave , electro , and rock music and making innovative use of sampling . Over
730-681: A producer and performing various sampling and mixing duties. Described by Billboard magazine as "techno dance ... a la Kraftwerk ", Bites yielded the underground hit "Assimilate". Key and Ogre opened for Chris & Cosey on their 1985 Canadian tour as Hell 'O' Death Day ; some of the material the duo had performed would appear on Bites as bonus tracks. One of these bonus tracks, a song called "The Centre Bullet", featured lyrics by Legendary Pink Dots founder Edward Ka-Spel . While Skinny Puppy had become well received by underground audiences in most major urban areas, due in part to their anti-consumerist themes and Cure -like aesthetics, not everyone
803-412: A radio interview that the major intentions behind the album were to reevaluate what Skinny Puppy was and create a new style of music to mark the beginning of a new decade. This reevaluation included hiring Jim Cummins (I, Braineater) to design the cover artwork, feeling that their longtime designer Steven Gilmore had lost his creative spark. Described as "forceful and consistently abrasive", Too Dark Park
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#1732899137522876-476: A recording of which was eventually released as Puppy Gristle on a limited basis in 2002. The creation of the Download project, which Key and Goettel formed with Mark Spybey and Phil Western , also occurred at this time. Download explored everything from electronic improvisation with spoken vocals to techno , and toured in 1996. Earlier, in 1993, Goettel and Western had issued a breakbeat hardcore single (under
949-534: A single and included several alternative cuts of the song, as well as the b-side "LaHuman8" (one of the tracks produced for La La La Human Steps). A second single, "Love in Vein", was never released, although an unfinished remix intended for it later appeared on Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996. A music video was created for the song "Killing Game" which featured a student dance troupe performing in "high-contrast black and white". A track titled "Left Handshake"
1022-529: A statement denouncing censorship of the genre by the MPAA , was circulated widely as a promotional and bootleg item. The song " Tin Omen " was also released as a single and "Hexonxonx" received some airplay on alternative radio. In spite of the album's initial mixed reception, Brad Filicky in a 2003 issue of CMJ magazine named Rabies as a classic album, calling it "a masterpiece of the industrial genre". This period marked
1095-505: A studio, the duo began recording songs and in 1983 with the help of Images in Vogue recording engineer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (no relation to Ogre), Skinny Puppy released the EP Back & Forth . This was the beginning of a long partnership between Skinny Puppy and Rave, who would serve as their producer until 1993, and again in 1995, and was occasionally listed as a member of the band in album liner notes. Though only 35 copies were ever printed,
1168-540: A vital learning experience for the group, having encounters with, according to Key, "tour managers and agents that didn't pay us". In 1987, the song " Stairs and Flowers " was released as a single, as was a new song titled " Chainsaw ". The group attracted the attention of the Parent Music Resource Center (PMRC) , which named Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse one of several albums believed to be "violent, sexually explicit, or condoning substance abuse". The album
1241-411: A whole new sense and aesthetic that we didn't have. Up to that point, we were really punk rock in our approach". Key continued on that "he [Goettel] had an incredible knowledge of equipment and at a very early stage was really the master of sampling, which had really just begun". Goettel's contributions to Skinny Puppy's second full-length effort, 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse , helped to propel
1314-460: A wife that's been cheated on". Following the production of Rabies , a divide grew between the group members, with Key and Goettel often siding against Ogre, feeling he was more interested in solo work. The group were ultimately disappointed with the outcome of Rabies , with Goettel saying that the completed product was "less within the Skinny Puppy vision", and Key being displeased with Jourgensen's involvement. Ogre also expressed his disapproval for
1387-478: A year following Back & Forth . Remission marked the first time Skinny Puppy would collaborate with artist Steven Gilmore , who created the album artwork. The EP was initially only released in vinyl , but was later given a cassette release in 1985. According to Nettwerk VP of A&R and Marketing George Maniatis, Remission "grabbed everybody by the you-know-whats" and, for Nettwerk Records, brought with it an association with industrial dance music . The EP
1460-462: Is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound with a more experimental approach. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy , Front Line Assembly , Numb , and other groups, either from Canada or the Benelux . In the early 1990s,
1533-903: Is a derivative form of dark-electro with a strong influence from industrial hardcore (straight techno bassdrum from Roland TR-909 and oscillator sounds, especially Supersaw leads from Roland JP-8000 ) that first surfaced in the mid- to late-1990s. Aggrotech typically employs aggressive beats, prominent lead synth lines, and lyrics of a dark nature. Often, vocals are distorted and pitch-shifted to sound harsh and synthetic; static and glitching effects are also added. Aggrotech musicians include Agonoize , Amduscia , Bestias De Asalto , Combichrist , Dawn of Ashes , Detroit Diesel , Feindflug , God Module , Grendel , Hocico , iVardensphere , Nachtmahr , Panic Lift , Psyclon Nine , Reaper , Suicide Commando , The Retrosic , Ritual Aesthetic , Unter Null , Virtual Embrace , and X-Fusion , among many. Dave %22Rave%22 Ogilvie Dave " Rave " Ogilvie
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#17328991375221606-452: Is wrong. I'll be glad to put it behind me, but I had to do this". Described by Entertainment Weekly as a "nonstop stretch of horrific soundscapes", Last Rights became the first Skinny Puppy record to chart on the Billboard 200 , peaking at No. 193. The album remained on Billboard's Heatseekers album chart for several weeks, peaking at No. 10. The track " Inquisition " was released as
1679-674: The Toronto Star described their new stage show as "neo-dadaist shock theatre", while Tom Lanham of the San Francisco Chronicle referred to it as "grotesque". The band continued to tour in 1988 with the European Head Trauma tour, supported by Edward Ka-Spel . Following the tour, the group returned to the studio to record what Ogre described would be the band's most critical statement regarding animal testing . Skinny Puppy released their fourth album, VIVIsectVI , in 1988;
1752-675: The Northridge earthquake . Mosimann was eventually replaced with Martin Atkins. Atkins' presence exacerbated the rift that was forming between Ogre and the rest of the band. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process so long and costly, that American reduced Skinny Puppy's contract to one album. In 1994, Key and Goettel returned to Vancouver with the master tapes, but Ogre remained in Los Angeles and quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995. Goettel
1825-735: The Vietnam War . A song from the album, " Addiction " was released as a single. The group later went on tour, with a performance at Toronto's Concert Hall being released on VHS in 1989 and CD in 1991 as Ain't It Dead Yet? . Also released in 1987 was Bites and Remission (through Capitol Records) and Remission & Bites (European release, through Pay It Again Sam), both compilations of Skinny Puppy's first two Nettwerk releases. Skinny Puppy's live performances had become increasingly more elaborate, with Ogre interacting with an onstage crucifix and other "crudely constructed" stage props. Craig MacInnis of
1898-607: The pop direction of the band he was in, Images in Vogue , and began Skinny Puppy with the intention of doing something more compelling and experimental. Images in Vogue had become a popular act in Vancouver , achieving several radio hits and opening for groups such as Duran Duran , Depeche Mode , and Roxy Music . Crompton had planned Skinny Puppy to be a side project while he continued his work in Images in Vogue; however, when Images in Vogue relocated to Toronto , Crompton made Skinny Puppy his full-time project. Crompton had already created
1971-530: The Japanese film series Guinea Pig . Ogre later gave insight on the backing film's conception, saying: We did an experiment ... We've always been accused of celebrating violence for idiotic reasons. [So] we used some images in our show from a film called Guinea Pig. They're these incredibly realistic, but simulated, Japanese snuff films. We inserted them into this roller-coaster ride of violent images and people were quite disgusted. People were vomiting in front of
2044-814: The Pedwalk , Plastic Noise Experience, Wumpscut , Haujobb , Forma Tadre , KMFDM , Putrefy Factor 7, and Abortive Gasp (Germany); Leæther Strip (Denmark); and early Hocico , Cenobita , and Amduscia (Mexico). Since the mid-1990s, some electro-industrial groups added guitars and became associated with industrial metal ; other groups, e. g. Skinny Puppy , Download , Gridlock , and Haujobb, have incorporated elements of experimental electronic music styles like drum and bass , IDM , glitch , and other electronica genres. Electro-industrial groups tend to feature themes of control, dystopia , and science fiction . Electro-industrial groups sometimes take aesthetic inspiration from horror films , including The Exorcist and
2117-564: The Right (2004), which was followed by the release of the albums Mythmaker (2007) and HanDover (2011). In 2013, they released the album Weapon , which was inspired by allegations that their music had been used for torture in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp . Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 as a side project for Kevin Crompton in Vancouver , British Columbia. Crompton was dissatisfied with
2190-476: The album was a commercial success, selling 150,000 copies and receiving extensive airplay on college radio. The single " Worlock " – which featured samples of Charles Manson singing parts of the song " Helter Skelter " from The Beatles ' White Album , accompanied by a fragmented portion of the songs guitar introduction – helped to bring the band "massive popularity". A video produced for the song, featuring spliced-together footage from dozens of horror films and
2263-412: The album's name is a pun intended to associate vivisection with Satanism (i.e. the " 666 sect"). The group's primary aim with the album was to bring attention to the topic of vivisection and other issues regarding animal rights . The album's subject matter also deals with subjects such as chemical warfare , environmental waste, and disease. Lead track "Dogshit" was released as a single in 1988 under
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2336-549: The album, claiming that he had "flopped". "The work and artistic environment really weren't there at all either. It was completely negative". Key and Goettel completed work on some of their side projects such as Hilt, releasing their first effort, Call the Ambulance (Before I Hurt Myself) , which was produced by Rave. Key also reunited with Bill Leeb to form the project known as Cyberaktif ; Goettel acted as an assistant producer and provided some instrumentation. Jourgensen offered Ogre
2409-467: The band towards the style of their "chaotic future masterworks". To promote the album, the band made an appearance on CBC Radio 's Brave New Waves program in September 1986, and released their first single, " Dig It ". A music video for "Dig It" was produced and received extensive airplay on MTV . Further promotion for the album came from a world tour with the band Severed Heads . The tour proved to be
2482-531: The beginning of divisions within the band, as rather than tour in support of Rabies , Ogre joined Ministry while they toured in support of their album The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989); Ogre contributed guitars, keyboards, and vocals during the tour. Ogre had also begun working with the Ministry side project Revolting Cocks . Key was later quoted saying of Ogre's involvement with Ministry and, later on, Martin Atkins ' Pigface that he sometimes felt "like
2555-420: The best albums of 1988. Skinny Puppy toured in support of the album, featuring an early incarnation of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails as their opening act. The concept for the live show revolved around a vivisectionist (played by Ogre) who is eventually transformed into a tortured animal; the idea was to portray the "inner workings of the mind under the strain of vivisection". The stage show included
2628-457: The chance to tour with the Revolting Cocks, having provided vocals on their previous tour. Ogre refused the offer, citing some occurrences during his time with Ministry which led him to question his friendship with Jourgensen. The group, having finished work on their various side projects, returned to the studio and released their sixth studio album, Too Dark Park , in 1990. Goettel said in
2701-566: The company "a real credibility" with the alternative and college music scenes. Skinny Puppy also signed to Play It Again Sam , allowing the group's music to expand into Europe. It was this expansion into the European market that would help to make Skinny Puppy a "cash cow" for Nettwerk in the early years. In a 2007 interview with CraveOnline , Ogre commented on Skinny Puppy's time with Capitol, saying: We're so lucky to have gotten here, and if we look back on
2774-417: The course of 13 studio albums and many live tours, Key and Ogre were the only constant members. Other members have included Dwayne Goettel (1986–1995, also died in 1995), Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (long-time associate and producer from 1984 to 1996, and an official member from 1987 to 1988; not a relative of Kevin Ogilvie), Bill Leeb (1984–1986, under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder), Mark Walk (2003–2023), and
2847-427: The course of several tours of North America and Europe in this period, they became known for theatrical, horror-themed live performances and videos, drawing attention to issues such as chemical warfare and animal testing . In 1993, Skinny Puppy left Nettwerk and long-time producer Rave, signing with American Recordings and relocating to Malibu, California , where drug problems and tension between band members plagued
2920-482: The fact that we were on Capitol Records at a certain point, being distributed and making these albums under budget… there was one year when we were the only band on the label to profit, when MC Hammer lost a shitload of money. I can still appreciate how odd it was that we had the chance to do that because it doesn't really happen in a lot of cases. Bill Leeb left Skinny Puppy in 1986 to pursue his own musical project, Front Line Assembly . Leeb gave his reasons for leaving
2993-449: The first time since 1992, at Doomsday Festival . The show was meant to be a continuation of the Last Rights tour, with the stage design taking influence from those performances. Rather than find a replacement for Goettel, the band simply left the keyboard station on stage empty. The performance was filmed and recorded, and a live album, Doomsday: Back and Forth Series 5: Live in Dresden ,
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3066-492: The following: What we're presenting isn't much different from what [the audience] is subjected to in everyday life. For example, a commercial is a very plastic view of existence and reality. When you watch a TV show and see a world with picture-perfect endings, all you have to do is switch the station and watch the news. Having scored a record deal with Nettwerk and with interest surrounding the Back & Forth EP growing, Skinny Puppy
3139-534: The future of Skinny Puppy, Key responded: Our goals for the future are to combine everything, take the best of what we can do with Ogre, and the best of what we have from our past, as well as the future stuff that we can do, and put it into one touring situation which I'm sure will stroll back into bloodville. The first new Skinny Puppy track in several years, "Optimissed", appeared on the Underworld soundtrack in 2003. Electro-industrial Electro-industrial
3212-464: The group stating that his bandmates expressed different ideas from his own and that he had been interested in singing. Leeb's replacement would be quiet Alberta native Dwayne Goettel . A classically trained musician, Goettel had been in a duo named Water with vocalist Sandy Weir and had worked with the synthpop band Psyche , among others. Skinny Puppy's production values improved with the addition of Goettel, with Key remarking that "Dwayne brought us
3285-532: The group to produce an album for as little money as possible. Ogre struck up a friendship with Ministry 's Al Jourgensen , having first worked together during the recording of the PTP song "Show Me Your Spine" (featured in the 1987 film RoboCop ). For Skinny Puppy's fifth album, Rabies , released in 1989, Jourgensen joined Rave as producer. The album, featuring Jourgensen's electric guitar work and backing vocals, drew mixed reception from fans. Despite these reactions,
3358-499: The mid-'80s in songs like " Testure " or " Dig It ", and Numb on songs like "God Is Dead". Electro-industrial was anticipated by 1980s groups such as SPK , Die Form , Borghesia , Klinik , Skinny Puppy , Numb , and Front Line Assembly . Prominent electro-industrial groups of the 1990s include Mentallo and the Fixer , Yeht Mae , Velvet Acid Christ , and Pulse Legion (U.S.); Numb and Decoded Feedback (Canada); X Marks
3431-469: The mock vivisection of a stuffed dog the band had named Chud. Following a show in Cincinnati , Ohio, Key, Ogre, and tour manager Dan McGee were arrested for " disorderly conduct " when an audience member, believing the stuffed animal Ogre was "vivisecting" to be a real dog, called the police. Two plainclothes officers entered the group's dressing room demanding they inspect the prop. Following a heated argument,
3504-441: The name " Censor "; the name change was made by the band when it was decided that the single would not sell well with its original name. The single " Testure ", which denounced the testing of animals for research purposes, reached No. 19 on Billboard ' s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. According to Ogre, "Testure" was intended to be accessible in the hope of spreading their "anti-vivisectionist" message. "It's
3577-744: The name aDuck) on their own label, Subconscious Records . After Goettel's death, Subconscious evolved into a recording studio and record label imprint that Key used to release a number of his own and Skinny Puppy's recordings. Key also continued to work with The Tear Garden, produced industrial/trance music with Western in the side project platEAU , and released his first solo album in 1998. Ogre had toured extensively with Martin Atkins' industrial supergroup Pigface since 1991, and toured with them again after leaving Skinny Puppy. He recorded material for his side project WELT . with Ruby 's Mark Walk before quitting Skinny Puppy, but due to legal issues with American Recordings, this would not see release until 2001 under
3650-461: The name for the project and recorded several songs when he asked Kevin Graham Ogilvie to join. Ogilvie had been a roommate of Images in Vogue member Gary Blair Smith and had met Crompton at a party in late 1982. To avoid the confusion of having two people named Kevin in one band, the pair created stage names, with Crompton becoming cEvin Key and Ogilvie becoming Nivek Ogre. Using Key's apartment as
3723-463: The new name, ohGr . In the meantime, he toured with KMFDM , and released an album with Martin Atkins under the name Rx (also known as Ritalin). The ohGr and Rx releases included some of Ogre's most positive and forward-thinking songwriting to date. Several collections were released while Skinny Puppy was dormant, including Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4 in 1996, and The Singles Collect and B-Sides Collect in 1999. Nettwerk commissioned
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#17328991375223796-408: The only song I think they will be able to play on the radio", he said. "I hope they do play it because it's the only way we can go beyond our ranks and our loyal fans who already understand the message". "Testure" also featured several well-chosen samples from the film The Plague Dogs , an animated adventure about two dogs who escape from a research laboratory. Melody Maker named VIVIsectVI one of
3869-565: The recording of their next album, The Process (1996). Ogre quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995, and Goettel died of a heroin overdose two months later. Key and Ogre, already active in a number of other projects , went their separate ways, reuniting for a one-off Skinny Puppy concert at the Doomsday Festival in Dresden , Germany, in 2000. Reforming Skinny Puppy in 2003 with producer Mark Walk, they released their ninth album, The Greater Wrong of
3942-676: The self-released Back & Forth drew the attention of Vancouver startup label Nettwerk , who signed the band later that year. The first live Skinny Puppy show was held at the Unovis art gallery in Vancouver in February 1984; the British group Alien Sex Fiend were among the 300 people in attendance. Ogre has said that Skinny Puppy acted as an escape for Key, who wished to distance himself from Images in Vogue: "He
4015-420: The song "Suck". Ogre and Reznor performed the song together in the live album Welcome to Mexico... Asshole . Also on the album was a cover of the song "T.F.W.O." from Too Dark Park , led by Ogre. In 2003, Alexander Chow of Spin magazine named Too Dark Park an essential industrial album, stating that "schizophrenic beats, manic-depressive mumblings, and just the right dose of fist-raising choruses" made for
4088-456: The stage. People came up to me after the show, saying I was the most disgusting human being-until they found out what it was all about. The whole reason we did that was to see if there was a difference. Will people react differently to something that's real as opposed to something they know is staged? They will. There's a whole different set of emotions people go through. It doesn't look like it looks on TV. It's quite sickening. Ogre, who considered
4161-624: The style spawned the dark electro genre, and in the mid-/late-1990s, the aggrotech offshoot. The fan base for the style is linked to the rivethead subculture. After the EBM movement faded in the early 1990s, electro-industrial increasingly attained popularity in the international club scene. In contrast to the straight EBM style, electro-industrial groups use harsher beats and raspy, distorted, or digitized vocals. In contrast to industrial rock , electro-industrial groups mostly avoided guitars, other than Skinny Puppy, who used electric guitar elements since
4234-407: The thieves but was punched by a security guard. Following the punch, Gore began having issues breathing and was taken to a hospital; the guard was fired as a result of the incident. In 1993, Skinny Puppy contributed the song "Ode to Groovy" to the compilation album In Defense of Animals , released through Restless Records . The album was named after the animal rights group of the same name . Though
4307-511: The tour to be a high point in his career, compared the band's performances to something like intense car races. "People go there expecting an accident to happen ... I was really running off that car-crash energy". Following the tour, Ogre became involved with Martin Atkins' project Pigface in 1991, for a short time becoming the group's lead vocalist. Pigface included talent from several other industrial groups such as William Rieflin of Ministry and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who helped record
4380-405: The track is credited to Skinny Puppy, Ogre and Rave were the only people to work on it. Ogre, Key and Goettel, landed a three-album deal with American Recordings , and moved to Malibu to record The Process , a concept album inspired by 1960s cult The Process Church of The Final Judgment , with Roli Mosimann producing. The recording sessions were beset by everything from fires and floods, to
4453-484: The trio spent the night in jail, but were released the following day after paying a $ 200 fine. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band members began working on various side projects . Key and Goettel were involved with The Tear Garden (a collaboration with The Legendary Pink Dots ) and Doubting Thomas (an outlet for their non-Skinny Puppy instrumentals). The band Hilt , a collaboration between Key and Goettel, and Al Nelson, also started when Nettwerk challenged
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#17328991375224526-554: The words "The End" in bold type. The album charted on the Billboard 200 at No. 102 and reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard' s Heatseekers album chart. During the Process era, a loose-knit art/philosophy collective also known as The Process was formed, with early contributions from Ogre and Genesis P-Orridge , among others. P-Orridge and Chris Carter jammed with Skinny Puppy during this period,
4599-582: The work of Roman Polanski , and the science fiction films Blade Runner and Alien . Dark electro is a similar style, developed in the early 1990s in central Europe. The term describes groups such as yelworC and Placebo Effect , and was first used in December 1992 with the album announcement of Brainstorming , yelworC's debut. The style was inspired by the music of The Klinik and Skinny Puppy . Compositions included gothic horror soundscapes, occult themes, and grunts or distorted vocals. yelworC were
4672-499: Was excluded from Last Rights , leaving a blank track 10 on some copies of the album. Clearance for a lengthy vocal sample from Timothy Leary 's Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out , was approved by Leary, but denied by the copyright holder, Henry G. Saperstein . Commenting on the ordeal, Key said, "We tried to convince him, but he [Saperstein] said, 'it doesn't matter what Leary said, he doesn't own his own work'". The song, in which Ogre provides commentary to Leary's instructions for avoiding
4745-507: Was found dead of a heroin overdose in his parents' home two months later. The Process was eventually completed with Rave and released in 1996. It was dedicated to the memory of Goettel. It was an overall stylistic departure from their previous albums, prominently featuring untreated vocals, guitar, and more accessible song structures. The liner notes that accompanied the CD included thank-yous to "Electronic Music Lovers" and "Puppy People", followed by
4818-703: Was friendly to the group. Key described Skinny Puppy as the antithesis of "the Bruce Springsteen mentality of music", rejecting "Top 40 conformity". Toronto-based music journalist and DJ Greg Clow recalled Michael Williams , who was a VJ for Muchmusic , introducing him to Skinny Puppy, describing them as "Canada's answer to Depeche Mode . In 1986, Nettwerk made a distribution deal with Capitol Records , allowing Skinny Puppy and others in Nettwerk's roster to expand their respective audiences. Capitol manager Stephen Powers stated that signing groups such as Skinny Puppy gave
4891-496: Was invited to Vancouver's Mushroom Studios to work on new material. It was here that the group recruited Bill Leeb to perform bass synth and backing vocals. Like Ogre and Key before him, Leeb created a stage name, Wilhelm Schroeder; "my real name is Wilhelm" said Leeb, "Schroeder we picked out from the guy playing the piano in the Charlie Brown cartoon". Skinny Puppy released their second EP, Remission in December 1984, almost
4964-592: Was looking for something to break out of [Images in Vogue], and maybe I was it". Key would continue to drum for Images in Vogue until the group relocated to Toronto in 1985. Key's concept behind Skinny Puppy came from the group's first song ever recorded, "K-9". The idea, according to Key, was to create music which explored "life as seen through a dog's eyes". Skinny Puppy also incorporated the use of "B-grade horror movie visuals", including fake blood and props, into their live performances. Key justified these "shock gore" antics with
5037-449: Was named by Melody Maker magazine as one of the best releases of the year. Later in 1987 came Skinny Puppy's third full-length album, Cleanse Fold and Manipulate . Described as "a turning point, where experimentation is just beginning to gel with innovation", the album marks the point where the group began to explore more political themes, delving into topics such as the AIDS epidemic and
5110-539: Was released in 2001; a DVD release was planned but canceled by Nettwerk. Live clips of "Testure" and "Worlock" as well as a behind the scenes interview with the band were broadcast on Crazy Clip TV in Germany and "Worlock" was included on a VCD compilation by German magazine Sonic Seducer in 2002. Key joined ohGr on drums for its 2001 tour, while Ogre appeared on the track "Frozen Sky" on Key's 2001 album The Ghost of Each Room . When asked by Terrorizer magazine about
5183-480: Was supported by music videos for the songs "Far Too Frail" and "Smothered Hope", the latter of which being the closest thing to a hit song any North American industrial act had achieved at the time. Skinny Puppy released its first full-length album, Bites , in 1985 and was produced by Key and Dave Ogilvie. Tom Ellard of the Australian electronic act Severed Heads lent a hand to the production of Bites , acting as
5256-534: Was the last album the band released under Nettwerk/Capitol. Relationships between the band members during the album's production were "tense and unhealthy", with Ogre, under the supervision of Rave, coming into the studio at night to perform vocals for the music Key and Goettel composed earlier in the day. Ogre said that the production of Last Rights acted as a form of therapy which he used to help him come to terms with his addictions. "It's painful for me to be reminded of certain things, but for me to say it never happened
5329-423: Was what Key referred to as the true successor to "the last pure" Skinny Puppy album, VIVIsectVI . Critics such as Staci Bonner of Spin magazine applauded the use of sampling and stated that the album was a "return to the bloodbath" for the group. The album yielded the singles " Tormentor " and " Spasmolytic ", the latter of which spawned a music video directed by Jim Van Bebber . Billboard called "Spasmolytic"
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