FLUXEUROPA: SKINNY PUPPY

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SKINNY PUPPY

THE PROCESS (American Recordings) is to be the last 'proper' LP by the influential gothic-industrialists, Skinny Puppy, mainly due to the fact that keyboardist Dwayne Goettel died of a heroin overdose last year. The group's demise is a shame because this is by far their best and most interesting work. It covers many different styles, some of which are a big change from previous material.

The main difference is that there's less of the traditional Skinny Puppy Dalek-style vocals, and on a couple of tracks Ogre actually sings instead of shouts. The first of those tracks, 'Candle', begins with a slow pounding electronic drum beat accompanied by acoustic guitar while Ogre sings gently with a hint of aggression but that is soon to change when Ogre roars into action with his powerful voice. Then, as the song continues, it's a mixture of the two vocal styles as metal guitar and stabbing electronic beats are added, although that acoustic hypnotic guitar is present throughout. The second, 'Cult', is very much in the Legendary Pink Dots mould. It has a strong folk feel to it, and in this case Ogre's voice is gentle with emotion. It does build up with more of the metal guitar but it doesn't become aggressive.

The main style of vocals used on this CD are powerful growls, but without the usual amount of effects on them, and there's also a lot more of the clearer howling, almost singing, type vocals. The music style is mainly hard industrial rock, but the difference here is that there's more of a high energy techno feel, especially on 'Blue Serge' and 'Amnesia'.

Fans of the Dalek-style voice won't be completely disappointed as it does appear on 'Death' and 'Mortar'. These songs are the closest to the usual electronic mayhem which is Skinny Puppy but with much more bite this time round. Also the title track features the Dalek voice when the words "The Process" are growled out.

The CD ends with a 50-second track called 'Cellar Heat' which consists of pounding electronic noise, metallic guitar and some feedback: then suddenly it ends. Yes, this is the end of the final and long awaited work from Canada's best export, Skinny Puppy. R.I.P.

JOHN MARSHALL
24 April 1996