Skinny Puppy

Listening to Skinny Puppy is a nightmare experience; many will find themselves right at home there. Bites and Remission, their first two efforts, were stunning accomplishments for their time, and their edges still cut today. Drawing on the influences of Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle and Suicide, Ogre and cEVIN Key used synthesizers to extract beats that sucked backwards, notes that mapped themselves onto multidimensional sound grids, dehumanized "ghost in the machine" voices, and other etiolated audio oddities. With the production assistance of David Ogilvie, the band positioned itself at the fore of Industrial music's avant-garde and held that spot until their 1996 farewell release The Process. They pioneered the use of sampling to create a seamless fabric of hysteria as evidenced on Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse and Cleanse Fold & Manipulate -- dense palimpsests of cybernetic sounds and smash-and-grab samples that ranged from campy to overtly political. As the band matured, their material became increasingly personalized, outlining their battles with drugs and depression. Too Dark Park is particularly tough going, but may eventually be considered their masterpiece.