Skinny Puppy: The Greater Wrong of the Right

Change is a word that scares a lot of music fans. It is also essential for any musical artist if they're going to last. Anyone who stays exactly the same is going to be forgotten. But once groups change, some of their hardcore and longtime fans often consider them "sellouts."

This is the situation faced by Skinny Puppy, the industrial group who revolutionized electronic music in the early '80s by taking the soundscapes of Kraftwerk and Throbbing Gristle and injecting quite a bit of evil into them, then added some pretty danceable beats to round out their unique sound. As the '80s progressed, they grew in popularity in the underground and college scene, but never got too famous, and eventually ceased to exist in the mid-'90s after drug abuse/band in-fighting got out of hand. The end of the group was officially sealed when keyboardist Dwayne Goettel died of a drug overdose. Their influence can be felt in every industrial band that came after them, even a one-man project known as Nine Inch Nails.

Fast-forward ten years. The group's two remaining members -- music master cEvin Key and lyricist/vocalist Nivek Ogre -- had grown tired of their mediocre solo projects and decided to put out a new Skinny Puppy album. Soon after, "The Greater Wrong of the Right," the group's umpteenth album, arrived.

Before I get to my review of the album, let me get a few things cleared up right away. No, it does not contain endless loops of bloodcurdling screams sampled from horror films like "Cleanse Fold and Manipulate." No, Ogre does not menacingly growl his way through the songs like he did on "Too Dark Park". No, there aren't any 11-minute songs of random noise. Those were all great elements of Skinny Puppy's past. This is the present. A lot in music has changed in the past decade and Skinny Puppy has changed with it

As I figured would happen, the haters have come out of the woodwork in droves. As soon as the new album was released, the Internet filled up with people claiming the album was an insult to Skinny Puppy (some even said it sounded like "nu-metal," which couldn't be further from the truth) and that the group shouldn't have even bothered getting back together and that without Dwayne the group is a joke. What these people fail to understand, whether it be due to stupidity or just ignorance, is that just because a group alters its sound a bit doesn't mean that it's automatically garbage. I freely admit that "TGWOTR" is far from the best Skinny Puppy album ever. I own every single one and wouldn't rank it any higher than ninth, maybe even tenth.

But that doesn't change the fact that the tenth best Skinny Puppy album is better than 99 percent of the music being put out nowadays. Rather than blast the group for changing a bit, they should appreciate that the group decided to bless us with another album … something I never thought I'd see.

Now that I got that out of the way, let's get to the reviewing.

Like all great artists, Skinny Puppy has influenced the sound of countless groups that have come out after them. But great bands also are influenced by other bands. And it's clear from listening to the new album that Skinny Puppy has been listening to a wide variety of music during their decade-long hiatus. Traces of drum and bass, hip hop and other styles that have grown in popularity since the band broke up can be heard on the album -- with a Puppy twist of course.

The album starts out with a few songs that have inspired a lot of derision, as they are more radio-friendly that past Puppy tracks. "I'mmortal" leads off with a very danceable beat and could easily be played on a wide variety of radio stations. "Pro-test" is the only truly disappointing track on the album, as Ogre's vocals are done in a speeded-up rapping style that sounds very unnatural and forced. The music is decent, but is ruined by the rapping.

"Empte" is an impressive display of Ogre's vocal ability and features an entrancing spacy beat courtesy of Key. Also present in this track are several instances of vocal distortion that will please fans of old Puppy albums, and an impressive layering of tracks that creates a well-mixed soundscape. "Neuwerld" moves back to a harder, faster beat and political-themed lyrics clearly criticizing the House of Bush. The mixing here is also impressive, with the distortion and layering in the track once again creating that great Skinny Puppy sound we've been missing for the past decade.

Up to this point, the album is impressive, but the remaining six tracks push it into the excellent category. "Ghostman" is a more traditional Puppy-sounding song with a pounding beat and angry tone and could have easily appeared on "Rabies." "Downsizer" is reminiscent of the slow, creepy tracks that would show up on older Puppy albums, just without the movie clips. "Past Present" is a fast, infectious track that could probably do well if it were to be released as a single. "Use Less" features some impressive drumming and has a very anthemic quality.

The final two tracks, "Goneja" and "Daddyuwarbash" end the album by returning to a more tradition Puppy style. "Goneja" is complete with extreme vocal distortion, an unconventional a grinding industrial beat, and even a little bit of screaming. Then we get a classic Puppy ending with the final track -- with Ogre speaking in baby babble to start the track and barking like a dog to end the track. In between we get an in-your-face, angry, pounding track that continues assaulting you for its duration.

As far as vocals go, Ogre does a lot more singing on this album … continuing a trend he started on the last Puppy studio album "The Process" with songs like "Candle" and "Cult." And believe it or not, his voice is pretty good for someone who spent most of his career with the band growling and/or screaming into the microphone in his trademark evil tone. Also, his lyrics seem to have matured, which is natural since he is a decade older.

One of the biggest changes is the use of more live guitars and drums. Many songs on the album sound a lot more like material from the "ohgr" side project than old Skinny Puppy or Key's solo work. This is mainly due to the influence of co-producer Mark Walk, who worked on the ohgr records.

This is a collection of songs, not a bunch of eerie soundscapes, interludes and atmosphere music or some sort of concept album. And a lot of these songs are very catchy, and will probably be stuck in your head for a long time after you hear the album.

Gone are the film clips, instrumentals, interludes, etc, but that's OK. There are still lush, layered mixes that will keep true Puppy fans satisfied. I recommend listening on headphones with hig