SKINNY PUPPY
BACK + FORTH VOL 6
COMPILATION SUBCONSCIOUS RELEASE: FEBRUARY 23, 2003 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 27, 2003

The career of Skinny Puppy needs no description nor does it require an introduction. What these three individuals did both in terms of originality and creativity is beyond measure. It is with this in mind that we are now treated to the final edition of the "Back + Forth" series. Cevin Key has plundered and pillaged the infamous Puppy vault one last time and has offered up an album that is a unilateral success. No doubt about it. From the the debut by the dog back in 1982: "Meat Flavoured Factor" to the sinister subtlety of "Ambient Fruit", Skinny Puppy stand as the innovators and inoculators of industrial music. Plain and simple.
What is a real treat on this disc is the inclusion of four outtakes from "The Process". The mania and hyperactive imagination of the band is more than evident in blistering vitriolic tracks: "Hatekill", "The Poison Mouth", "Morphous v2" and "Scared" nail the coffin shut on the imitators and charlatans who have tried to capitalize on Skinny Puppy's legacy. Also included is a stunningly vicious live version of "Hardset Head" from their 2000 reunion gig in Germany. As if this was not enough, Key has included an early interview the band did in 1985 that clearly shows both the motivation and the inspiration of one Nivek Ogre shining through.
Buy this album, for the love of all that you hold dear in electronic music. This is an excellent appetizer for the new full-length. Bloody marvelous work, my fine fellows.

PETER MARKS