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CHAPTER V:
The Pack Scattered
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The completion of Last Rights also completed Skinny Puppy's contract with Nettwerk. The members of the band agreed that a change of label and producer might be a good foundation for their next production. Skinny Puppy came into contact with Michael Geiger from American Recordings, with whom they engineered a three record deal. According to Geiger the deal did not include David (Rave) Ogilvie as producer (ironically, Ogilvie stepped in to pull the strings together, almost two years later), and it was made clear that the band would not be in complete |
| control of the final product
(Thompson). The two year production history, of what was to become Skinny Puppy's final album, was fraught with problems and intrigue. Producer problems, communicational problems internally in the band, and between the band and their new label, creative differences, the resignation of Ogre towards the end of the production, and natural disasters were only some of the ingredients in the story. And, as in the past, drugs played a part as well, tragically claiming the life of Dwayne Goettel in the end. The problems were closely followed, and even fuelled, by the music press and the internet |
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community alike.
As a result, the information available on the production of The Process is
voluminous, and I refer -- for those interested in the often vicious and sad gossip and
mudslinging that took place surrounding this album -- to the credits page of this profile.
Most of the sources dating from 1994-6 are concerned with The Process -- the
most informative, and least biased, article I came across, was probably Dave Thompson's
feature article in Alternative Press (March 1996, pp. 38-42), entitled "Skinny
Puppy -- Canine Affliction." In the article by Thompson, Ogre remarked that The Process "...[is] almost a greatest hits package of all the different styles Skinny Puppy |
| has been through, from where it possibly would have gone, because Dwayne had immersed himself in a very heavy techno phase, to where it came from, which was these really twisted gothic love ballads..." Ogre's description of The Process is fairly accurate, and although it was released to a mixed and fairly lukewarm response from both critics and fans, The Process features a very rich and powerful sound that draws upon all the stages of musical experimentation that Skinny Puppy traversed in their 12-13 year long career. From Ogre's statement, it would appear that he is fairly content with the way The Process turned out; Key |
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| was less enthused at first,
claiming that the album was at best left 75% finished (Thompson). However, in an interview
conducted by the internet, he sounded more optimistic, and said that "...[the songs]
will get even better in time." |
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Following the departure of Nivek Ogre from Skinny Puppy, Dwayne
Goettel's death, and American Recordings cancellation of the band's
record deal, Skinny Puppy was effectively dissolved. However, Nettwerk
released Brap, a
follow-up to Back
And Forth series two later in 1996, and future releases from the "vault of Skinny
Puppy" have been rumored to be in the works. |
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Meanwhile, cEvin Key's own label Subconscious has established
itself firmly on the scene, with a number of releases, including Download,
Plateau and most recently Music For Cats, by cEvin Key and
the Subconscious Orchestra. After a period of silence, Ogre returned in the fall of 1997 as guest vocalist on KMFDM's latest album and tour. At this time, he is in the midst of production on a new project Ritalin with Martin Atkins of Invisible, which is scheduled to be released in the late spring of 1998. Both Ogre and Key presently reside in Los Angeles, and Ogre has recently married. Wherever the future sees these two musicians go, the fact is that, not yet past the primes of their creative lives, they have already written themselves into a small corner of music history. |
