Released
1987/1993
Label
Nettwerk/Capitol
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Visit
Last Edit/Update
23 March, 1998
Skinny Puppy
CHAINSAW
Track Listing
1. Chainsaw
2. Assimilate Remix (R:23)
3. Cage
4. Stairs And Flowers
(Def Wish Mix)
5. Stares And Flowers
(Too Far Gone)
Gustave Dore's
etching of Death riding across the heavens followed by an entourage of winged demons
graces the cover of Skinny Puppy's EP-single Chainsaw. It is an
appropriate image in connection with the title track, which takes on the topic of human
aggression, and the crowning achievement of that aggression: the nuclear bomb. The EP was
originally released between the full-lengths Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse and Cleanse
Fold And Manipulate, and Chainsaw clearly displays the stylistic transition Skinny
Puppy was in.
Propelled by Cevin Key's
dynamic and rich combination of processed and acoustic percussions, and a powerful synth
theme with tragic sweep, "Chainsaw" stands as one of Skinny Puppy's
most compelling tracks. A chainsaw is very inventively used as a thread in the musical
fabric, and a cut-up aria sample intensifies the mood. Nivek Ogre is in rare
form, rasping his way through the depressing lyrics, which, as mentioned, circle around
the self-destructive urges of the human race. A voice sample: "To everlasting eternal
peace," is perfectly inserted towards the end of the song as an ironic
counterstatement to Ogre's lyrics.
"Chainsaw" is
followed by the R:23 Remix of Assimilate, and as with the other remixes
of Skinny Puppy's songs at this junction in their career, the remix may
be a more dance friendly version, but it in no way really adds to or improves upon the
original. New breaks have been inserted in the song, the percussions have been powered up
and emphasized, and the individual elements of the song seem to have been separated in the
mix, but in all respects the original version remains truer to Skinny Puppy's
sound.
Closely related to
"Icebreaker" in sound, "Cage" is an older track that Skinny
Puppy apparently found a use for on this EP (the song actually appeared on the
original Nettwerk cassette release of Bites). "Cage"
features a number of the same sounds, and the same spooky atmosphere, as
"Icebreaker," as well as the cryptic lyrics that Ogre stood for at that
point.
Chainsaw, finally,
also contains two different remix versions of "Stairs And Flowers," and while
the song has its merits, this double serving of it seems a mouthful too many. Both mixes
do feature elaborations: some extra rhythms here, more samples there, a little extra synth
bass applied in certain places... but, neither version is drastically different, and the
original recording of the song once more remains the most listenable.
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