Released
1992
Label
Nettwerk/Capitol
Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund
Visit
Last Edit/Update
23 March, 1998
Skinny Puppy
INQUISITION
Track Listing
1. Inquisition (single mix)
2. Inquisition (extended)
3. Lahuman8
4. Mirror Saw (dub mix)
Skinny
Puppy's only single release from the album Last Rights unites two
relatively unimaginative versions of "Inquisition" with a pair of experimental
tracks -- one, a 'dub mix' of "Mirror Saw," and the other, a bonus track
cryptically entitled "Lahuman8."
Neither of the two alternative
mixes of the title track improves upon the original. The 'single mix' is little more
than a distorted, and slightly rearranged, version of the album track. The piece is both
powerful and dynamic, but the structure and flow of the song has been thrown out the
window. The 'extended mix,' on the other hand, does next to nothing with the original
material, except extending it. A couple of interludes spotlighting the percussion elements
of the song have been inserted, and here and there the synth themehas been emphasized,
but, at length the piece drags.
The other two tracks on this single
are more in the vein of the experimental pieces on Last Rights, and compensate for
the uninventiveness of the "Inquisition" mixes. "Lahuman8" is carried
along by a slow, subdued bassbeat and Ogre's steady stream of vocals, which are
largely treated beyond comprehension. Around these elements whirl a true storm of
distorted sounds and melodic fragments. The song has no clear structure, but builds to a
chaos-symphonic crescendo towards the end.
The final track -- a 'dub mix' of
the disturbingly beautiful song "Mirror Saw" -- is another good track in itself,
although the source of the mix is such a great track that it deserved to have been left
alone. The 'dub mix' is a total deconstruction of the original song; all the elements are
retained in the mix, but the piece has been completely cut-up, chopped to pieces and
rearranged without hardly any resemblance to the album version of "Mirror Saw."
