Skinny Puppy

Once upon a time there was nobody scarier than Skinny Puppy. Their demonic soundscapes made them a one-of-a-kind proposition among the '80s underground club crowd. There were (mostly unfounded) whispers of them maiming animals onstage. The band's mid-'90s implosion was similarly lurid, following the nightmarish scripts of disaster, death, trauma...

By Michael Chamy

October 14, 2004

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Once upon a time there was nobody scarier than Skinny Puppy. Their demonic soundscapes made them a one-of-a-kind proposition among the '80s underground club crowd. There were (mostly unfounded) whispers of them maiming animals onstage. The band's mid-'90s implosion was similarly lurid, following the nightmarish scripts of disaster, death, trauma and addiction found on mighty records like VIVIsect VI, Too Dark Park and Last Rights. Somehow, they've managed to make it all the way back, vocalist Nivek Ogre regrouping with mad sound professor cEvin Key in the wake of drummer Dwayne Goettel's death as the result of a heroin overdose. Comeback record The Greater Wrong of the Right is saddled with a few awkward nu-metal, Hollywood sci-fi moments, but it's primarily stocked with the quality, high-density frightfests Skinny Puppy has built a career on. Don't worry about those buckets of blood and guts they have onstage--it's all fake. Right?

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