Skinny Puppy was an influential industrial band, formed in 1982 by core mem… Read Full Bio ↴Skinny Puppy was an influential industrial band, formed in 1982 by core members cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton) and Nivek Ogre (ohGr) (Kevin Ogilvie) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They officially split up following the completion of their Final Tour on December 5, 2023.

Inspired by the groundbreaking music of Chrome, Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Portion Control, The Legendary Pink Dots, and others, Skinny Puppy experimented with electronic recording techniques and methods. the band composed multi-layered music generally using keyboards, synthesizers, found sounds, drum machines, live percussion, tape splices, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments. Whereas many contemporary remixes and re-edits of songs were created in order to make a song more suitable for dancing or different radio formats, Skinny Puppy approached remixing and re-editing as an artistic process of reinterpreting compositions, often using remixes to push their sound into styles of ambient, dub and techno. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term brap, coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".

Skinny Puppy's first two proper releases, Bites and Remission, fall somewhere between the found-sound chaos of early Cabaret Voltaire and the abrasive, futuristic synthpop of the Units or Crash Course in Science. While the intense synth programming, abstract rhythms, and surreal samples--all Puppy trademarks--are present here, the albums owe as much to new wave as to industrial.

A subsequent EP, Chainsaw, featured a remix of Bites's "Assimilate" that earned the band some attention from club DJs. 1986's Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse earned Skinny Puppy greater attention, as "Dig It" and "Stairs and Flowers" became alternative club and college radio hits; the video for the former was played occasionally on MTV. The album is arguably less club-friendly than its predecessors, as the band continues to refine a claustrophobic, almost surreal sound that buries rhythm and melody. The follow-up, Cleanse, Fold, and Manipulate treads similar territory.

VIVIsectVI was a breakthrough for the band, with "Testure" becoming their biggest club hit to date, and the album itself was received warmly by college radio. The title of the album was a pun intended to associate vivisection with Satanism (ie. the "666 sect"). The album shows SP integrating more political and social themes: "Testure" is an animal rights song; "VX Gas Attack" concerns the use of chemical weapons; "State Aid" promotes sexual abstinence to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV.

Ogre had become very interested in Ministry and Al Jougensen's side projects, and he persuaded the rest of the band to allow Jourgensen to produce Rabies. While "Worlock" (a track Jourgensen didn't produce) remains an industrial club classic, the album was received coolly, as many thought Jourgensen's heavy metal guitar-based signatures did not compliment SP's more complex, intricate sonic sculptures. The band briefly disbanded afterward.

They reformed and returned to their electronic roots with Too Dark Park, a hallucinogenic album that owes as much to psychedelia as industrial music. Two years later, "Last Rights" covered similar territory, culminating in the epic sound sculpture "Download." Although their sound had moved away from industrial dance, these albums expanded the band's audience, and provided the template for many industrial bands of the 1990s.

Following "Last Rights", the band, poised for a major breakthrough in the wake of Nine Inch Nails' commercial success, left their longtime label Nettwerk for American Recordings. Their highly anticipated followup was unfortunately marred by personal tragedy - the death of Dwayne Goettel - and the band's inability to agree on a direction for the record. Numerous producers, including Martyn Atkins (PigFace/Invisible Records founder) and Roli Mosimann (Swans), came and went without success; finally the band regrouped with longtime collaborator Dave "Rave" Ogilvie to finish "The Process". The band expanded their range, working with gothic pop and heavy metal, alongside their familiar electronic textures. While seemingly rushed to completion following Goettel's death (it sounds half-finished in parts), it is an interesting change for the group. Unfortunately American Recordings, tired of waiting for the record, did little to promote it. Skinny Puppy broke up afterward.

With interests in filmmaking, they made a number of music videos, each attempting to further the theme and concept of the composition at hand. Most of these videos received little air play by major music video networks such as MTV (USA) and MuchMusic (Canada) and some were outright banned. For example the video for "Worlock" was universally banned because it is a "non stop gore fest" of clips from various horror movies. Because none of these clips were authorized for usage in the video it has never been commercially available.

Their concerts have been marked by their bizarre and bloody conceptual performance art, which for every concert was planned with the intention of challenging the notions of all who observed. Their music had some acceptance in dance clubs because of its danceable beats, but had little play on commercial radio. Skinny Puppy had little commercial success outside of Canada, but their influence on industrial music is immense.

The band began with the intention of doing something "raw" and "real." Ogre's vocals, one of Skinny Puppy's most recognizable features, are typically roughly growled snarls of half-sentences and fragmented stream of consciousness. Lyrical themes included animal rights, politics, religion, horror, drug abuse, disease, and environmental degradation; these themes were often lyrically and conceptually intertwined. Other core aspects of the Skinny Puppy sound include the mixture of heavy sampling and experimental noise with softer musical styles sometimes approaching synthpop.

Post-punk politics are a recurring theme utilised by Skinny Puppy. Some say the meaning of their name is that their music and lyrics give a view of the world from the eyes of a starving animal. They have long had an interest in animal rights; this is most obvious in their song Testure, which is about vivisection and other animal testing being scientific fraud. During many of their concerts Ogre would take the role of "scientist" and experiment on a stuffed animal. In 1988 they were arrested for their mocked-up vivisections, and found it ironic to be arrested for a parody of what was happening for real across the street from their concert. During their TGWOTR tour, criticism of the Bush regime was a recurring theme, particularly during their performance of VX Gas Attack, a song about atrocities perpetrated by Saddam Hussein, originally released while he was still considered an ally of the United States.

The last two studio albums are points of contention for old school Puppy fans. During the recording of The Process, the band broke up. Even more tragically, Dwayne Rudolph Goettel died, from an apparent heroin overdose at his parent's home, soon afterwards. Some people say that cEvin, Nivek, and Dwayne didn't connect as well on this album as they had earlier because their respective musical interests were diverging at the time, others claim it was the heroin.

Key and Ogre later reunited as Skinny Puppy for a one-off concert in Germany in 2003. Afterwards, they decided Skinny Puppy should continue as an ongoing project. The newly reconstituted Skinny Puppy released The Greater Wrong of the Right in 2004, their first studio album in 8 years, and have been continuing since, constantly evolving their sound.

There have been a number of Skinny Puppy side projects, both before, and after the breakup in 1995. The Tear Garden is a collaboration between cEvin and Edward Ka-Spel (and later most band members) of The Legendary Pink Dots. Other noteable side projects include Download, Hilt, Plateau, Cyberaktif (a collaboration between Key & Goettel and Bill Leeb, a.k.a. Wilhelm Schroeder), Rx (one-off collaboration between Ogre and Martin Atkins), ADuck (Goettel's side project), A CHUD Convention (one-off collaboration with a;GRUHM...), Ogre's contributions to Pigface, Ogre and Mark Walk's band ohGr and solo releases from cEvin Key.

Human Disease
Skinny Puppy Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Whatever painted part taught deeply enclosed in mother earth life born
Addict breathe angel whatever paint it up so closer to farther apart
Meat seeking missiles consuming rain forest infested veins the
River flow urban needle inject carcinogen chemicals relieve the stress slows
Consumer rotting sight no taste odorless clear seeping water poisoning
All producing nothing intelligent to cause disease human breed in self
Perpetuating whatever close at hand finger cramp virtuoso closet problem
Epileptic machines shudder shock who is over who is on top malformed

Earth born shake all is a disease biped walk so straight earth can be so
Giving as it can be irate what if to burn up and out with illing over
Doubt sight no taste odorless FDA recommends to take daily allowance
Of them 26 unknown carcinogens 26 unknown cancer causing supplements
Infested chemicals FDA virtuoso closet problem whatever to plot or build
To self destruct the so called lesser beast exhibits harmony walk straight

Biped relate walking disease green is the grass of survival
Feeding the cows that they dine on all is a disease human disease survival

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Skinny Puppy's Human Disease discuss the destructive effects of human activity on the environment and on ourselves as a species. The first stanza describes the ways in which humans continue to harm the Earth, from using chemicals to pollute the water supply to consuming resources without thought for the long-term consequences. The reference to "mother earth" suggests a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the planet we call home, which we have failed to honor.

The second stanza shifts the focus to the human body, which is portrayed as a "disease" that consumes and destroys its own environment. The FDA is mentioned as an authority figure reinforcing toxic behavior by recommending daily consumption of unknown carcinogens and cancer-causing supplements. The idea of a "virtuoso closet problem" implies that those in power have the knowledge and ability to solve these issues, but choose not to for their own benefit.

Overall, the lyrics of Human Disease serve as a condemnation of human greed and disregard for the natural world, and suggest that if we don't take action, we will continue to self-destruct as a species.

Line by Line Meaning

Whatever painted part taught deeply enclosed in mother earth life born
The origin of life is buried deep within the earth and cannot be perceived easily.

Addict breathe angel whatever paint it up so closer to farther apart
Drug addiction causes people to crave release and temporary highs, leading them towards physical, mental and emotional deterioration.

Meat seeking missiles consuming rain forest infested veins the
Human greed for meat consumption leads to deforestation and exploitation of natural resources that are being destroyed in the process.

River flow urban needle inject carcinogen chemicals relieve the stress slows
Urbanization and industrialization have led to the pollution of rivers and the injection of harmful chemicals, causing serious health problems and slow death.

Consumer rotting sight no taste odorless clear seeping water poisoning
The water bodies are getting contaminated, creating a toxic and polluted environment that can induce illnesses within the human body.

All producing nothing intelligent to cause disease human breed in self
Humans, knowingly or unknowingly, create problems for their own kind causing diseases that harm themselves.

Perpetuating whatever close at hand finger cramp virtuoso closet problem
Human beings keep on perpetuating problems that occur in their day to day problems that eventually leads to worsening of the situation.

Epileptic machines shudder shock who is over who is on top malformed
The machines that we create are taking over humanity, leading to malformation and deformation of the social structures that make us unequal beings.

Earth born shake all is a disease biped walk so straight earth can be so
Despite being born on earth, humans continue to destroy it by walking knowingly or unknowingly by being oblivious to the damage they're doing.

Giving as it can be irate what if to burn up and out with illing over
Despite the earth's ability to be benevolent and give, human beings tend to anger and tend towards self-destruction.

Doubt sight no taste odorless FDA recommends to take daily allowance
The sight and smell of foods cannot be trusted, making it even harder to maintain a healthy diet. The FDA recommends daily intake regardless of the ingredients.

Of them 26 unknown carcinogens 26 unknown cancer causing supplements
There are 26 different types of cancer-causing supplements that have hazardous effects on the lives of human beings, which remain unknown.

Infested chemicals FDA virtuoso closet problem whatever to plot or build
Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) control the use of chemicals that harm the human body, but it's tough to find a solution that solves the problem entirely.

To self destruct the so called lesser beast exhibits harmony walk straight
Humans tend to destroy everything in their path while animals tend to walk in harmony by not trying to manipulate their surroundings.

Biped relate walking disease green is the grass of survival
Humans, who were born to walk on two feet, have become walking diseases that roam the earth looking for ways to survive.

Feeding the cows that they dine on all is a disease human disease survival
Humans feed cows only to consume their meat, which eventually causes diseases, making it an all in all a disease for human beings.

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