Remission (EP)

Release history

In December 1984, Remission was distributed through Nettwerk as Skinny Puppy's first major release. Despite being preceded by the embryonic Back & Forth EP that was limited to just 35 home-printed copies, Remission is seen as the band's debut effort. To complicate the matter further, most issues of the EP following its release year, 1984, were expanded with five additional tracks, retroactively turning it into a full-blown studio album.

In 1993, Nettwerk released Remission on CD using the expanded track listing from the 1985 cassette release. However, this wasn't the first time Remission appeared in the format; the EP's first CD release was in 1987, when it (along with the appended track "Glass Out") was combined with Skinny Puppy's 1985 album Bites to form the release Bites and Remission (a compilation distinct from the less popular Remission & Bites, which was also released in 1987 and also on Nettwerk, but that preserved the original track sequence of Remission and the European sequence of Bites).

On May 17, 2018, cEvin Key released "Coma", an instrumental track created during the Remission era, through his YouTube channel.

Background and composition

Both Remission and Skinny Puppy's follow-up album Bites were created before Dwayne Goettel joined in 1986 and helped crystallize the band's hard, percussion-driven industrial sound. As such, Remission features more synthpop and electro elements than Skinny Puppy would come to be known for. It is one of the first known commercial releases to use a TR-909 drum machine.

In 2013, Skinny Puppy's album Weapon was released as a sort of spiritual successor to both Remission and Bites. Apart from containing a re-recorded version of "Solvent" from Remission, Weapon was deliberately created with antiquated instruments to achieve their early 1980s-style electronic sound.

Critical reception

Contemporary reception of Remission was mostly positive. The AllMusic review wrote that the EP "remains the Puppy's finest hour. The breadth of vision and amazing instrumental prowess of vocalist Nivek Ogre and sound-designer cEvin Key will likely never be transcended." Retrospectively, Remission gained more praise, being cited as an important influence to many bands. In an article about Skinny Puppy's broad influence, Alec Chillingworth of Metal Hammer wrote, "Al Jourgensen’s Ministry was laughable in ’84, whereas Puppy gave us Remission: an EP bursting with potential, exuding a dance-ready racket heavier than anything their contemporaries offered." Fact placed Remission at number 19 on their list of 20 best industrial and EBM albums of all time, calling it "excellent electro-pop".

Track listing

• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock
• Remarks by Ronald Reagan upon signing the Child Protection Act, May 21, 1984}}
• If You Love This Planet (1982) by Terre Nash}}
• Blood for Dracula (1974) by Paul Morrissey}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock}}
• The Tenant (1976) by Roman Polanski}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock
• Remarks by Ronald Reagan upon signing the Child Protection Act, May 21, 1984}}
• The Legend of Hell House (1973) by John Hough
• The Tenant (1976) by Roman Polanski}}
• The Legend of Hell House (1973) by John Hough}}
• The Legend of Hell House (1973) by John Hough}}
• If You Love This Planet (1982) by Terre Nash}}
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943) by Alfred Hitchcock}}
• Blood for Dracula (1974) by Paul Morrissey}}

Personnel

All credits adapted from Remission liner notes.

Skinny Puppy

• Nivek Ogre – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, spooky horn
• cEvin Key – synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production Additional personnel
• Dave Ogilvie – production, engineering
• Bill Leeb (credited as Wilhelm Schroeder) – bass synth on "Incision", "Manwhole", and "Ice Breaker"
• D. Plevin – fretless bass on "Glass Houses"
• Steven R. Gilmore – cover art
• Greg Sykes – typography

Certifications

References

References

1. Kern, Jay. (2010). "Skinny Puppy: The Illustrated Discography". Mythos Press.
2. (1985). "Remission". [[Nettwerk]].
3. (1987). "Remission & Bites". [[PIAS Recordings]].
4. Key, cEvin. (February 2022). "Skinny puppy- coma 1983 ( cevin key instrumental )". [[YouTube]].
5. Ankeny, Jason. "Skinny Puppy Biography". [[AllMusic]].
6. DiGravina, Tim. "Skinny Puppy - Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse". [[AllMusic]].
7. Rosenschein, Ari. (September 8, 2020). "Dave Ogilvie on Skinny Puppy and the TR-909". [[Roland Corporation]].
8. Gourley, Bob. (19 November 2013). "Ogre of Skinny Puppy talks Guantanamo Bay and "Weapon"". Chaos Control.
9. Burnsilver, Glenn. "Skinny Puppy: "We Spent an Unnecessary Amount of Time on hanDover"". [[Phoenix New Times]].
10. "Skinny Puppy, Remission". [[AllMusic]].
11. Chillingworth, Alec. (9 November 2016). "How Skinny Puppy Changed Metal". [[Metal Hammer]].
12. Clouston, Richard. (27 November 2014). "The 20 best industrial and EBM records ever made". [[Fact (UK magazine).
13. Cigéhn, Peter. "Skinny Puppy samples (The Top Sample Lists)". The Top Sample Lists.
14. "Skinny Puppy – Video Samples from Movies and Official Bootleg Database".
15. (1984). "Remission". [[Nettwerk]].
16. (November 18, 2013). "Litany webchat with Ogre and Jason Alacrity". Litany.net.