Ogre, Cevin Key and the late Dwayne Goettel
Skinny Puppy keeps getting better and better with each passing year. The industrial music giants just finished a massive European tour and are supposedly working on new material. Cevin Key just saw the release of the new album from The Tear Garden featuring Edward Ka-Spel, and Nivek Ogre is about to hit the road again! As we await the highly anticipated new ohGr album Tricks, let's celebrate the band's breakthrough record on its 30th anniversary.
Cleanse Fold and Manipulate is highly regarded by fans as one of their absolute best. Featuring standout tracks like Addiction, Deep Down Trauma Hounds, Anger and First Aid; just about every track on the record is excellent industrial music at it's finest. Originally cited by critics as an album made for die-hard fans only, Cleanse Fold and Manipulate that still holds up as a standout work in the genre. Even the supporting tour was a sight to be seen.
The Head Trauma tour that followed the album's release saw Skinny Puppy playing more live shows than ever before. Touring off the album regarded by fans as a turning point in their career, the band explored difficult and timely themes that included political corruption, war and death. Ogre would even go so far as to end shows by acting out a mock suicide by shooting himself in the head. That kind of theatrical presentation is still part of the band's work even today.
Ain't It Dead Yet chronicles one of the tour's strongest performances filmed June 1st, 1987 at The Toronto Concert Hall. It's an exciting and visceral show that displays the intensity of Skinny Puppy during one of their coolest eras. Cleanse Fold and Manipulate turned 30 this past weekend, and there's no better time than now to revisit the record. Play the album, watch the concert on DVD or iTunes and celebrate just how awesome SP is and continues to be.