Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park

This is a masterful work of noise sculpture; ominously appealing, it draws the listener into a musical world of colorful horror. Musician/programmers Cevin Key and Dwayne Goettel craft fascinating sound collages over which vocalist Nivek Ogre roars, snarls, and whispers his inimitable free-flowing narcotic imagery. Lyrical themes revolve around pollution and destruction of both the earth and the psyche. Key and Goettel display their characteristic talent for creating beautifully wicked and twisted soundscapes, seemingly drawing from any conceivable device capable of creating noise. "Convulsion" and "Tormentor" are of particular note for their intricate and imaginative design. --Mark McCleerey Amazon.com

New user

First cd of theirs, seems like good stuff here. I actually sampled another one b4 getting this instead, it was one of their newer ones for the righter wrong or something, I thought it was kinda cheesy like they lost their talent or something and this one sounded much better so i bought it instead. November 3, 2008

Cool Industrial Music

Whether or not Skinny Puppy is some of the harshest industrial ever made can't be said on me (the closest thing I've ever to industrial before getting this was Nine inch Nails, and you call that industrial?!?!?! Yeah right), but this record owns. Skinny Puppy do sound like industrial music to me, only with a bit more melody. Some elitist industrial people probably have an answer to that, but __________ 'em. A bit of melody is always good because without melody (a bit, even bands like Sunn O))) and the Dillinger Escape Plan have melody, but in ways that probably don't make any sense to you).

Personally, I think industrial areas are quite cool, and while industrial decay sucks, it's strangely beautiful (!!!!!!!!!), the areas can be, that is. Calling me a noob and citing stranger, more "industrial" artists won't hold water with me, because it can't change the sound of Skinny Puppy being extremely cool.

So what does this record sound like? Well for one, it's extremely electronic. The vocals are distorted and growl with an unmistakable sound of static, but they kick! And the beats are pretty punishing at times, not the most punishing in the world, probably, but matter not. There's a variety of rhythms, and many of them are considered to be polyrhythms, though I have no idea how to tell between them and regular rhythms (I just take it as a whole, like I do when listening to Meshuggah). As for the rest of everything on top, there's is many, many samples and whatnot, cool industrial sounds, take my word, it just sounds bad @$$.

While this isn't the greatest album I've heard (which is why it doesn't get an ultra high score), every song is worth listening to and each has it's own personality. Spasmolytic is a tale about a drug dealer, probably in the downtown area where everything is rotting with industrial decay. Relcamation is pretty tight being an instrumental, the intro is the _____! Rash Relfection, while doesn't really conjure up something, has me growling with the sick line "kiss the master's feet...". Nature's Revenge is cool the way it begins, creepy synths that open it. All of them each have their own, but those are some standouts.

This one will take a while to grow on you, at least for me, natural since I know next to nothing about the genre. But I did, and now I am glad I own this fine record. If you like bands like Nine Inch Nails (in fact, this group was a big influence on Trent Reznor), you might like this (it's different, so get ready if your idea of "best industrial ever!" Is Nine Inch Nails).

7.5/10 August 10, 2008

Skinny Puppy in their Prime

I've been a fan of Skinny Puppy for many years. My first taste was their VivisectVI album. It was love at first listen. Their more recent releases didn't quite capture the dark experimental angst that I was accustomed to. So I backtracked to the Too Dark Park album.

This album is everything I enjoyed about the artist. It was similar to the style I fell in love with on the VivisectVI release. Experimental techo goth feel that made me long for another album of this caliber.

This is a must buy for anyone that enjoyed the darker and more experimental side of the artist. March 3, 2008

ummm what?

So ok..one might get made fun of for saying in front of puppy fans but I really enjoy nine inch nails. I loved the different sounds, and some of the synthy stuff. So I decided to see what else in the genre was like this (slowly I have begun the journey into better music, I realize the error of my ways by enjoying bands like linkin park and whatnot). So I read around on amazon and other sites about what is the best to get, so many people refered me to skinny puppy, and other industrial bands, needless to say I began listening to other industrial bands. Rammstein, KMFDM, and some of the reznor inspired manson stuff (antichrist superstar) and whenever I would look for more, one band would always show up on the recomend list, and that band would be skinny puppy.

So I decided, hey why not.. they inspired NIN so they cannot be that bad, so I gave all their new CD's a new try... and it was not really my thing, and many fans told me to go with the older stuff like VIVIsectVI and too dark park. I eventually found some copys of both and took a listen... boy was I in for a suprise

First thing you will notice, if you listen to much modern music you will notice that it sounds very old(that might be all the synths (kind of like how pretty hate machine sounds kinda old) , not the bad old, just something that is old that aged very well. Like nothing you have ever heard. From the title song convulssion you are confused, and scared. Where are the melodys? Where is the chourus? Where is the singing... and most off... when does the music begin? If you are anything like me you will instantly skip to the next track, and then the next one, untill you realize that most of the CD is like that... this is normal I have come to find out... i have come to realize that this is getting the "verse-bridge-chourous-verse" style song you have come to love completly out of your head, its like the first time you heard spoken word poetry, and you realize that there is more than just rhyming poetry, this music is the same way. Stick with it though, i cannot stress it enough. Sit down and struggle through listening to the entire CD. there will be moments where you will want to turn it off and listen to "normal music" but dont. After you get done listening to it... give it a couple of days, and try it again. Most likely you will start to notice riffs and melodys and actual music.
Songs like "grave wisdom" and "T.F.W.O" will start to sound listenable now dont get me wrong, i still dont get what the artist is trying to say, and what he means half of the time, because its so random, and its not glaringly obvious what he is trying to say.

Dont get me wrong this CD isint for everyday listening, and I still think its the most F#&$!ed up CD i have ever heard. However its great for expanding your mind, and teaching you that there is other music out there. Even if the music is not your cup of tea (which is most people) its good to appreciate all different types of music.
January 7, 2008

blistering

from the title, the art work and just the promise of a skinny puppy album in itself, you can tell that this is going to be something different. this album is album is essentiall a raw untamed wave of sheer terror splintered by stabs of remorse. oghr sprays the listener with perplexing and certainly terrifying rants and deconstructed lyrics. it is hard to say what youre gonna get from this if you pick up a copy, but the album certainly takes you to the darkest parts of your mind and to some extent does bring you crashing back to the surface again. convulsion starts the proceedings nicely warming the listener up for what is to come; then this shifts into tormentor, a progressive rythmic assault, laden with horror and fear but it doesnt lay it on nearly as thick as the all out shredded nerve endings experience that spasmolytic gives the listener, beserk, uncontrolled, insane. rash reflection calms down a little bit, with its curious lyrical content leading into the calm amongst the storm, natures revenge, relaxed yet still brooding with an underlying intensity waiting to errupt. Then, with a wall of distorted noise beats and yelling shore line poison pummels the senses delivering a fragmented, wonderous scape of samples, confusion and melody;possibly my favourite track. next is grave wisdom, appearing more melodic, and structured but abusive lyrics and anger are locked firmly into place. and then.....well, possibly the most surreal of the album, t.f.w.o. or totally fcuking weirded out, is just what it says on the can, the almost humerous premise sets it apart, but the song itself is a breezeblock of pure chaos, splicing brisk glimpses of guitars amongst the bouncing synths and strange sounds, it leaves you perplexed moving swiftly into morpheus laughing, perhaps a more atmospheric piece than seen in this album, but keeps the anger storming right to the end with its sinister tone and malevolant rythm. the album closes with reclamation an instrumental soundscape, allowing time for reflection and to calm the hell down!!!

overall this is undoubtably a classic, a masterpiece. a hellish journey through the mindset of one of the greatest bands ever. its easy to listen to due to its shorter running time of half an hour but this doesnt dent is impact, or its power. for a newcomer, interseted in the band, im not sure whether to reccomend this first, possibly greater wrong of the right? quite a confortable and accessible album, while it doesnt bear the power of this and other early classics i found it a good place to start and is still a very good album. but if you start with this then , cool : ) January 3, 2008

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