Too Dark Park [Original recording reissued]

Skinny Puppy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B00000DCJR
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,444 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Convulssion

2. Tormentor

3. Spasmolytic

4. Rash Reflection

5. Nature's Revenge

6. Shore Lined Poison

7. Grave Wisdom

8. T. F. W. O.

9. Morpheus Laughing

10. Reclamation

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars (scared sh-tless, cowering in corner of room), December 11, 2004

By 

Shotgun Method (NY... No, not *that* NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Dark Park (Audio CD)

Finally, my first review of a proper industrial album (my review for Ministry's Houses Of The Mole doesn't count since Ministry is in more of an "industrial metal" vein... besides, it wasn't much of a review anyway). And I couldn't have picked a better album to start with--though I gather that would-be rivetheads should probably cut their teeth on something easier. No matter.

Skinny Puppy's Too Dark Park is, in a word, SCARY. Nivek Ogre and cEVIN kEY are true composers of the dark and sinister. Listening to this album is like being in the throes of some drug-induced nightmare. Corrosive beats that sound like the drum machines are having seizures; noisy synths; disturbing, layered collages of samples (including the obligatory sirens); complex polyrhythmic assaults seemingly absent any trace of melody; and on top of this backdrop are Ogre's electronically distorted, hellish vocals. Forget Slayer and their pseudo-Satanic ilk, or the contrived teenage angst of Nine Inch Nails; this is what EVIL sounds like.

I've never understood why this album is labeled "industrial dance music." This sounds nothing at all like Revolting Cocks, Thrill Kill Kult, or KMFDM. No friendly dance beats here, just sheer sonic jihad from beginning to end. The lyrics fit the onslaught as well--insanity, pollution, exploitation, violence, mental illness, drug abuse. All the horrors of the modern world are on display.

Opener Convulsion sets the tone; Shore Lined Poison and Nature's Revenge have moments that would almost be considered "subdued" if they weren't so creepy and insane; Tormentor has its catchy beats eviscerated by waves of abrasive electronics; Rash Reflection has a suprisingly memorable chorus ("kiss the master's feet"); and Spasmolytic is pure f--king chaos, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Absolutely excellent, and highly recommended stuff if you think that you're up for it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars crazy as hell, November 30, 2004

By 

shog (shogville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Dark Park (Audio CD)

Yeah, its a great album. 'unique' 'deep' and 'original' don't even begin to describe it. Yeah, its a fan favorite. I agree with all praise.

It's also bloody insane. This was the first puppy cd i bought. Why? It looked pretty. Then i spun it, christ was i shocked. Too Dark Park is the most insane album i have ever heard. Convulsion is the most insane song. I hated this album for two weeks, it was so far from anything i had ever heard before.

At this time, my mum was convalescing with some rare deadly disease. I lived with her for a month, slept in a closet in a high rise appt, away from everything i knew and hoping mom wouldnt die.

One song stood out, Spasmolytic. That song was how i felt. In time I got it. There are points in life that are horrible and inexplicable. For those times, this is the album.

This is not a starter album. This is the fringe.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Noise + Genius = Apocalyptic Masterpiece, September 27, 2000

By 

David Baker (Nosgoth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Too Dark Park (Audio CD)

The first time you listen to Skinny Puppy, you shudder andwonder just how this is considered music. The second time, you listen and think this is still awful, but you're reluctant to stop the CD. The third time, you're addicted like the rest of us. That's pretty much how everybody is when it comes to Skinny Puppy. "Too Dark Park" is often considered Skinny Puppy's best album, as well as their most abrasive. "Too Dark Park" is the first Skinny Puppy CD I started out with, and unless you have some patience, you might want to start elsewhere in their catalog of work. As I guarantee you, you've never heard anything quite like this. "Convulsion" is a good intro to the album, not one of the better songs here, but solid nonetheless. "Tormentor" picks up the pace with a great beat and amazing synths. However, it's no match for "Spasmolytic", nor are any of the other songs here. "Spasmolytic", too put it bluntly, is demonic chaos, this song is just beyond perfect. Is it the evil synths? The cryptic voice and lyrics? Or maybe it's the fact that, even after all that I've said, you can still dance to it? It's a bit of everything, and then some. "Rash Reflection" is another brilliant song, great beats (as usual), great lyrics ("Kiss the master's feet"), haunting synths (as well as a violin), what's not to love?. If there was one song on "Too Park Park" that is somewhat accessible, it would have to be "Nature's Revenge", a great song without screaming or evil synths that would normally scare everyone and everything away. "Shoreline Posion" is a lot like the previous song, minus the vocal drawl. "Grave Wisdom" is the second best song here. Everything about this song clicks like you wouldn't believe, it sounds epic. "T.F.W.O." has a faster tempo than the other songs, and, as a result, is one of the best ones here (that little melody jingle sure surprised me). "Morpheus Laughing" has a great synth intro and I love that, yet another great song. "Reclamation" is an outro, but is nothing short of amazing itself. "Too Dark Park" is, to sum it up best, harsh. And in all honesty, I wouldn't want it any other way. Many pathetic Industrial bands aspire (wave to the nice people Stabbing Westward), Skinny Puppy on the other hand, were. Mental shock, indeed. A masterpiece.