VIVISectVI [EXPLICIT LYRICS] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Skinny Puppy

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 19, 2001)
• Original Release Date: July 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics, Original recording reissued
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B00005LOR1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,372 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Skinny Puppy architects Cevin Key and Dwayne Goettel forge here a disturbing and surreal montage of mutilated sound and fractured noise: a suitable backdrop for vocalist Nivek Ogre's angry and despairing reflections on war, disease, and insanity. "Human Disease" and "Hospital Waste" launch a heated attack on the senses, while "Harsh Stone White" is slow-paced brutal surrealism. "VX Gas Attack" and "Testure" are considerably more direct, with their horrified reactions to chemical warfare and animal vivisection. Through this exquisite clamor an occasional riff or melody emerges, such as in "Testure" and "Who's Laughing Now?," rounding out the overall sound. The latter third of the album is predominantly instrumental noise-sculpture, Key and Goettel exhibiting their lurid arsenal of sounds and programming technique. --Mark McCleery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Traumatic Assault of Industrial Harmony, July 22, 2002

By	mrgrieves08 (tucson) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VIVISectVI (Audio CD)

For those who love industrial music, especially the latest generation of bands such as VNV Nation and Wumpscut, this offering from Skinny Puppy will put you in motion. Vivisect VI is the epitome of industrial music, containing ominous and pounding beats, haunting vocals and brilliant socially, environmentally conscious lyrics. With tracks such as Harsh Stone White, Who's Laughing Now, VX Gas Attack (a song that condemned Hussein for his use of chemical weapons against Iran and his own Kurdish subjects, when the rest of the Western world was silent as he was still considered an important ally to the US) and the unforgettably eerie Fritter (Stellla's Home), Vivisect VI remains on of the essential Industrial albums produced. Also included on the album is, of course, the track, Testure--a song that points out the essential cruelty and pointlessness of animal testing and vivsection, and has been a club stand by since it was released.

The uncanny power of Skinny Puppy and this particular album is that they never seem to sound dated or a relic of the past like so much other music. This is due to their revolutionary innovation of sound, noise and sampling and amalgamation of punk/electronic/gothic aesthetics, which turned into the most prominent bands of the last 20 years. Their influence has been repeatedly acknowledged and manifested in bands as diverse as Ministry, Pigface and Nine Inch Nails to Marilyn Manson, Leather Strip and VNV Nation. Listening to these songs, will make you want to get up and dance, even stomp and pound...it will rouse even the gothiest goth and the punkest punk to meet in unison on the dance floor-an increasingly rare occurrence these days. And it is precisely as a result of Skinny Puppy's ability reunite these once so closely integrated groups, which is where their ultimate attraction and musical power lies.
Brap On!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top 10 in Dark Electro Industrial History, May 10, 2006

By	SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Sometimes I'm amazed by the albums that I haven't yet reviewed. I was sure I had done this before; after all, my user name just might be based on this album. At any rate, this is a masterpiece of the genre and for creative music in general.

The output is both surreal and nightmarish, fueled by angst, doubt, fear, rage, uncertainty and unrelenting introspection. Imagine being inside a world designed by Edvard Munch and Salvadore Dali while a horror movie is projected on the wall and a radio turned up too loud spits out war coverage news. The sound often intentionally lacks cohesion allowing the music and lyrics to wildly ramble along to some bizarre stream of consciousness. Chopped phrases are parsed together to form a sort of dark poetic montage as opposed to even attepting sentence structure. The music follows a similar process whereby spoken samples, noises, electronic stabs and harsh, often reverse sounding, beats come together forming a wicked, evil brew. To the neophyte listener the sound is imposing ans scary barely bordering on "music". However it really does start to make sense with time. I think that is the true brilliance of this album; after hundreds of listens the hidden beauty is not only apparent, it's glaringly obvious. My friends are always amazed that I can clearly hear every word and discern each melody. Somehow this album that at first seems like a wall of noise and chaos seeps into your soul and becomes as clean to you personally as though it were a single violin.

If you find that the album is just too dense and impenetrable then focus on the first half which is slightly more direct. The singles "Who's Laughing Now?" and "Testure" have fairly accessible beats. Another favorite from the first half, "Harsh Stone White", is very creepy but there is also clarity. Industrial heads revere this album as one of the all-time greats; it has always been a Puppy fan favorite probably 2nd only to 'Too Dark Park'. The album, and the band in general, will be difficult for newcomers, requiring a conscious effort to fight through the madness. This isn't easy listening, but nothing that matters is easy.

Note for those who might be interested: "Who's Laughing Now?" was featured in the movie 'Bad Influence', a psychological thriller starring Rob Lowe as a psycho pulling a pretty cool mindscrew on James Spader.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More like 500 stars, January 18, 2007

By	Xander Xavier Xymox "Black metal rivethead an... (Frederick Co :() - See all my reviews

I wish I could say that I was a fan of them from early on, but unfortunately I only discovered them about a year or two ago. At first I was more into the Too Dark Park style, but then I delved deeper into the remissions era stuff. In between I discovered this gem. This might be the hardest one to get into, but once you do its the funnest one to listen too. Most people would by no stretch of the imagination consider this fun. I still marvel at how much it has changed in my own eyes from when I first heard it. Now I really cant figure out if I like the early stuff more, or this more. Without a doubt I have probably listened to the early stuff more often. This is quite different though. It has all the benefits of a trip without taking any drugs. This Cd is a drug.
VIVIsectVI is like deep man. Its like this. Instead of being a Cd that tells you what is happening. It allows you to reach your own conclusion by taking you on a journey through life's junkyard. The Cd doesn't exist on a musical level. Rather you become the Cd. Instead of lyrics Ogre just shouts poetic thoughts to guide you through the maze of his demons. Sometimes during the more claustrophobic sections you are confronted with different realities. At this point it is up to you whether you are up to reaching the zenith of reality, or to plunge deep in the depths of cathartic reflection. In this case each song is different every time it is played. The song is not a song per se, but a reflection of your own mind. I know that this is a over the top description, but then again this is a over the top Cd. It deserves nothing short than your complete submission. Certain songs that stand on their own are Harsh Stone White, and the classic Testure. One thing that I disagree with is the idea that another reviewer said that this is a pro-israel Cd. I can easily see and understand how he got that impression based on the song VX Gas Attack. I have a different take on the subject matter. I believe that song was more about their disapproval of the fact that we armed Iraq with the very WMD's that we later attacked them for supposedly possessing. That is very true, and it is something I recommend everyone to research. I believe that SP was trying to get that point across based on the live performance of this song on the GWOTR DVD. So whether you are pro-Zionist, or anti-Zionist as I am you can still listen and enjoy this Cd for what it is. Another review that I disagree with is the fact that the second half is unlistenable. Not that it isn't amazingly abrasive, but it is some of the best industrial noise ever! This is Einsturzende Neubauten+Throbbing Gristle multiplied by 10! There are so many dimensions to this that any normal person would cringe at the sound of it. I am quite frankly freakishly enthralled by the soundscapes of this part of the Cd. If you don't get it let me suggest that you listen to it around 4:20. Most mortals could never understand what goes through the minds of Key and Goettle. So for us we need help. I suggest vitamins T, H, and C. Vitamins L, S, and D would be cool except that these soundscapes are not friendly places to take a trip. This Cd proves that SP are on a totally different plane of existence. We can only look on as these geniuses grind, crush, grate, and pound us into oblivion.