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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1986 All Over Again - GOOOD!, January 21, 2005
This is in response to "LunaVamp"'s review on Sunnypsyop. Yeah yeah, I may be projecting bigtime on perceived "if it ain't 100% bone-grinding SP then it's sh*te" but here we gooooo:
Damn, this album is wonderfully BAD in that way albums we loved in 1986 were bad. It's infectious and grows on you like a fungus. It sounds like something I would have dug up from the WaxTrax! catalog while ordering the latest Front 242 and FLA. But, back then, this album would have been (possibly) taking itself seriously and I would have "hated it" (but secretly loved it) when I was 15 because I took myself too seriously. I can't bring myself to think that Ogre is taking *himself* too seriously here...I hope. If we WAS taking himself seriously...well, that's Ogre.
Dare I say it reminds me a little bit (in terms of highly self-aware, tongue-in-cheek retro electronica) of Ladytron's efforts on the dance-industrial side? It's death-lite: dancy and a tad bit whiny but with a touch of "hard" ragged buzzy synth edge, reminiscent of (ducking) "Pretty Hate Machine," that I loved to hate back in the day. Except there's no poppy "Dig It" cover. Ha Ha. This is "With Sympathy" in reverse (you know, doing the dance-pop thing AFTER the harder stuff).
I love the combo of classic synth equipment plus very, very good production. I love the electro-gothlite anthem quality of songs like "Minus" and "Solow" and the campy dance durge of "Water." "Earthworm" reminds me a bit of LPD's "Crushed Velvet Apocalypse." i think it's just the synth textures of the song. i love the farty quality of the deep base synth.
Rant: I don't have to impress anyone with how "GOTH" or "HARDCORE" I am. Been there. Done that. Have all the T-Shirts. I'll happily blast this in my car and sing at the top of my lungs, to the horror of the doom squad. If I were a DJ, I'd play "Water" or "Devil" right after "Every Day is Halloween."
Like a lot of people who have reviewed ohGr's stuff here, I've been a Skinny Puppy fan for about 20 years (17 in my case). I didn't expect it to sound like SP. I would be disappointed if it DID sound like classic SP.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
is this industrial? I dunno. But it's very very good, March 23, 2001
If you expect to find some Skinny Puppyish material here, don't do it. OK, Ogre is the singer here, but this is not dark hard electronics. In fact, I don't know if this is electronics at all, industrial, rock, pop... Let me explain: when you listen to this album you can notice Ohgr must have very heterogeneous musical tastes, because this 'Welt' reminds me at the same time of so diverse music: David Bowie, Skinny Puppy (especially some songs from 'The Process'), Nine Inch Nails (ok, industrial purists, don't kill me, I'm not saying Ohgr is NIN style, but it has sometimes some reminiscences, some links). This music contains guitars (not metal ones), techno rhythms, electronics (quite simple but well crafted and effective) Ogre's voice sounds as it never sounded before (except from a couple of The Process's songs ('Candle', 'Cult?)) It is melodic, agressive, distorted, depending on the effect to achieve and the song. These seem very alike at first listening, but then you start to get the differences... 'Cracker' should be a hit, really, its chorus ('It's an original') is really catchy and wonderful. There's really no bad song here, all the 11 are really wonderful. So, when you buy this work, bear in mind that this is not Skinny puppy: it's different. But it's not only ok, it's really really good. I've read that this cd should have been released 4 or 5 years ago? well, it sounds ok for 2001; A last thing: I don't know how this cd will work commercially, but I think that it could be a hit not only in alternative charts but if it was properly commercialised it could be (I know it won't, but it could be) a real hit. It does contain all the elements for it: it's not Oasis but it's catchy (and good); it's not Skinny Puppy but it's complex in its simplicity. Buy it, listen to it, relish it... I really hope Ohgr won't be a 1 cd band and continue in the future. 'Welt' is a magnificent work.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ogre is back!, April 20, 2002
Having been a Skinny Puppy fan for over 12 years, I must say that this current project of Ogre's is refreshing and original. Skinny Puppy's music has always required an aquired taste for the abstract and usually politically angry ideologies. Welt is still within the realm of Ogre's view of the world but in a different light. Since Skinny Puppys demise, Ogre himself has found himself on many projects ranging from forgettable to blase'. On Welt though, he has regained not only the identity we've attached to him from Skinny Puppy, but also with a sense of ironic humor. I've seen both Skinny Puppy and Ohgr live twice and I must say how different the energy was with Ogre considering how the two bands seem to constrast. Puppy shows were very dark, broading and eye/mind opening. The Ohgr shows had a very different mood to them and yet still contained that a sense of depth and vision. I believe that this is also reflected in the recorded music as well. I will admit though that if you are expecting Welt to be exactly where Skinny Puppy left off, you will probably be a little disappointed. But if you are looking for something a little more structured and coherent yet with the same ingredients of activism and anger, then this might be what you've been looking for. I also think that this album is closer to the early days of Puppy (Bites and Remission) style wise if you do try and compare the two. Either way, I believe it's a must have album for any Ogre fan that needs to keep the faith that there is still some excellent music out there despite the decadence of our current musical history.
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