Remission (EP)

''Remission'' is a 1984 EP by Canadian electro-industrial band Skinny Puppy, their record label debut and first release with Nettwerk. The 12-inch EP originally featured six tracks, then, a year later in 1985, it was released on cassette with five additional songs that lengthened the release to a full album. This expansion became the default version of ''Remission''.

''Remission'' was certified gold by Music Canada on January 31, 2000.

Release history

In December 1984, ''Remission'' was distributed through Nettwerk as Skinny Puppy's first major release. Despite being preceded by the embryonic '' Back & Forth'' EP that was limited to just 35 home-printed copies, ''Remission'' is seen as the band's debut effort. To complicate the matter further, most issues of the EP following its release year, 1984, were expanded with five additional tracks, retroactively turning it into a full-blown studio album.

In 1993, Nettwerk released ''Remission'' on CD using the expanded track listing from the 1985 cassette release. However, this wasn't the first time ''Remission'' appeared in the format; the EP's first CD release was in 1987, when it (along with the appended track "Glass Out") was combined with Skinny Puppy's 1985 album ''Bites'' to form the release ''Bites and Remission'' (a compilation distinct from the less popular ''Remission & Bites'', which was also released in 1987 and also on Nettwerk, but that preserved the original track sequence of ''Remission'' and the European sequence of ''Bites'').

On May 17, 2018, cEvin Key released "Coma", an instrumental track created during the ''Remission'' era, through his YouTube channel.

Background and composition

Both ''Remission'' and Skinny Puppy's follow-up album ''Bites'' were created before Dwayne Goettel joined in 1986 and helped crystallize the band's hard, percussion-driven industrial sound. As such, ''Remission'' features more synthpop and electro elements than Skinny Puppy would come to be known for. It is the first known commercial release to use a TR-909 drum machine.

In 2013, Skinny Puppy's 12th album (4th since being reunited without the presence of Goettel), ''Weapon'', was released as a sort of spiritual successor to both ''Remission'' and ''Bites''. Apart from containing a re-recorded version of "Solvent" from ''Remission'', ''Weapon'' was deliberately created with antiquated instruments to achieve their early 1980s-style electronic sound.

Critical reception

Contemporary reception of ''Remission'' was mostly positive. The AllMusic review wrote that the EP "remains the Puppy's finest hour. The breadth of vision and amazing instrumental prowess of vocalist Nivek Ogre and sound-designer cEvin Key will likely never be transcended." Retrospectively, ''Remission'' gained more praise, being cited as an important influence to many bands. In an article about Skinny Puppy's broad influence, Alec Chillingworth of ''Metal Hammer'' wrote, "Al Jourgensen’s Ministry was laughable in ’84, whereas Puppy gave us ''Remission'': an EP bursting with potential, exuding a dance-ready racket heavier than anything their contemporaries offered." ''Fact'' placed ''Remission'' at number 19 on their list of 20 best industrial and EBM albums of all time, calling it "excellent electro-pop".

Track listing

Personnel

All credits adapted from ''Remission'' liner notes.

Skinny Puppy
* Nivek Ogre – vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion, spooky horn
* cEvin Key – synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production
Additional personnel
* Dave Ogilvie – production, engineering
* Bill Leeb (credited as Wilhelm Schroeder) – bass synth on "Incision", "Manwhole", and "Ice Breaker"
* D. Plevin – fretless bass on "Glass Houses"
* Steven R. Gilmore – cover art
* Greg Sykes – typography

Certifications

References

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1984 EPs
Skinny Puppy EPs
Nettwerk Records EPs
PIAS Recordings EPs