ohGr

It’s curios that Nivek Ogre would have any workable vocal chords (or brain cells) left after years of debauchery in Skinny Puppy. But the iron man of industrial is continuing his assault on this second release as simply OhGr. Once identifiable by his brazen gut twister vocals, he’s euthanised most of the aggro grit of his Puppy past but none of the potency. With help from programmer/other core band-mate Mark Walk, the racing blips and bleeps, frantic rhythms and dark composition allow us to peek into Ogre’s post-industrial vision. He and Walk still know how to put together a dance floor stomper like "Watergate,” but the CD’s schizophrenic personality is what places them in a genre best-described as self-created. Just check out the Middle Eastern-y "maJiK” and then tell me they’re not blazing furious trails. The programming is like nothing else I’ve heard these days. Abrasive yet polished, dark and brooding one second, spastic and animated the next. The haunting moments on "iOvNoW” and "JaKo” took me back to the "Warlock” days of SP, but as much as the disc sounds like somewhere we’ve passed by before, this is new territory that needs to be visited. We hear Ogre’s vocals more clearly now, and while still harbouring a healthy amount of hate, his work goes beyond industrial nihilism. He sings deliberately and melodically — of course with a robotic effect here and a throaty moment there. Between this and his Puppy repertoire, I feel like I’m now seeing the complete artist underneath all the stage blood and guts. Ogre has evolved but remains the visionary he always was. This disc is an essential. A video for "maJiK” is included, but unfortunately doesn’t work as planned but is a must see. Go to www.ohgr.org to view the politically prophetic imagery directed by Vancouver videographer William Morrison.