Artist: ohGr
Title: unDeveloped
Genre: Electronic / Experimental
Release Date: 20th May 2011
Label: Synthetic Symphony/SPV (in Europe)
Album Review
‘unDeveloped’ is the fourth album of OHGR, the project of SKINNY PUPPY vocalist Nivek Ogre and his collaborator Mark Walk, who is also a SKINNY PUPPY member since the band's reunion in 2003. Since the OHGR debut ‘Welt’ in 2001 there has been quite some evolution of the mutual project of Ogre and Walk, from the harsh Electronica of the first releases to a darker, more theatrical and in some moments even burlesque sound. The biggest constant, besides the heavy use of electronics, is of course Nivek Ogre's vocals. And the way OHGR weaves his vocals into the soundscapes as an integral part of the music - opposed to just singing over music - is perhaps one reason why OHGR is often perceived as a Nivek Ogre solo project.
Anyway, ‘unDeveloped’ starts with the intro of the song '101', taking us on a weird trip through OHGR's “Nightmare Pop”, as the label puts it. A fair description, as OHGR's sound has always been a bit more accessible than Ogre's main project SKINNY PUPPY and quite a few songs had a pretty melodic approach - see the club single 'Cracker' from the first album as an example. But of course artists as Ogre and Walk bed the familiar in the unfamiliar; they disrupt poppy melodies with creepy noises, break down dance beats in favour of ambient interludes, they combine softness with aggression and reward the listener with sweet and playful keyboard lines amidst synthesized chaos. All this is also true for ‘unDeveloped’ but OHGR takes a moodier and sometimes more disturbing road on this album, garnished with Nivek Ogre's lyrics full of puns, bizarre stories, and ironic or sarcastic wordplays - asking “Who do I have to fuck?” as the key line of a dance track like '101' just proves this.
'Crash' is another surprisingly dancy track, while it's intro (a separate track, by the way) uses a sample from the emergency call made when Michael Jackson died. In its bizarreness a typical OHGR combination! Of course OHGR does not leer at the dance floors all the time, unlike so many other modern-day Industrial acts. The dominating mid-tempo and all the unexpected twists and turns in the songs make sure that most of the album will get little to no airplay at the clubs, but the conceptual conclusiveness and the very developed production guarantee that you will enjoy the album from start to finish. And die-hard SKINNY PUPPY fans will be delighted that 'unDeveloped' is sound-wise closer to Ogre's main project than previous OHGR efforts, especially in songs like 'Pissage', 'Hollow' or 'screwMe', and all who cherish the somewhat lighter but still weird approach of OHGR will be happy with this album too.
And last but not least there's a bucket-load of quirky and sweet melodies which ensures that 'unDeveloped' is a pleasant listen all the way through. In the USA, where the album was released on May 10th already, 'unDeveloped' topped the iTunes Electronic charts - see? In all its weirdness it is indeed Pop! Nightmare Pop!
Tracklist
01. 101 Intro
02. 101
03. Crash Intro
04. Crash
05. Pissage
06. Come Down
07. Typer
08. Screw Me
09. Bellew
10. Hollow
11. traGek
12. Animist
13. Nitwitz
00. Collidoskope (ghost track)
Line-up
Nivek Ogre
Mark Walk
Website
http://www.wdihtf.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10
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