Mythmaker
Encyclopedia
Mythmaker is the tenth studio album by industrial
group Skinny Puppy
. It was released on January 30, 2007.
Lead vocalist Nivek Ogre
said the band took a simplified approach, but that it was a difficult record to make. It charted on a number of billboard charts, and received mostly positive reviews, with critics focusing on whether it was stylistically similar to previous albums.
Tracks from the album were featured in the Saw V
soundtrack and Jackass
video game. The band supported the album with the Mythrus Tour later the same year it was released.
stated that making the album was very difficult due to dealing with a personal relationship and other events in Los Angeles during the time the album was being made, but that those events were incorporated into the album itself. cEvin Key
, while acknowledging Ogre's personal difficulties, said that while the extended writing process of the album could make one feel "stranded within your head space", having more time to write, and writing more songs than usual, helped the album.
Ogre called style of the music on Mythmaker "simplified" and said the band "stayed truer to cEvin's compositions". He continued that the album had a new sound, but also retained elements of the "archetypal" Skinny Puppy sound, and the production was superior to previous albums. Key stated that he would write songs, and then send them to Mark Walk
, who would make changes and send them back. Key said that it "open[ed] a door for me to hear it differently". Ogre said that album's themes were control and mythology.
Mythmaker marks the third occasion on which a Skinny Puppy album cover was created by an artist other than long-time collaborator Steven R. Gilmore
, though he continues to do the sleeve design and layout for the band. The cover uses a painting by Manuel Ocampo
entitled "Why I Hate Europeans", which has been altered for the cover.
at No. 200, but charted in three other Billboard charts, reaching No. 4 on the Independent Albums Chart, No. 5 on the Dance/Electronic Albums Chart, and No. 17 on the Heatseekers Chart. It peaked in all four charts in the same week of February 17, 2007.
The soundtrack for the 2008 movie Saw V
featured the song "Ugli". It is the third time a Skinny Puppy song has been used on a soundtrack for a Saw film, with Saw II and Saw IV
previously featuring tracks by the band.
The song "politkiL" was featured in the Jackass
video game.
The "Mythrus Tour", the title of the Skinny Puppy tour in support of Mythmaker, took place in 2007 in North America and Europe. The live band consisted of Ogre (vocals and theatrics), Key (keyboards and electronics), and Justin Bennett
(percussion). "Mythrus" was originally intended to be spelled "Myth-R-Us", according to Ogre, who stated "the word Mythrus; I wanted it 'Myth-R-Us,' like 'Toys-R-Us.' That idea got shot down, though." He also said that while the tour was going to be more intimate rather than a spectacle, he still wanted it to be theatrical.
Christa Titus of Billboard said, "...Mythmaker radiates impending doom." She notes that certain elements leave the listener "to appreciate how beautiful Skinny Puppy can be when it follows a more emotive, ambient trail," but comments that there are some "industrial chargers" as well.
Ilker Yücel of ReGen Magazine said "Mythmaker certainly continues along the path paved by The Greater Wrong of the Right, representing an embrace of modern electronic music and pushing it to its limits." Discussing individual songs, he said the first track, "Maginifishit", was "a testament to Mark Walk's impressive abilities to use Ogre's voice as an instrument unto itself." Yücel stated that "Jaher" is "full of dark atmosphere that is at once soothing and nightmarish" and called it "arguably the best track" on the album. He called "Politikil" "a somewhat more rock & roll type of track" with "chugs and churns of overdriven synths and guitar-like tones, and a rocking rhythm" that is "sure to be a highlight when played live". Yücel also said, "Many will still chide the band for not returning to the sound of past successes like Last Rights or Too Dark Park, but it's this type of purist viewpoint that ultimately stagnates a band's progress."
Jarosław Jerry Szprot of Metal Storm, in comparing the album to their previous set, said "Mythmaker is basically more of the same." He stated that while the band was doing a lot of experimenting, something was still missing, but continued that newcomers would probably find the album quite interesting and original. Trey Spencer of Sputnik Music described the album as a blend of elements from many of their previous albums, and also said it would be a good first album for new listeners to buy.
Erika Szabo of Rocknworld said, "Skinny Puppy provides listeners with more of the same thing with the slightest of changes." She was positive about half the songs, but called the other half "less stimulating". She also said the album was "expansive and expressive... even if... recycled".
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
group Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
. It was released on January 30, 2007.
Lead vocalist Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
said the band took a simplified approach, but that it was a difficult record to make. It charted on a number of billboard charts, and received mostly positive reviews, with critics focusing on whether it was stylistically similar to previous albums.
Tracks from the album were featured in the Saw V
Saw V
Saw V is a 2008 Canadian-American horror film directed by David Hackl and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson...
soundtrack and Jackass
Jackass: The Game
Jackass: The Game is a video game based on the television series Jackass. It was developed under license by Sidhe Interactive in Wellington, New Zealand for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable...
video game. The band supported the album with the Mythrus Tour later the same year it was released.
Background
Nivek OgreNivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
stated that making the album was very difficult due to dealing with a personal relationship and other events in Los Angeles during the time the album was being made, but that those events were incorporated into the album itself. cEvin Key
CEvin Key
cEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
, while acknowledging Ogre's personal difficulties, said that while the extended writing process of the album could make one feel "stranded within your head space", having more time to write, and writing more songs than usual, helped the album.
Ogre called style of the music on Mythmaker "simplified" and said the band "stayed truer to cEvin's compositions". He continued that the album had a new sound, but also retained elements of the "archetypal" Skinny Puppy sound, and the production was superior to previous albums. Key stated that he would write songs, and then send them to Mark Walk
Mark Walk
Mark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
, who would make changes and send them back. Key said that it "open[ed] a door for me to hear it differently". Ogre said that album's themes were control and mythology.
Mythmaker marks the third occasion on which a Skinny Puppy album cover was created by an artist other than long-time collaborator Steven R. Gilmore
Steven R. Gilmore
Steven R. Gilmore is an artist and graphic designer most known for his work on album cover design, particularly his role as in-house artist for Nettwerk Records for much of the 1980s and 1990s. He has designed record album sleeves for Skinny Puppy, Nickelback, A Perfect Circle, BT, Machines of...
, though he continues to do the sleeve design and layout for the band. The cover uses a painting by Manuel Ocampo
Manuel Ocampo
Manuel Ocampo is a Filipino artist. His work fuses sacred Baroque religious iconography with secular political narrative. His works draw upon a wide range of art historical references, contain cartoonish elements, and draw inspiration from punk subculture.-Background:Manuel Ocampo was born in the...
entitled "Why I Hate Europeans", which has been altered for the cover.
Release
Mythmaker was released on January 30, 2007. The album barely broke into the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
at No. 200, but charted in three other Billboard charts, reaching No. 4 on the Independent Albums Chart, No. 5 on the Dance/Electronic Albums Chart, and No. 17 on the Heatseekers Chart. It peaked in all four charts in the same week of February 17, 2007.
The soundtrack for the 2008 movie Saw V
Saw V
Saw V is a 2008 Canadian-American horror film directed by David Hackl and written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan and stars Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor and Scott Patterson...
featured the song "Ugli". It is the third time a Skinny Puppy song has been used on a soundtrack for a Saw film, with Saw II and Saw IV
Saw IV (soundtrack)
Saw IV: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the film Saw IV. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Artists' Addition Records. The song "I.V." by X Japan, which plays over the closing credits, was not included on the soundtrack album.-Track listing:# Nitzer Ebb - "Payroll "#...
previously featuring tracks by the band.
The song "politkiL" was featured in the Jackass
Jackass: The Game
Jackass: The Game is a video game based on the television series Jackass. It was developed under license by Sidhe Interactive in Wellington, New Zealand for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable...
video game.
The "Mythrus Tour", the title of the Skinny Puppy tour in support of Mythmaker, took place in 2007 in North America and Europe. The live band consisted of Ogre (vocals and theatrics), Key (keyboards and electronics), and Justin Bennett
Justin Bennett
Justin Bennett is a studio and live performance session drummer. He has been working professionally since 1997, and has participated on tours and albums with a number of notable bands, including Skinny Puppy and My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, as well as forming his own project, American...
(percussion). "Mythrus" was originally intended to be spelled "Myth-R-Us", according to Ogre, who stated "the word Mythrus; I wanted it 'Myth-R-Us,' like 'Toys-R-Us.' That idea got shot down, though." He also said that while the tour was going to be more intimate rather than a spectacle, he still wanted it to be theatrical.
Critical reception
Opinions about the album varied between claims of both little and significant change from previous work. Greg Prato of Allmusic said of Mythmaker, "Skinny Puppy always aligned themselves more with electro-dance, and they continue to do so." He goes on to say that "Nivek Ogre and cEvin Key obviously know what their following wants to hear," and finishes by reiterating, "Not a lot has changed in the world of Skinny Puppy circa Mythmaker."Christa Titus of Billboard said, "...Mythmaker radiates impending doom." She notes that certain elements leave the listener "to appreciate how beautiful Skinny Puppy can be when it follows a more emotive, ambient trail," but comments that there are some "industrial chargers" as well.
Ilker Yücel of ReGen Magazine said "Mythmaker certainly continues along the path paved by The Greater Wrong of the Right, representing an embrace of modern electronic music and pushing it to its limits." Discussing individual songs, he said the first track, "Maginifishit", was "a testament to Mark Walk's impressive abilities to use Ogre's voice as an instrument unto itself." Yücel stated that "Jaher" is "full of dark atmosphere that is at once soothing and nightmarish" and called it "arguably the best track" on the album. He called "Politikil" "a somewhat more rock & roll type of track" with "chugs and churns of overdriven synths and guitar-like tones, and a rocking rhythm" that is "sure to be a highlight when played live". Yücel also said, "Many will still chide the band for not returning to the sound of past successes like Last Rights or Too Dark Park, but it's this type of purist viewpoint that ultimately stagnates a band's progress."
Jarosław Jerry Szprot of Metal Storm, in comparing the album to their previous set, said "Mythmaker is basically more of the same." He stated that while the band was doing a lot of experimenting, something was still missing, but continued that newcomers would probably find the album quite interesting and original. Trey Spencer of Sputnik Music described the album as a blend of elements from many of their previous albums, and also said it would be a good first album for new listeners to buy.
Erika Szabo of Rocknworld said, "Skinny Puppy provides listeners with more of the same thing with the slightest of changes." She was positive about half the songs, but called the other half "less stimulating". She also said the album was "expansive and expressive... even if... recycled".
Track listing
Tracks from Allmusic.Musicians
- OgreNivek OgreNivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
– vocals, keyboards - cEvin KeyCEvin KeycEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
– synthesizers, keyboards, drums - Mark WalkMark WalkMark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
– synthesizers, guitar
Additional personnel
- Otto von SchirachOtto von SchirachOtto von Schirach is an IDM and breakcore artist from Miami, Florida. He is of Cuban/German descent.He has released most of his work on the Schematic and Beta Bodega labels, and was featured in the 2002 documentary Electro-Dziska....
– sound design (7) - Dre "Databomb" Robinson – percussion (2, 10)
- Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall – synthesizers, electronics (5, 6, 8)
- Saki Kaskas – acoustic guitar (5), guitar (12)
- Traz Damji – piano, synth (5, 12)
Production
- Producers – Mark Walk, Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall, Scaremeister
- Mixing – Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall
- Mastering – Stephen Marcussen
- Art direction, design – Steven R. Gilmore
- Painting – Manuel Ocampo