unDeveloped sounds like a musical anachronism; an album that would have fit in perfectly in the early 1990’s. A time where you could hear Killing Joke, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Sisters of Mercy and the KLF in the same DJ set.
[Listen | Purchase] When it comes to industrial dance, Ogre has always been at the top of the heaps as far as vocalists go. His snarl and and menace paved the way for legions of imitators of both an overt and more hidden nature. Giants such as Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson would have perhaps headed on a completely different path had it not been for his recordings with Skinny Puppy and his insane stage performances. Even Lady Gaga has borrowed the blood and the needle chic from Ogre (perhaps in a third or forth iteration). After the collapse of Skinny Puppy in the mid 1990’s Ohgr (along with partner Mark Walk) became the Ogre’s primary vehicle. While an interesting project, his vocals never reached the epic heights reached on Skinny Puppy classics such as “Warlock” (perhaps the best use of vocoder ever) and “Testure.”
Ohgr’s fourth album unDeveloped comes as quite a surprise after their noisy 2008 release Devils in my Details. Ogre and Mark Walk are in top form and have put together an album of excellent aggressive synth pop. unDeveloped is both Ohgr’s most aggressive and accessible to date. After a brief introductory track, the album kicks in with “101” a track that brings back Ogre’s Skinny Puppy aggression over a catchy pop structure. The course set out on “101” stays true throughout most of the album with the exception of a couple of a couple of ambient/sampled pieces. “Comedown” is probably the most dance friendly of the batch, with four on the floor drums and vintage sounding synth lines. “Pissage” and “traGek” blur the lines between Ogre’s two projects so it’s not clear to the listener where Skinny Puppy ends and Ohgr begins. The album ends up with the psychedelia of “Collidoskope;” a fitting end to a fine album.
unDeveloped sounds like a musical anachronism; an album that would have fit in perfectly in the early 1990’s. A time where you could hear Killing Joke, Pop Will Eat Itself, The Sisters of Mercy and the KLF in the same DJ set. Is this album a compliment to the return of the music featured on notable labels such as Wax Trax/Nettwerk? Perhaps. Retro trends have been started off of far less interesting movements. I, for one, welcome a little more angst and aggression in my dance music.
unDeveloped is out now on Metropolis. [Listen | Purchase]
