The Process is the eighth studio album by Canadian industrial band Skinny Puppy. Released by American Recordings on February 27, 1996, The Process was the band's final album before it reformed in 2000 and released The Greater Wrong of the Right in 2004. Skinny Puppy's keyboardist, Dwayne Goettel, died near the end of The Process recording, and the album experienced difficult production and record-label intrusion.
Background, recording and concept
Nivek Ogre, cEvin Key, and Dwayne Goettel signed a contract with American Recordings, and moved to Malibu, California to record The Process. "Jahya" was the first song recorded for the album, the only song recorded at the band's familiar Mushroom Studios. Recording sessions were punctuated by fires, floods, and the Northridge earthquake. The album's producer changed several times, from Roli Mosimann to Martin Atkins to Dave Ogilvie. According to cEvin Key, American Recordings pressured the band into adopting a commercial, industrial metal sound similar to Nine Inch Nails. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process so long and costly that American Recordings reduced Skinny Puppy's contract from three albums to one. In 1994, Key and Goettel returned to Vancouver with the master tapes; in the face of tensions between band members, however, Ogre remained in Los Angeles and left the band on June 12, 1995. American Recordings decided to drop Skinny Puppy after the release of The Process. The band's keyboardist, Dwayne Goettel, died of a heroin overdose on August 23, 1995, and the album was dedicated to him. After Goettel's death, cEvin and Dave finished mixing The Process.
It was intended as a concept album about a 1960s psychotherapy cult known as the Process Church of the Final Judgment, to which Ogre was introduced by Genesis P-Orridge. An artist collective calling itself The Process (collective) grew out of the project. "Blue Serge" was one of Key's first experiments with a modular synthesizer.
Composition
The album was inspired by the music of Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, Chrome, Throbbing Gristle, Nocturnal Emissions, Portion Control, and The Legendary Pink Dots, accessible to the band primarily via tape exchange. Skinny Puppy experimented with analog and digital recording techniques, composing multi-layered music with synthesizers, drum machines, acoustic percussion, tape loops, samplers, and conventional rock-music instruments to create what they called "audio sculpture." Their extensive use of sampling from horror films and radio broadcasts would "clarify or obscure" song meanings; they applied distortion and other effects to Ogre's vocals, which were often delivered as a stream of consciousness. Lyrics referred to social and political topics, including animal rights, environmental degradation, drug addiction, suicide, war, privacy, and self-determination. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by their term "brap," a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record." The Process was a stylistic departure from their previous albums, featuring untreated vocals, guitar, and more accessible song structures.
Artwork
The cover art, a photograph of a building, is by Steven R. Gilmore. Gilmore created the cover in memory of Goettel and his wife, Colette. He wrote:
Although a color version of the photo was considered, Gilmore chose the sepia-tinted version for the album.
Release
When it was released, The Process was considered the final Skinny Puppy album; its liner notes read "The End" after the album credits, which included thank-yous to "Electronic Music Lovers" and "Puppy People". Ogre and Key reformed the band in 2000 and released a new album, The Greater Wrong of the Right, in 2004.